just. keep. running.

Last night I went for my daily run after work. I had a small window time in which to do it before needed to be at church for our Wednesday night gathering during which I would lose daylight. As, I do daily, I laced up my shoes and prepared for my run.

What makes this run both significant and unique is that at the only time I had available to complete it, it began to rain. I don’t mind running in a gentle, warm rain. In fact, somedays I even find it pleasant.

This rain however, was NOT that.

THIS rain was torrential.

The wind was blasting. The water was flooding  the ditch line where I was running. I was SOAKED from head to toe.  As I ran I kept wringing my shirt out because it was drenched and sticking to me.

There’s another factor that made this run extra special. I have been having a lot of issues with allergies. This has been making my eyes very itchy and red. I have not been wearing my contacts. 

Running, in the rain, with glasses is basically futile because they will fog, slide off or become covered in rain drops.

For some people this would be a small issue. Not for me. I am practically blind.

So let’s recap to make sure you are getting the entire picture we have going on here.

I was out for a light evening run, in a monsoon, blind.  

(there she is, that wet, blind, crazy, storm running lady!)

Suffice it to say there were a lot of factors against this run, but here is something cool. I ran the fastest mile pace I have ever run. I didn’t even know I was doing it. When my app spoke up and pointed this fact out to me (I have a VERY smart phone that helps me train and apparently is miraculously water proof) I was rather astonished.

It got me thinking, however, how like life that run was.

As I ran, my only goal was to get back home. In life, storms are going to come. When we have the eternal goal before us to get back home it will change how we function in those storms.

As I ran, I didn’t even realize that I was setting a personal record. When we face the storms of life we don’t always realize that it’s in those times that we can become either the best or worst version of ourselves.

I could have stopped and turned around. Truth be told, I almost did. It almost seemed like too much, like the Lord would understand if I quit because how could anyone be expected to push forward in that kind of a storm.

Do you ever feel that way about things in your life?

“It’s ok to give up or get angry (or whatever else) because my circumstances are so incredibly HARD.”
“People are mean to me.”
“My heart is broken.”
“I’ve lost everything.”
“I have an ache in the deep places of my heart that no one understands.”

I think what I was reminded on my run was, that in the storms of life, we will never know how strong we are if we don’t push through and keep moving.

I saw this quote on someone’s Facebook recently and I loved it.

Life is hard. There will always be storms. They will usually hit at inconvenient times and sometimes leave you sopping a breathless like I was yesterday. Remember this:

Nothing, no storm, no trial, no mess, no brokenness…NOTHING is wasted in the hand of God.

He brings beauty to ashes.

He brings strength from weakness.

He can turn your biggest storm and turn it in to your strongest showing.

Don’t give up.

Fix your eyes on a heavenly goal and 

Just. Keep. Running.