Stubbornness, Perseverance, and a Lesson from Cross Country

I have lots of jumbled thoughts to tie together in this post, but here goes nothin'.

Our pastor has spent the last two Sunday nights preaching from James. His message was entitled "Living Faith in a Dying World." He was encouraging everyone to live faithfully through trials. I must confess, as I listened to the message, I was thinking, "I don't need this message. I haven't ever really gone through a trial. I know people with cancer and broken relationships and family issues, but I don't have any of those." But boy, I was wrong. I have come to realize that pretty much anything in your life that you struggle with can be classified as a trial. I have been going through some things lately that I have really been struggling with. I have been extremely stubborn in listening to the Lord, and I have been unwilling to submit to His authority. A.W. Tozer says, "The voice of God is a friendly voice. No one need fear to listen to it unless he has already made up his mind to resist it." Honestly, I had pretty much made up my mind to resist it. I didn't want to be joyful. I wanted everyone to know that I was miserable so that they would feel sorry for me.

But my attitude changed after cross country practice last night. We had had a kinda hard practice. By the time we finished our sprints, I thought I was gonna die. But I persevered through it and by the time we finished our core exercises I felt great. I forgot how hard it was and how much it hurt because the triumph of finishing strong was one of the most amazing feelings in the world. Then I stopped to think. If I can persevere through practice with only my strong will and determination to get me through, then why can't I persevere through these trials when I have God to help me?

So, with God's help, I will be going though this trial with a smile on my face and a determined spirit.

Cross Country Friends

I had cross country practice this morning. If you had told me 2 years ago that I would be getting up at 6 am to RUN, I would have considered you a crazy person. But here I am... I ran for 30ish minutes this morning without walking at all, so that was actually good for me.
I am so thankful for all my friends at cross country. I was surprised when I first joined that I didn't feel really stupid. I expected to be made fun of by all the seniors since I'm only a freshman, but I totally wasn't at all. Everyone there (well, most people;)) is really nice and I'm glad to know everyone. These people have to be able to like me when I'm sweaty and tired, so I know they won't let me down.
So far, cross country has been a really great decision for me, and I really hope I continue to get better!

Mud...

I went to my second Cross Country practice today. I survived. We did a 25-minute run today. I am not doing quite as well as I had hoped, but I am really enjoying it and I hope I can get better. It was great to be able to get up, run, and shower before 10 o' clock. We ran in a kind of woodsy area today and there was lots of mud from the rain. So my clean running shoes are pretty much filthy now, but that's ok. It will all be worth it if running helps me have a healthier lifestyle...

Cross Country

On Thursday, I went to my first Cross Country practice. I have been running on my own for about 9 months, but I haven't really run with anyone other than just around the neighborhood with friends. But, I enjoyed running so I decided to give Cross Country a try. I figured that it would give me a sport to do since I'm going into high school, and I thought it would give me a chance to hang out with some really good friends. Plus, no one thought I would actually do it, so I thought I could just surprise some people if I actually could. My first practice went really well, even though I had to run with the beginners, which are all younger kids. We only did 20 minutes, but we also did some stretches and exercises, and overall, it was a really good workout. I really hope I will be able to stick with it and get better!!