'Proud'

‘Proud’ is the word I am hearing most at the moment.  Usually it refers to my wife.  She ran her first London Marathon this Sunday.  It is a crazy achievement.  I was left chafed, tired, with back ache and blistered feet and I only walked 12 odd miles.  She ran, yes ran, 26.2 miles!  And that doesn’t include the 5 or 6 to get to and fro places in London.  Amazing!  But I am not overly proud… the reason… I expected it of her!  She is the most determined person I know – and when she puts her mind to it – she does it!  I am proud of her – but not in the completion of the marathon but because of the amazing woman she is; the incredible mother, wife, friend… her beautiful spirituality – and yes her ability to run a flippin’ long way.  She is incredible – but the run only begins to define the woman I love. 

What I did learn from her on Sunday was how to run a race.  We left her at her starting point quite edgy, and we met her at the finish – pleased that she had done it.  But it was during the race I was most amazed and saw the most emotion in her.   We saw her at 8 miles, 11 miles and at 17 miles and every time – she was smiling, beaming… loving it!  Loving every moment of the race.  Though it was difficult – she loved the whole experience.  I will never forget the image of my wife smiling throughout a marathon.  Why was she?  She had trained so hard – she had all the right equipment – she knew she was going to be able to do it – so she enjoyed the ride.  When time was tough – she loved the music – the high 5’s from the kids – the cheering of thousands and particularly her hugs from friends and family who were cheering her on at different points.  She ran the race well – with a smile of her face. 

It reminded me of life in a way.  We all have our races to run.  As Christians if we train hard in our desire to be like Jesus – we can run the race well.  We have people who surround us and cheer us on.  We have a destination in mind – Gods kingdom – and we have the certainty as believers that we will make it.   One thing I feel we forget to do is smile on the way.  To enjoy the ride.  To take it all in.  Instead we rush from place to place exhausting ourselves in the process.  I learnt from my wife to smile more as we run our races.

Many people have commented, ‘your turn next year Ben’.  Not a chance!  Did I mention it is 26.2 miles?  Ez has not inspired me to want to run a marathon (though I have thought about taking up bowls).  But she has inspired me to run my own race well.  A different race to  anybody else… I know where I am heading and I know that I will get there in the end – and now because of the example of Ez, I am going to run it even more with a smile on my face.  I am going to enjoy the ride!

Where are you heading?  What is your race?  Who is cheering you on?  May you run it with a smile on your face… 

Be proud of my wife – she ran a long way – but allow her to be an even bigger inspiration than that – and may her example of running her race with a smile on her face be a message to us all today…

Blessings, Ben