‘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
