children

Daily Truth:  “Let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”  Hebrews 12:1

This past Saturday, 12 of us (11 ladies and 1 young man – such a sport) got up super early and ran a 3 team marathon relay race.  Did I mention it was pouring rain and that the temp was hovering around 45 degrees?

Not exactly the type of morning you would wake up and say, “I think today would be a great day to run a marathon relay race.”

When you run 5 miles by yourself (although you are surrounded by hundreds of other runners), your mind starts to wander and you get into a zone.

I try to keep someone in front of me who is running about my pace.  I read other peoples shirts, listen to other people’s conversations, and think.

This time I got to think about this race.  It had 3 hills – not what I was expecting.  They weren’t bad but they were hills.

The rain wasn’t even noticeable once I started my portion of the race.  Gloves came off at mile 2 and by the time I did the exchange to my friend at mile 5, I felt great.

Then the waiting occurred.  I waited at the next exchange point of the race with 3 other team mates and by the time the 2nd exchange occurred 70 minutes later (they had a 7.5 mile run), I couldn’t stop shivering.

Then you wait some more for the last 2 legs of the race to finish.

The waiting was worse by far than the running in the rain. The company was great, but the cold not so much!

I got to thinking this week.  That relay race somewhat resembles motherhood.

You all have those mornings when we wake up and we just know it is going to be “one of those days”.  None of us wake up on those mornings willingly saying, “Today is a great day to be a mom”.

Yet, we get up and face our day with our kiddos because that is what we committed to do the minute we knew we were going to be a mom.

Sometimes there are hills along the way.

Hills in running build your strength and endurance.  So do the hills in the race of motherhood.  Some are just harder than others.

The hills in motherhood are different for each mom.  Some hills that you had to overcome were easier for you than for other moms.  However, we encourage each other along the way.  Just as we runners encourage each other to get up those hills in the race.

Then comes the waiting.

In a relay race, while waiting for your other teammates to come in, you aren’t just standing there.  You are “actively” waiting – whether it is renourishing your body, warming up your muscles, getting your gear on, or just mentally getting ready for the next part of the race.

The same is true in motherhood.  There will be moments of waiting.  Waiting to for God to get a hold of a child’s heart or waiting for some encouraging news from a doctor.  Yet, as we wait, we are active.

We are praying to God for guidance.  We are searching the scriptures for truths that we can apply and promises that we can claim.

Once the waiting is done, the race will continue.

One of my favorite “run” verses in the Bible is Ecclesiastes 9:11,  “the race is not to the swift”. Thank goodness because I will NEVER be fast.

Motherhood is the same way.  We all have days that are harder than others, but this is not a “swift” race.  This is a race that we are in for the long haul.

Unlike a relay race, we can’t run a certain length of being a mom and then hand it over to someone else.  That is where the parallels stop.  We have to continue for the whole length of the race.

At the end, we will be rewarded for how faithful we were in our race called “motherhood”.

My two middle kiddos ran a total of 25 miles over a number of weeks so that they could run one more mile at this race and get a medal “just like mom’s”.

I ran with my daughter and my hubs ran with our son. When our son was told to go, he went.  I have never seen him run so fast.

My daughter ran at her own pace – much slower.

At the end, they received the exact same medal.

So mom’s, be faithful in running your race.

Until next week,

Rebekah

Daily Truth:  ““These men who have turned the world upside down .”  Acts 17:6

Today is a day that turned our world upside down.

The images of September 11, 2001 will forever be seared on our minds.  We each remember where we were and what we were doing when the attacks on the towers occurred.  The peaceful America that we knew at the time was over.

Terrorist had turned our world upside down.

Our children will never know what it is like to board a plane or go into a national museum without a security screening.

“Terrorist” is a word that is now a part of our vocabulary.

Not since Pearl Harbor had our country been directly attacked.

Fear had turned our world upside down.

Fast forward seven years and my family’s world was once again turned upside down on 9/11 by the birth of our youngest son – although at the time we didn’t know it.  I was teaching high school history when he was born.

You see, our youngest little man came to us through adoption.  When he was born on 9/11 we had no idea that we would be given this little guy that would turn our world upside down – in a very good way.

Today he turns 5.  When we got him, he was a 11 months old and couldn’t crawl.  Now, I can’t keep up with him!

His precious little rambunctious self has turned our world upside down.

Fast forward once again four years.

Another event would turn our world upside down on 9/11.

Last year, as we were cutting the birthday cake for our little guy, I received a frantic phone call telling me that my dad was unresponsive and being transported by ambulance to an area hospital.

That call turned our world upside down.

Eight days later, dad was ushered into Heaven.

You know, as my family has walked down this undesirable path this past year we have each been taught many different lessons.

As I was contemplating what to write for this blog, it occurred the many significances that the date “9/11” holds for my family.  The thought came to mind on how people and events have turned our world upside down as we know it.

There was the evil of the terrorist that brought death, destruction, and fear to our country.  Yet, I also remember how our country seemed united after those events.

They turned our world upside down.

There was a mother who gave birth to a son.  Due to her situation was unable to care for him and God allowed us to be the recipients of this blessing.

She and the birth of our son, turned our world upside down.

There was father,husband, brother, son, who loved, prayed, and cared for his family.  A man who faithfully served his God.  A man that God called to Heaven at what we would consider a time to early.

The death of my dad turned our world upside down.

Paul and Silas in the book of Acts were so bold in their testimony that the Jews were furious with them.  Jason, a fellow Christian, housed Paul and Silas while they were in Thessalonica.

The next thing Jason knows is that there is a crowd of angry Jews attacking his house and demanding the lives of Paul and Saul.

Why?  Because “these men have turned our world upside down”!

What had caused the Jews to accuse them of this?

The faithful preaching of their God and the testimony of their lives. (Acts 17:1-9)

So I ask you, what are you doing to turn your world upside down?

“But I’m just a mom!”

Yes, but you are raising precious gifts that you only have for a short amount of time and you don’t know how long that time is.

What better way to turn your world upside down for Christ than to raise children that will serve God faithfully.

So as you clean the house, wash dishes, fold clothes, etc, remember your life has the most impact on your children.

Don’t let Satan’s lies that ‘your work is not valuable’ or ‘that your work is not important’ burden you.  Your work IS valuable.  It IS important.

You are seeking to turn the world upside down for His glory!

Until next week,

Rebekah