God's Race

"...Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." Hebrews 12:1

 

I just ran my first half-marathon a couple days ago. You wouldn’t believe I used to hate running, but I did! Back when we lived in the States, my mom had to practically drag me to go running with her. She didn’t always take me, but when she did, I would always complain, “But I have too much homework!” or “I’m tired,” and “Do I have to go?”

When we moved here to Taiwan, my mom recruited some people from church and formed a running group. Soon, they dubbed themselves the New Life International SDA Runners. They ran every Sunday and Thursday evening along-side the river.

One Sabbath (Saturday) evening, my mom told us that we had to go running with them the next morning. I was reluctant, but I went. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed it! It was actually fun! Probably because we usually stop for tea on the way back. Sometimes, we jokingly call ourselves the “tea runners.” Lol.  After that, I would run with them periodically.

This year, I officially became part of the running club and got my own T-shirt. My goal was to run a half marathon. I had a difficult time though because I wasn’t allowed to run like half of the time! As I mentioned in the previous post, due to my allergies, my mom wouldn’t let me run unless I was a certain weight because she was worried about me losing weight (which was completely understandable but I still didn’t like it). Thankfully, every time I was allowed to run, I ran just fine.

Soon, the day of the ½ marathon arrived. Some of us were nervous, some excited, and I was a little of both. I was super excited, but we had heard that it was uphill. Turns out it was uphill, right up a mountain!

The starting (and ending point) was at a track. As we jumped out of the van, we could feel the excitement in the air. Tons of people were milling around and stretching.
To our great amusement, someone on the stage started leading some excerices moves, but it was more of a dance then an exercise. It was hilarious to watch.
 Soon it was time for the race to begin. Everyone assembled on the track and the countdown began!

 "...Shi, Jio, Ba, Qi, Liu, Wu, Si, San, Er, Yi!" The alarm went off and we started our race. 

"Yeah! We're doing it! We're running!" My mom shouted gleefully as we rounded the bend and started running up. We ran up hill after hill, right up the mountain. 

Panting, I asked my mom, "Are you sure this results in good health? Not in broken legs and collapsed lungs?"

"Well, I guess it's a good things health care is so cheap here." She smirked.

"Oh, thanks a lot." I laughed. 

We continued trudging upward. It was treacherous! During all our training, we only ran on flat roads. We were not prepared to run straight up a mountain!" 

"Jia yo! Jia yo!" People would shout and encourage us as they passed out sports drinks and water at the stations along the way.

At one point, we saw our fastest runner, Benjamin, on his way back. 

"You're almost there! (to the half way point)" he encouraged us as we cheered him. Finally, we forced our legs up the last hill and made it to the half-way point where they gave us a scrunchy to prove we made it. Then, we headed back.

"At least all those uphills will be downhills on the way back." I gasped between breaths.

Those down hills were straight down, though, and it started to bother some of our groups' knees, especially, Inah. We were getting close to the end and us girls wanted to finish together so we were were determined to stick together. 
"I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die!" Danielle complained.
"We got this! We can do it!" my mom encouraged. 
"O, God, help us finish." someone else said muttered. 
"Oh, I don't think I can run anymore, my knees really hurt." cried Inah.

 "Come on, Inah! You can do it! Just a little longer! We're almost there! "I encouraged as I grabbed her hand.Yes, we were almost there. Almost! Soon we saw friends cheering us on as we the finish line came into sight. We ran, hand in hand, and stopped together over the finish line. 
"We did it!" I shouted. I walked over and received my medal and proudly put it around my neck. 
Benjamin had already made with Marcy a little behind. Soon, the two remaining boys brought up the rear, including my dad. 

Next of course was picture time! After taking pictures we slowly lowered ourselves onto the ground and drank lots of water and rested our weary limbs. 
The were some people talking loudly in Chinese on the microphones on the stage but I was concentrated on resting my tired legs. 
All of a sudden, Shin looked up and told me, "That's your name!" 
"What?"
Then I heard them announce my friend's name. (Apparently they mispronounced my name so bad that I didn't even recognize it, haha!) 
Bewildered, we walked over to the stage area. They kind of lined us up, me in front of Danielle, and they asked where we were from and how to pronounce our names. We had absolutely no clue what was happening as they said something in microphone and read our running numbers. Finally, Shin translated: We were the third and fourth fastest runners in our category! We couldn't believe it! 
Before we had really processed this information, they ushered us on the platform and announced our name to every one (along with a bunch of Chinese). Then, two guys came and shook our hands, gave us a plaque (!!!) and a gift. I was thrilled! My first marathon I had placed third fastest in my category, received a plaque (even if it is in Chinese), got a running shirt, and medal to boot! I thanked God for how He had blessed me. 

The fact that all of us made it without any major injuries was a miracle. God was really working. My mom, just the day before could hardly walk! She had injured her food and it hurt so bad she didn't come to church. God healed her thought and she was able to run a half marathon the next morning without any difficulties. Inah also has a really hard time with running uphill, but she made it! Benjamin had brand-new running shoes that he was worried about blistering and hurting his feet, but they didn't. My dad and Danielle were really nervous about it as well, and they did just fine! God was definitely running with us. 

During the race, God brought a verse to mind: Acts 20:24, "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace."

I finished my physical race, the half marathon, but I still have another race to run and task to complete: to tell everyone of God's amazing love and grace. Will you join me in this race?