26.2...is a LONG WAY TO RUN!

This Mercedes Marathon was my second full to complete and Rob's fourth half-marathon to complete. He finished at 1hr and 44 min...AWESOME! I am so proud of my husband. I finished the full in 3hr and 30min...AWESOME! I am very proud of myself. I would like to take this opportunity to boast a little bit ON MY GOD! You may be the type to think, what has God got to do with running a marathon? Well, let me tell you! As I am running (training and even racing) I spend the majority of my time in prayer and worship of my Lord. I focus all of my energy on Him. I draw strength from Him and ask Him to power me and shine through me. I don't half hearted do anything with my Lord's name attached to it. SO you see, when I am running it becomes very spiritual for me.

As I was rounding the 18th mile, I became extremely fatigued and rather exhausted. I had a terrible burn in my side and seriously wanted to stop. My immediate thought was Christ hanging on a cross beaten to almost death with blood dripping and flesh hanging from his body. I thought of all my sin that put him there. I thought of the agony He endured for me and my discomfort and pain really took a back seat. I then focused my thoughts on His glorious love and compassion for me and all of my friends that I pray for daily. I prayed for my pain to flee, my strength to boost and my endurance to remain through the end. By mile 20 I felt my Lord's Holy Spirit resound within me. Now if that is not enough to want to do it again, don't know what is...

So ya see, I don't run marathons for the Glory of myself, but my God and the opportunity to brag on how far HE takes me. I have trained for marathons while working a full time job and raising three little kids, I have trained for marathons after pregnancies that left me bed ridden and totally out of shape, I will soon be training for marathons with a full time job and raising five children and you know how I do it...MY GOD I tell ya, MY GOD!!!!

I beat my last marathon time by an entire hour. PRAISE UNTO HIM..

Doesn't matter what you are trying to do in your day (right now for me it is raising a family of five little kids) but Christ will carry you when you think you can't go anymore. God has a purpose for all He "puts you through" and living your life in Honor of Him will bless you in ways you never thought possible.



The song that replays in my head through this experience is "In Christ Alone" by Brian Littrell. If you have not heard it, look it up on itunes. It is AMAZING. It also plays on my blog.

"In Christ Alone will I glory though I could pride myself in battles won. For I've been blessed beyond measure and by HIS strength alone I overcome. Oh, I could stop and count successes like diamonds in my hands but those trophies could not equal to the GRACE by which I stand, In Christ Alone I place my trust and find my glory in he POWER of the cross, in every victory let it be said of me, my source of strength, my source of hope is Christ Alone!


This is the ONLY picture I have so far of our Mercedes Marathon Day. I will post others as I get them.
Christopher and Aimee Martin, and Me and Rob. What the picture doesn't show is the "shivers" we all had, whether it be nervers or the 28 degrees it was at the start line..or possibly a little of both. Christopher and Aimee have been our bestfriends for a long time. Rob and Christopher played sports all through highschool together and Aimee and I found each other as buddies one day sitting in the baseball stadium watching Rob and Christopher. We have all been through quite a lot together with our families and I thank our Lord many times for the friendship we all share. Oh yeah, and let me mention too, that Aimee completed her FIRST half-marathon and Christopher completed his FIRST full-marathon. And had one year ago they weren't anywhere close to being able to accomlish that..WAY TO GO guys. I am proud for you two:)