Showing posts with label running. Show all posts
Showing posts with label running. Show all posts

Saturday, November 13, 2010

lace

I remember a piece of lace that I really liked. It came from an easter dress that my mom had made. She made three dreses – one blue for herself, an orange one for my sister, and a pink one for me. There were puffy sleeves and a puffy skirt, made out of a satiny fabric with a lace front piece. I felt so beautiful, at 5 years of age, in this delicate easter dress.

But this particular lace came from my mom’s dress. There were pieces from all three dresses, but the largest was blue and I would wear it with whatever I was wearing. It was a veil or a cape or a skirt. There was a day when I was outside playing, wearing my blue lace. I wasn’t wearing anything besides the blue lace. My brother was in kindergarten, and all of a sudden I see the big yellow bus on the curves of our driveway. I remember running as fast as I possibly can to the trees, terrified that Daniel’s classmates and the students on the bus would see me.

Over time the lace got smaller and smaller. I wasn’t sure why this was. I was growing, though. So it became a doll’s wrap and I cut it up and used it to cover shelves and now it’s completely gone, as far as I know.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

running

Funny how the effects of things can linger. Thursday afternoon I went jogging with my friend Anna for a time. She's a runner, I'm not. I stretched, yet my muscles kept reminding me days later of the trauma they underwent. She was encouraging, kept a steady pace for me to follow, and we started walking when I was about to fall over.

I've heard many sermons and devotionals likening the Christian life to a race, and have memorized Paul's metaphor in 1 Cor. 9. They've never really resonated with me because I'm not a runner and don't terribly enjoy steady consistent running (though bursts of speed can be good for the soul). I wonder if Paul was ever an athlete and if he knew from experience what it was like - the long-distance mindset, pacing oneself, being afraid to stop for a second because once you stop your muscles vehemently resist beginning again. Perhaps if I really was a runner I would understand the analogy to the Christian life.

As it is my picture is based more on Isaiah 40:31 - soaring on wings like eagles, running and not growing tired, walking and not fainting. Sometimes life is smooth, sometimes steady, and sometimes all you can do is keep putting one foot in front of the other. And God sustains through it all.