#onebigtruth

I saw Courtney's #onebigtruth project last week and immediately knew that I was in the midst of God teaching me one BIG truth and knew I had to share.

So here it is..

I ran my 1st 5K last Saturday.

I am not a runner. I've never been an athlete.

In fact, when I played sports as a child I hated it.

Actually through my "career" as an "athlete" as a child, it was discovered that I was born with a defective joint in my ankle. Two bones were actually fused together where a joint should be resulting in limited mobility, significant pain when running, walking or even standing for long periods of time.

I had surgery to correct the issue when I was 13, but it didn't work.

All of my life, I've had a slight limp, usually noticeable after a long day working and every person I meet asking me "what's wrong?" or checking to see if I was okay.

So, I've never been interested in running--in any form--because I couldn't. Can't.

Its a defect, I'll be fine, I just can't do things because of my "bad ankle".

Except, now I CAN.

I started running on the treadmill earlier this year and this week joined 700+ runners and walkers at the Shrimp Fest 5K/10K.

And ran.

And finished.

Praise the Lord.

I'm not defined by a defect, but by definition am wonderfully made. (Psalms 139:14)

I'm not relegated to the sidelines, but pressing on to the goal.(Philippians 3:14)

Here's the truth-

Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

1 Corinthians, 9 v 24-27 NLT

We're all created equal and with countless abilities. We all have things that we can allow to hold us back. Sometimes its a physical challenge, sometimes its a mental or emotional struggle that we hold onto instead of running with purpose. God wants us to let go of what's holding us back and wants us to look to Him for the strength to do the impossible. Together, we can do hard things.