If You Ever See Me Running

It’s pretty well known that I am not athletic nor do I enjoy anything remotely resembling exercise. In fact I’m about to tell you a story that not one of my friends would ever believe actually happened. I would go so far as to say that if you were to bet any one of them that I actually did what I’m about to tell you I did, they would take that bet with 100% assurance that there is NO POSSIBLE WAY it happened. None. Zero. Nada. Trust me.

It all started when our daughter got engaged last November. I decided I had 11.5 months to become a slimmer version of me (OK, I was determined to set a world record for rapid weight loss.) Darling hubby Eric and I started walking, eating better, going to the gym and even signed up with a personal trainer (that’s a whole other story coming soon). We worked hard and I started to gain confidence that I could become a better and thinner version of myself.

One day during a workout with Patrick the trainer (I can’t wait to tell you more about this experience), it was mentioned that I should consider running to boost my overall health and fitness level. <insert extreme shocked face here> Now that’s funny… Bless his heart.

He obviously didn’t know me well.

Unless something was on fire or someone was chasing me with an ax, I was not running. It’s been a personal mantra my entire life. April does not run. NO RUN – JUST FUN. That’s me. That’s always been me. There’s no way I’d ever consider running. I don’t even think my body understands the word “run”.

And then something changed. In my head at least. I started to think I could give it a try. I mean I’ve had a reoccurring dream for years that I was running down a paved a road. That could serve as preparation, right? How hard could it be? I’ve done hard things. I could do this. I grabbed my shoes. I should do this. I headed to the front door. I could do this. I headed down the steps. I can do this. I looked down the road. Let’s do this.

With the Rocky theme in my ears, I took one jogging step …and STOPPED.

I can’t do this. I’ve never done this. My legs will break. It’s also hot. But more importantly what in the world will the neighbors think? They’ll think an ax wielding bear is after me and my house is on fire. In the 17 years I’ve lived in this house, they’ve never seen me so much as skip. Surely, visions of the end of the world will flood their minds if they see me running. 911 dispatchers all over the county will be sending first responders with sirens blazing straight to my home.

“Activate the emergency operations center Francis! Code Red! Alert the National Guard!”

So I proceeded to walk…at least until I got past a few houses…looking all around to see if anyone was watching,.. determination coursing through my never having run before legs…

Then I ran.

Hell did not freeze over.

No one called the cops.

No ax carrying bears found me.

No fire trucks came to the house.

I didn’t even fall down once.

I may not be a runner, but I ran. I may not be real good at it yet, but I’m letting myself try. So if you ever see me running, rest assured there’s not likely a state of emergency. Just know that I’m giving myself a chance to see if I can do something I never thought possible.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Hebrews 12: 1-2