Over the past years, I have attempted to blog. Yet, more often than not, I haven't written on it. Initially, the purpose was to have more personal connections when we were urban missionaries. Those old blogs will remain on the page for now.
I have a love-hate relationship with writing. At one level, I can often have many words. But I find it much easier to use those words verbally than write them out. At times, creativity flows out, and I have ideas to write and think I would like to do this more. Then, other times, I get stuck. I am also not good with grammar, and that makes me self-conscious. Also, I can sometimes feel unclear about what I am saying because of my quick and scattered brain (I will write a whole blog on this later). I am attempting to overcome those hurdles, and the invention of Grammarly Pro has immensely helped my ability to edit. In August, I started my Master's in Spiritual Formation at Friends University, and it is forcing me to write consistently, and I am overcoming some barriers.
My health has transformed quite a bit this summer, and I want to write about it. I have always been passionate about health but have had more "losses" than "wins" over the years. So, in the upcoming blogs, I will write about the changes I made to my health and how they have helped me.
How long will I keep this going? I have no idea. Perhaps tomorrow, I will chase a squirrel and do something else. :) However, with my running, I plan to keep this going and share my journey.
As I close this intro blog, I wanted to briefly comment on the name Go Run Free. Part of my new health journey has been increasing my running, something I have dreamed of and longed to do for years. Running has become a big part of my life, and I will share more about that. That has been increasing over the last few years. A passion of mine is freedom. I love to pray with people and see them experience freedom from struggles and entanglements. Yet, in the middle of my desire to see people free, I have faced many obstacles that have kept me from feeling or living free. Those have been health and spiritual, and those will be topics I hope to cover here. So, the words Go Run Free have a double meaning to me. First, I am discovering great freedom in running. Getting up each morning and running on my country roads by myself is special. There is incredible freedom in that. And yet, there is something in all of us that we are created to be free in all we do. And so many people feel trapped and stuck. Perhaps a few people will find more freedom in sharing some of my stories about what the Lord is teaching me.
Lastly, I wanted to thank two special friends for their inspiration. If you have seen me on Facebook, you have seen my posts about Clay Shively and Sam Ferguson. I closely followed their high school running careers, prayed with them often, and loved encouraging them in their journeys. As I did that, my love for running significantly increased. I loved watching them run. The beauty and grace they both run with did something to me.
I have two favorite moments with both of them, first with Sam. I came up to watch him run the 3200 meter his junior year. I hadn't talked with him and didn't know how he would do. He ended up getting first in the state. I had so much joy watching him win; I was surprised he did it. Then, Clay had an extraordinary career. He set many records, and there were so many fun moments. But my favorite memory with him was at regionals his senior year. He had already run the 1600 and was getting ready for the 800. He didn't know how hard he would go. The first lap was fun to watch him, and then something happened the second lap. On the back turn, he flipped it into another gear. I was in awe watching him come around with that speed. It stirred my heart. Over the summer, I ran with them two times, which made my year. I had set that as a goal a year ago. Thanks, Clay and Sam, for your inspiration. You both run with some grace and beauty, and I will always cheer you all on. You both, indeed, Run Free!!
Until next time.