I've been thinking about the Soaring Wings Half Marathon a lot. I have asked myself "why in the world do you think a fat, 50 year old woman who has NEVER done anything sporty. would be able to suddenly do a half marathon?!?" Well, here is why. It is something that I have actually wanted to do for a very long time. But, I am notorious for "wanting" to do something and when it actually comes down to it, I'm like "Eeeh I would rather just sit here and creep around on Facebook". Just being honest here. My "running career" started back in 1980 when I was actually in pretty good shape. I decided to run to my BFF's house about 3 miles away. I was going to say it was 13.1 miles away, but then I remembered the honest comment. :) About half way there I was chased by dang dogs! Not to mention that the road from my house to hers wasn't paved yet. I make it to her house and minor detail, I forgot to tell her I was coming so she was just leaving. I'm pretty sure it was a hot date, because remember this was 1980 and we were HOTTIES! Well, what's a girl to do? I turned around and headed back to my house. Remember that dirt road? I was running along minding my own business and I see this guy coming towards me. Woo Hoo another crazy person running in the middle of nowhere in the crazy Texas summer heat! When he was about 100 yards from me, something hits my head. I look up and it is a psycho blue jay dive bombing me! I start screaming (a perfectly normal reaction by any 17 year old girl) and flailing my arms. The darn thing wont leave me alone! I end up rolling around in the ditch trying to get away from this demon possessed bird. When I finally got myself together and crawled back to the road, here comes the other runner. And of course he never saw that spawn of satan bird. Just gave me one of "those" looks. So, yea that was the beginning and end of my running career. I haven't really wanted to do any running/walking since then. But then I met John Allison. What an inspiration! But the real clincher was when he showed the 121 students the Marine Corp Marathon medal. OMG I had medal envy! But that's all it was, envy. No action. But that medal has been in the back of my mind for a couple of years. Fast forward to Faulkner County Relay for Life. For a donation to American Cancer Society I could walk 29 laps around the expo center and GET A MEDAL!!! Woo Hoo, sign me up I said. And I did it in flip flops. And I met another very wise and kind person Jackie Pollard. She didn't know me from Adam. What she should have seen was a fat almost 50 year old woman, but what she actually saw was potential. Sometimes it takes the kind words of a stranger to get you moving! So here I am. I have been thinking about this medal obsession a lot. How many of us are willing to work so hard for rewards and medals here on earth, but hardly give a second thought to Heavenly rewards? Before anyone corrects me, I KNOW it isn't all about the jewels and crowns, but I really want to be able to lay my crown/medal at the feet of Jesus. So, see this half marathon is about way more than just running/walking and the medals. In my heart it is even more than the money and awareness raised for Soaring Wings (which is HUGE). It's about doing something just because someone believed in me. All of life should be that way, after all, our Father believed in us enough to send His Son to die for me. So, that is all I have to say about that.