Tomorrow I am running in a 5K. I am not running because I love to run. I am running to support a great cause. I also run because the older I get, the more I realize that I need to run to keep up my metabolism.
I decided to challenge myself today to prepare for the 5K tomorrow. I wanted to time myself and get an idea of my average timed mile. So, I went out today a little after lunch and mapped my run with updates on my speed at one mile, two mile, and the final mile to complete a 5K run. As I ran the first mile, I noticed I was running at a pretty fast pace. I was a little concerned that I would not be able to continue the pace the whole time but continued at this pace as long as I could. Then I got my update from my app that I had finished my first mile and was given my time. It was encouraging to hear the update and kept me going at that pace for at least another 0.5 mile. Then, I noticed that my pace slowed remarkably. I dropped 20 seconds off my time from my first mile to my second mile. As I continued to run, I started to think about the 5K race. When you run in a race, there are people at every turn to cheer you on and give you encouragement. I envisioned this encouragement and it put a little extra spunk in my steps.
However, the last mile came and I was fresh out of visions of encouragement. I was tired. I had pushed myself to run at my best pace and I wasn’t sure I could finish…at least not at the same pace. I had a battle in my head that sounded a bit like this, “quit”, “just walk the rest of the way”, “just take a break” and one small whisper of a voice in my head that was saying, “don’t stop, don’t give up”.
I chose to listen to that one small voice!
This reminded me of the journey of many missionaries. They start out in their journey with fresh energy and support. At the beginning, the cheering section is strong. For some, the encouragement fades and they feel more like they are running the race alone and not in the cheering section any longer. They become tired. They need people at every turn to cheer them on and give encouraging words to continue to do the good work and not become weary.
Could you help be that one small voice?
If you know a missionary serving on the other side of the globe, across the ocean, or just across town,
Be a voice of encouragement!
Your small voice can make a huge difference.
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