Half Marathon
I’m running the half marathon in Richmond on Saturday. My 20 year old niece Emily is flying down from Boston to run with me. Whether she actually runs with me or will be waiting for me at the finish we’ll have to wait and see. I’m a pretty slow runner. I don’t know if she’ll have the patience to go that slow or if she will instead leave me behind? I told my niece that I’ll be in front of the walkers, but those who are walking briskly will probably still be able to see me in the distance. I’ve done a bunch of marathons and half marathons in my past. I enjoy the events, but the training for them can get to be a pain. It takes a lot of time and work to prepare for an event, a lot of miles on the road to build up the stamina for a 13.1 miles trek.
I often think about our life of faith as a marathon or half marathon. Faith is meant to be a long race and not a hundred yard sprint. The book of Hebrews says we are to run the race with perseverance. We are to just keep going, putting one foot in front of the other. In our life of faith just as when training for a marathon, there are good days and bad days. Some days it is as if we are running on air and the next day we plod along. We continue to build up our strength and we just keep going. Some days we are fast and other days not so much.
As we get into the Road to Our Future Capital Campaign I see it as a kind of marathon over the next two years. The news of the VDot road expansion in front of our church that would negatively impact our access at Wright’s Chapel was a surprise. I’m thankful however that we have been faith training for so long so that we can face head on the challenge in front of us. The process will probably be slow. Construction is not scheduled to start until 2020, but we at Wright’s Chapel just need to continue to keep going and putting one foot in front of the other. Raising the money so that we can purchase the property behind the Timbers is our next step. I’m thankful for so many in our church who have been so positive as we keep moving forward. We will persevere and we will run the race that is set before us. We will continue to do the ministry that God has called us to in this community. In the end, it’s not about how fast we go, but rather that we cross the finish line. I plan to be in worship on Sunday morning. If I’m not, it’s because I’m going slow and still trying to get to the finish line in Richmond. I’ll give Emily a copy of my sermon just in case.
