A timely word......

Typically, I am one of those solo runners.  When I am ready to run, I want to hit the road and get going, at my own speed of course.   So when I have had the opportunity to run with any of my girls, I typically feel bad about slowing them down to an old woman's pace.  But I do enjoy having them along, even if I am running in their dust.  Last weekend, Danielle was home from college and asked to run with me.  I reminded her how slow I would be running three miles and she just replied that she really hadn't run in over a month and thought she might find the run difficult.  Can I just say "phooey" to that.   It wouldn't have mattered if she hadn't run in two month, the shear difference in our ages (almost 33 yrs) and the fact that she is over 5'11" (I didn't say 6') and I am only 5'5" accounts for an unbalanced event.

We started off together, keeping fairly even pace and finished that first mile with a really good time.  That always happens when I run with the girls.  They push me harder than I would push myself.  But there is something about that second mile.  Danielle began to pull away from me.  I felt my pace slow down  and I felt a little discouraged.  That entire mile was difficult for me.  By the time we started the third, Danielle had slowed enough for me to catch her.  Actually I think she ran back to me at one point.  She began to ask me if I was okay.  Maybe it was the look on my face....one of fatigue.   Throughout that third mile, she stayed right with me, speaking encouragement to me all the way home.
 As a result, I picked up the pace and didn't struggle near as much as in the second mile.

For most of us, we enjoy being independent, striking out on our own.  Call it a cultural breeding....our American heritage.  However, I realized during that run, while I do like to run alone, I am stronger when someone is beside me, encouraging me along the way.

Deuteronomy 31:6 says: "Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." New International Version (©1984)

So I really am never running this race of life alone.  My God is always with me.  He often does use people in our lives to speak His encouragement to us as Danielle did that day.  Proverbs 25:11 says "Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances."  New American Standard Bible (©1995)       I feel very fortunate that I have several people in my life that speaks encouragement to me continually.  Many times, it is just the "lift" that I need to finish out the day.  So for the rest of today, look at people through the eyes of Jesus, having compassion and mercy,  see who might need that "lift" as given by a spoken word, a verbal blessing to strengthen the soul.