When You’re Coming in (at) Last
Jennifer Ferguson

I started running to lose weight. My dad runs, so it was natural for me to take up after him.  Since he raced, I decided to enter one, too. I showed up in a t-shirt and wind pants.  I hadn’t yet been indoctrinated to the world of running gear, but I finished with a smile and sense of accomplishment.

I took a little hiatus from running while I was birthing babies and nursing.  When my youngest was 6 months old, one of my friends started training for a half-marathon, and in the process, roped me into more intense training.  I was introduced to wicking material, Garmins, and expensive running shoes.  I also found out about goal times, age-group rankings, and PRs (personal records).

I continued running to get stronger, to get faster.  I ran to prove myself:  Look at me world! I’m no longer overweight. I AM A RUNNER.

Life has a way, though, of teaching me what’s really important.  God only let’s me stay so focused on such inconsequential things (like proving myself) for so long.  The truth is, I grew older, I encountered the troubles and trials of this world. I used my energy to survive, not compete.

Now, I run for my sanity.  I run so I don’t take my frustrations out on my family.  I run so my mind gets quiet enough to hear God speak to me.  And I had never thought of this reason before I read Jennifer Lee’s book, Love Idol:  Perhaps I run because it reminds me there is a finish line.

To every training run, there is an end.  To every race, there is an exit from the course, a cheering crowd to welcome you back home.   Nobody might know who you are, but they cheer because you are running. Because you left nothing on the course, but your sweat, your complaints, your triumphs, and pleas for it all to be over.

Life has a finish line, too.  There is an end to our race here on earth and when it’s all over, we’ll have a cloud of angels cheering for us, welcoming us home.  Jesus will call our name, not just our bib number.  And even though our race will have not been perfect, even though it will have held complaints, mistakes, failures, and pleas for it to all be over, He will still say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

There are days where I get so overwhelmed with hurt, my own and my friends’.  And I need to remember why I’m running so hard.  And I need to know one day, I won’t have to anymore.  Because then, I’ll be fully in the arms of Jesus where there is no more pain, no more troubles, no more questions about how this world can be so incredibly messed up.

It won’t matter if I’m dressed in the latest tech gear. It won’t matter what my GPS tells me about my minute per mile pace.  It won’t matter if I came in first or if I came in last. It just matters I came in.

So you, my friend, you run your race.  And when it gets hard, imagine the crowd cheering.  Call a friend and ask for some encouragement, for her to come alongside you, to take you to the next mile marker.  Because we can run alone and we can run hard, but we can’t run hard alone if we want to finish well.

My name is Jen Ferguson and I am preapproved.

Jen Ferguson is passionate about Jesus, her husband, and her two girls. She is the facilitator of The Soli Deo Gloria Sisterhood and loves to encourage women to bring their true selves out into the light.  She is the co-author of Pure Eyes, Clean Heart: A Couple’s Journey to Freedom from Pornography.  You can find out more about the book by visiting their new site, www.PureEyesCleanHeart.com.

THE LOVE IDOL MOVEMENT

Click here to find out more about the Love Idol movement.

Click here to purchase the book that inspired the movement.

Click here to join us on Facebook as we lay down our Love Idols and declare our #preapproved status in Christ.

THE PRINTABLES

Click here to print the black and white preapproved cutouts.
Place these where ever your Love Idols have lurked!

A pink PreApproved printable: to frame, to put on your refrigerator, to give to a friend.
Click here to print. My gift to you, brave soul!