And the race continues

Do you ever feel like you are in a never ending race? It just keeps going and going and you never see the finish line? Your body begins to get tired and you feel as if you are never going to make it until the end?

When I swam in high school I remember this feeling very well. The first couple laps would be awesome and I would feel as if I could keep going forever, but then a few laps into it my body would become drained of oxygen, my muscles would become tired and I would become weak. I would begin talking to myself, telling myself that I was going to make it, that I could finish the race. I would remind myself that I had been training for this and had done it a million times. Each time I would hit the wall I could hear my friends and coaches cheering and somehow it would give a little bit of energy to go another lap. That final lap was always the worst though, because I would put all the energy that I had left into it, pushing and yelling until I would stretch my entire body to reach for the wall at the very end. Finishing was amazing, but I remember that I would be so tired that sometimes I wouldn't even be able to get myself out of the pool.

My life feels like that right now. I feel like I keep going and somehow every day make it though even though I really don't know how. Those little conversations of encouragement, the yells and screams that are heard through muffled water. The small voice of the Lord guiding me through another day, not knowing how I keep going. I am tired, my body feels weak and my mind is going in twelve different directions. There seems to be no end to this race, the month is young and so much needs to happen, but somehow I continue and I know that it is not through my own strength that it happens. I have to say that God is amazing and His small voice, simple words and amazing love and hope provide what is needed to keep enough energy to finish this race. When will this race be over and the next one start, I don't know, but I do know that He has prepared me for this one and I can finish even when every fiber of my being says other wise.

I know the Lord is always with me.
I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. Psalm 16:8