This week, our youth pastor and one of my favorite people, Kris Gray, will run a marathon. It’s one of her life goals and I’m so proud of her for doing it! Kris and I share a deep desire within us to achieve in spite of obstacles and we live by the motto, “Laziness is not an option.” In that vein, she is hard working, determined, and relentless in her pursuit of a goal. In fact, if you’d like to get her to do something, just tell her she can’t. It will ignite in her an unstoppable focus!

I am sure that many of those miles she will be talking to herself, pushing herself, and arguing with herself. She will be happy, miserable, content, and struggling within those hours. It will be a mini-version of what real life is like! Sometimes we want to believe that we should have it easy, never suffer, and be riding on some sort of a cloud, but it isn’t so. We’ve got to fight, face our weakness, and push pass the urge to give up. It’s reality that we’ve got to stop whining and just run. Run when it hurts and run when we want to stop. Run when it’s all uphill and run when it’s rocky. Just run.

So, Kris, my cheers and prayers go with you out on that course. I am so impressed by how you live your life and the passion that pours out of you! I know you can do this and I know that no matter what it takes, you’ll cross that finish line, one way or another. When it’s tough, remember that we are all behind you…shouting loudly! And just between the two of us – I’m so relieved I chose the cake! 🙂