I want it! Why I don't just dive in for it.

I used to really hate the kids in school who could run fast. I could never run fast. I take that back... I could sprint like the devil, but I had no endurance whatsoever. I always felt horrible and had to walk often when we ran the mile in school.

What they didn't do for me was teach me how I could run the mile when I had so much trouble. Running the mile is a test required by the state, so we just do it. I don't ever remember our teacher warming us up by running 200 yards, 400 etc. We just had to line up and go. How are we supposed to go from playing badminton to running the mile? Yet I beat myself up.

I had asthma, so endurance was never something I could build up easily. I would stop breathing well and then had to sit or walk. They didn't teach us to build up to anything. It was either do it well or be the fat girl in class. And because I had an excuse, or wasn't taught properly, or both, I never tried.

Kids don't build you up either, they tear you up. "Fat Lard" "Lazy" "loser!" I don't ever remember any other kid telling me "you can do it" or "great job" ever. No offense, but my mom was not a great encourager either. She called me a "quitter" once and it stuck to me so hard, no amount of scraping would ever get it off.

Until Jesus died. See, Jesus died nearly 2000 years ago, but I didn't realize it and accept it till like 2 years ago. Scripture says "God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors..." (1 Peter 1:18NLT) and that was Jesus. Through accepting that, I have to opportunity for a new life, a resurrection life. Col 2:12 "For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead." That doesn't mean that the minute I am baptized I am suddenly fixed. It just means that I have a new start.

When I was a child, I had to learn how to walk, how to talk, how to say my ABCs. So often people think that Jesus is gonna make everything right, and He does, but He does it with God. It is up to us to make everything else right with ourselves and the world. God grants us grace so that we can learn everything new. How to walk with Christ, how to talk with Christ, how to do things the way He intended for us.

Isaiah says "But God's not finished. He's waiting around to be gracious to you. He's gathering strength to show mercy to you. God takes the time to do everything right—everything. Those who wait around for him are the lucky ones." (30:18 The Message) So it makes sense that we should take the time to do things right too. Why should we think we can dive in when even God takes time to do things right?

And we make mistakes. Oh boy do we make mistakes.

Toddlers fall down when learning how to walk, that is why we call them toddlers. The problem that a lot of new Christians have is that they assume they won't fall down. I know I used to believe that for myself.

This is where the "Body of Christ" and Small Groups comes in. You see, when you have other friends who are Christians, they are there to help pick you up when you fall down. They are there to mentor you, comfort you, and help you so you fall down less and less as time goes on. If you try and do this Christian Walk alone, you might find yourself falling down a lot more, and that it is nearly impossible to get back up. God designed it that way. In Romans 12 it reads "Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other."(4-5)

Some of us might be good at one thing, while others are good at another, and when we all get together we function as a "body." 1 Corinthians 12 explains it well:

"(14-26)Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it."

So back to me running. See, many of you know that I have been losing weight and exercising. Some of you might have noticed. People have asked me what my ultimate goal is, like a number. Yes, I have a number, but if I never meet it, I won't be disappointed. My goal is better than just a number. My goal is to run a 5K by this time next spring. For those of you who have no clue, like I had no clue, that is just over 3 miles. Three miles! Now for a chubby like me to even run around the block without stopping it is a miracle. Truthfully, I can only make it about 1/4 block right now, and I have been working out for a little over a month.

So when I say I want to run a 3k, that is a BIG DEAL for me. I never was able to run even the entire mile without stopping a gazillion times in school. I am 32 years old, this time next year I will be 33 and running 3 miles.

If I were just to go this Saturday and run, I would likely pass out, or at least only walk it. I don't want that. I want to run the whole 3 miles. So I am now in training. I am in training to be running 3 miles.

I am taking advantage of my resurrection life, my new life in Christ to learn how to do things properly so that I don't fail, and I won't quit. And I have people, the Body of Christ. They are praying for me, rooting for me, cheering me on and building me up. If I fall down, I have no doubt they will surround me and pick me up again.

God did not intend for us to just dive in. He knows that it is a learning process, and if you are willing, there are several teachers all around you who will encourage you. They will tell you the truth with love, not put you down.

Through much personal growth I have realized that I did not really hate those kids who ran fast, I was just jealous of them. Someone had cheered for them along the way and told them that they could do it. For whatever the reason, I didn't ever have that.

So I am here now to let you know something you may have never heard before. "YOU can do it." "You CAN do it." Whatever it is that you want to do, you can do it. Rely on the resurrection power available through Christ, and the Body he put here with us on Earth. You are not alone. God is cheering you along, and so am I.