Well Done!

I did it! Actually, I've done several things in my 50th year so far:

• I finished another year of school. I used sick days for my grandson Kaden more than I did for myself. No surgeries! Nothing that knocked me down for days on end! All in all, we had a pretty good year.

• I also completed a 5K. I'd been training for it but didn't finish before race day.  I ran it in 39 minutes and came in 2nd in the women's 50 and over bracket. Mind-blowing! 

• Yesterday I rode my bike for 38 miles. Five of those miles were with a student from school and the rest was just me. It was challenging but fun.

Funny thing is, all of these took a long time to get through, but the very hardest parts was towards the end. Isn't that crazy?

CRAZY!

We couldn't wait to get to the end of the school year but then the end brought up all kinds of stress.

I kept up a good, steady pace for the 5K. Until the end. I just couldn't go on. "Where's the finish line?" I asked. They told me it was just up ahead. And then all kinds of crazy thoughts entered my mind, like:

Why am I doing this?
Will I be able to walk tomorrow?
Will I be able to step into the car to get home?
Why am I doing this? (that one deserved to be asked several times!)

The bike ride.  Oh my! Honestly, I didn't mean to ride that far but I got lost. Lost is my usual state but it's especially bad when on a bike. My problem is, I don't like to go back the same way I came. That gets me into a whole kind of bad. But I did it. I did it! All 38 miles. I knew if I couldn't go on or if I couldn't get myself 'unlost', my husband was a phone call away.


Funny thing is, the point I really wanted to give up was when I could see the finish line. I barely moved my legs the last 4 miles. Very sore. Very tired. Very sun burnt. It was a 4 hour ride and the last 20 minutes or so, I was ready to throw in the towel. Catch a ride with a passing farmer.

The end, I had a hard time getting to the end, but...I did it.

In all of these, getting to the end wasn't easy.  I was:

Weary

Beat up

In pain

Emotional

But...

I did it! I made it to the end. I just waved at the farmers as they drove by in their pickup trucks and who could have very easily taken me the rest of the way home. I kept on running when I was encouraged that the finish line was just up ahead. I kept on plugging away at school with every one else even though we were just done. All of us.

In all of these, getting to the end wasn't easy, but once I got there, I was:

Relieved

Exuberant

Exhausted

Sore

Emotional

Happy

So happy...

This is how I want to live my life every day. I want to push past pain barriers. Push past mental barriers. Push past my own self-doubt. Finishing a year of school may not seem like much to some people but this is the first year in a long time that I've not had an extended leave of absence for a surgery or sickness. It's a big thing.

A 5K might not seem a big thing but I've been sick for so long that it is a big thing. For me. It's HUGE!

Riding my bike for 38 miles, even on accident, riding places I've never ridden before - pushing past fears of getting lost - that's big. Big for me. And I just rode. I didn't care. I knew God was taking care of me and my husband would bail me out if need be. I'm jumping past so many barriers in my 50th year of life. I'm wondering how many more I can add.

The only thing that truly matters is pushing past that finish line and hearing God say, 

"Well done, good and faithful servant." (Matthew 25:21)