Day 1!

Hey, everyone! Happy New Year!

To anyone who tried to access my blog in the last few weeks, I apologize. There had been some "unusual activity" on it, so Google blocked it. All's good, though. I contacted them and they fixed it. God bless you, Google. :) Thanks for the quick work!

Well, guess what? It's the first day of Boston Marathon training! :) :) I can't believe it's here again! That's so flippin cool. It's going to be a great 16 weeks, and I'm already looking forward to crossing the finish line and hugging my mom again. :) Last year was certainly one of my life's highlights, and I know this one will be special again in a new and different way according to the Lord's plan for it.

A few things will be different this year.

1. I'm not raising money for any cause, I'm just running it because the Lord has gifted me with the opportunity to do so again. So, I plan to focus on Him throughout the training and just enjoy the miles and the process. I know it will be hard, but I'm in the Lord's plan, and He will be with me at all times. This training is going to be spiritually educational, just like all the rest.

2. I'm not going to go crazy. I still plan to train hard, but I'm not going to go insane. I think last year, being my first Boston, I had the most insane inner drive to make a great showing and prove something. Not this year. I have a bit of a different take on it...i.e. that this isn't the point of living. haha! I'm no better or worse of a person having run a sub-3:30 at Boston than if I hadn't. It's a great blessing, but doesn't affect my worth or value. God created me to be His beloved daughter regardless of the time on the clock and the location of the marathon. Yes, He gave me the most amazing blessing last year at Boston, but the truth is that He'd love me just the same if I hadn't done it.

What does that all mean for this year? That I'm not going to lose my mind. At least, I'm going to try not to. I have a feeling it will be a bit of a battle, but I honestly don't have anything to prove here. I just want to do it because I've been given the opportunity. The Lord opened the door, and I'm going to run through as best as I can and enjoy the process. :)

This past year has been a very interesting one. I've learned so much about personal worth and value and being driven to perform. It's a process, but the Lord is slowly teaching me about His unending love for me. About unconditional love. About His Lordship. About giving Him (*gasp*) total control of my life and heart. (Keep praying for that one.) But I have a very good feeling that He will use this marathon training process to teach me valuable lessons about any and all of those.

If any of you are in close contact with Dan Britton, you know about the "One Word Theme" for the year. Every year, you pray about one word that will mark the coming year and ask the Lord to work it into you. The Lord reveals this word in many different ways. In my life, He'll usually start working it into me through repetition around early December. The word will just start appearing places and will resonate in my spirit. This year's word is Freedom. :) I have no idea what that means as far as life goes, but I am excited.

Because I have such a tendency to control everything, freedom is a scary thing to me. But I know it's good. In Galatians 5:1, Paul says that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. And that is something that I've always wanted, yet never let myself fully experience outside of random moments. To live daily in the freedom that Christ bought for me on the cross would be, I think, marvelous. :)

So, all that to say...Boston, bring it on! 16 weeks starts now. :) I look forward to the miles on the road, each one unique in its own way. And, as I will have plenty of time, I totally would love it if any of you would e-mail me things to pray about for you. I'd be happy to lift them up to the Lord on the quiet morning runs.

Just finishing up a small bit of oatmeal and coffee, then I'm heading out the door for training run #1. And, wouldn't you know it? It's just an easy run. I don't even have to time myself today. :) That starts tomorrow.

Ciao, friends!

-Jill