On the day after Lent began, also known as Valentine’s Day this year, I went for a run. It was a beautiful day – bright blue sky, a balmy 58 degrees, with a light breeze. And most importantly, my kids were agreeable to it.
I got them settled on the swings, and I hit the”go” button on the running app on my phone.
Happy Valentine’s Day to me. Seriously. It was quite satisfying to feel my feet hitting pavement again, listening to my tunes. There’s nothing quite as invigorating. But. The road back to “running” status after three months of not running was a little harder than I had anticipated.
As I rounded the track, closing in on the two mile mark, I felt the desire to well, quit. I didn’t want to, but I felt myself questioning my ability. “Can you really keep going?”
I almost answered no.
But at that moment my weakness collided with my ambition… my very favorite song on the running playlist started, my stride stretched out, my body pushed forward, and I could still smile and almost sing along. well, almost. I could keep going.
and I did. – because all I needed to do was set aside my doubt, and then I became free to press on.
Even as it was happening, I remembered.
I remembered moments from the evening before, at the beginning of Lent. I had read these words, and it sunk in again, for possibly the hundredth time. maybe deeper than last time. One can only hope…
from Ephesians 3:
For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,[c] 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what isthe width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
You see for me, Lent is not a passage way of self-denial, which often is the focus for many. Instead it is a significant time for remembering God’s love. It is a space for illumination, so that the sins I’ve become blind to are identified and stripped away. This is the gateway to His presence, where I begin to see just how important He is, and how unimportant some things are ; how much I need Him, and not much else.
When I hear those verses, some of my very favorites, I’m urged forward; I’m compelled to set aside the useless weights I’ve been lugging around. Just as Scripture says, His love becomes more obvious to me: wider, deeper, longer, higher… and my stride as a believer stretches out. I can go the distance.
How perfect to have this Valentine’s Date today! Its a marker here during Lent, and it is a new season in my heart of repentance, forgiveness and refreshing.
Thank you Heavenly Father for meeting me and my iphone at the park today. I am truly invigorated and renewed.
daily portion 