I groaned as my alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
Track-team morning runs.
Questioning my sanity in ever consigning myself to the fate of a distance runner, I rolled off my mattress and found my sweats. I also found my scriptures because we didn't actually run until 6 and I knew that if they didn't get read now, they never would.
I was reading in the book of Abraham where, after having been almost offered up as a human sacrifice by his thoughtful father, he took the Lord's advice and gathered his new wife Sarai and his nephew Lot and hightailed it out of his country. His father follows him but then settles in another land and turns back to his old, idolterous ways.
It is after an urnest prayer during this journey (if I understand correctly) that the Lord tells Abraham of the huge posterity he was destined to have.
My mind still a little groggy, I began to wonder. Here was Abraham, out on this great escape thingy with some of his family, concerned about a confused father, and the Lord tells him that? How was the promise of a real scrapbook-filler of a family supposed to help? At 5:30 in the morning it didn't make much sense.
But then, the more I thought about it, it did. I may not understand everything about this story yet, but a sudden clear thought let me know I could still learn something: the Lord was helping him keep the end in mind. He was giving Abraham hope that, despite everything, he could still come out on top. Those blessings were his to claim if he obeyed. He had an amazing legacy ahead of him, he just had to see it.
I'm sure all that Abraham really saw himself accomplishing at the time was getting food for everyone for that day or finding the next camping spot. That, and the discouragement of his father. But, like a patriarchal blessing, the Lord was helping him see the bigger picture of things to help him stay on the path.
I closed my scriptures thinking, "Alright. While I'm gasping for breath about half-way through our 2-miles, I'll just keep the end in mind: my warm car and a warmer shower. That should do it!"
I'm not gonna say it didn't work, but by the time I trundled to a stop and pulled my headphones out, I was actually thinking about what was for breakfast. I least expected the lesson to come back that afternoon at a track meet.
I was on lap two when the cold wind finally got the rain to join in its wild dance across my face. Two more to go. Just another corner and--
Whoosh!! I'm lucky I didn't blow right off the track. Sharp rain drops sliced across my goosebumpy arms and I gritted my teeth against the chill.
Who first decided running in circles was a sport anyways?
And then, out of nowhere, the promise of Abraham's seed came to mind.
Yeah, yeah, I thought, keep the end in mind. I'll be able to collapse on the grass and never set foot on another track until tommorrow.
But then I thought of the warm bus. The feeling of fullfillment. The highfives of the team. My water bottle.
I'm not sure my pace picked up much, but it was a little more endurable knowing that this race was really only about seven minutes, not seven milleniums, and that there were good things ahead.
I finally did finish. Turns out that 'Jo' city wind' actually does something because my team placed first, second, and third. But as I leaned up against the fence to watch a friend, snuggled in a jacket, and caught sight of a rainbow, I realized how much that lesson really does apply.
As we all know, we all have problems. We may be running our race as best as we can, but the rains still come. We must remember that, overall, the race is only a small part of the whole season. In the end, we have so much more. There's warmth, fullfillment, friendship, rainbows, and maybe even a medal. Heavenly Father didn't want Abraham to lose sight of his destination, neither does he want us to lose sight of ours. And that view might not shorten our trials, but it sure makes them easier to bear.
Track-team morning runs.
Questioning my sanity in ever consigning myself to the fate of a distance runner, I rolled off my mattress and found my sweats. I also found my scriptures because we didn't actually run until 6 and I knew that if they didn't get read now, they never would.
I was reading in the book of Abraham where, after having been almost offered up as a human sacrifice by his thoughtful father, he took the Lord's advice and gathered his new wife Sarai and his nephew Lot and hightailed it out of his country. His father follows him but then settles in another land and turns back to his old, idolterous ways.
It is after an urnest prayer during this journey (if I understand correctly) that the Lord tells Abraham of the huge posterity he was destined to have.
My mind still a little groggy, I began to wonder. Here was Abraham, out on this great escape thingy with some of his family, concerned about a confused father, and the Lord tells him that? How was the promise of a real scrapbook-filler of a family supposed to help? At 5:30 in the morning it didn't make much sense.
But then, the more I thought about it, it did. I may not understand everything about this story yet, but a sudden clear thought let me know I could still learn something: the Lord was helping him keep the end in mind. He was giving Abraham hope that, despite everything, he could still come out on top. Those blessings were his to claim if he obeyed. He had an amazing legacy ahead of him, he just had to see it.
I'm sure all that Abraham really saw himself accomplishing at the time was getting food for everyone for that day or finding the next camping spot. That, and the discouragement of his father. But, like a patriarchal blessing, the Lord was helping him see the bigger picture of things to help him stay on the path.
I closed my scriptures thinking, "Alright. While I'm gasping for breath about half-way through our 2-miles, I'll just keep the end in mind: my warm car and a warmer shower. That should do it!"
I'm not gonna say it didn't work, but by the time I trundled to a stop and pulled my headphones out, I was actually thinking about what was for breakfast. I least expected the lesson to come back that afternoon at a track meet.
I was on lap two when the cold wind finally got the rain to join in its wild dance across my face. Two more to go. Just another corner and--
Whoosh!! I'm lucky I didn't blow right off the track. Sharp rain drops sliced across my goosebumpy arms and I gritted my teeth against the chill.
Who first decided running in circles was a sport anyways?
And then, out of nowhere, the promise of Abraham's seed came to mind.
Yeah, yeah, I thought, keep the end in mind. I'll be able to collapse on the grass and never set foot on another track until tommorrow.
But then I thought of the warm bus. The feeling of fullfillment. The highfives of the team. My water bottle.
I'm not sure my pace picked up much, but it was a little more endurable knowing that this race was really only about seven minutes, not seven milleniums, and that there were good things ahead.
I finally did finish. Turns out that 'Jo' city wind' actually does something because my team placed first, second, and third. But as I leaned up against the fence to watch a friend, snuggled in a jacket, and caught sight of a rainbow, I realized how much that lesson really does apply.
As we all know, we all have problems. We may be running our race as best as we can, but the rains still come. We must remember that, overall, the race is only a small part of the whole season. In the end, we have so much more. There's warmth, fullfillment, friendship, rainbows, and maybe even a medal. Heavenly Father didn't want Abraham to lose sight of his destination, neither does he want us to lose sight of ours. And that view might not shorten our trials, but it sure makes them easier to bear.
As one of my favorite quotes goes, "We see ourselves in terms of yesturday and today. But the Lord sees us in terms of forever."
Who knew a small part of the great prophet Abraham's life would someday help some silly girl at a track meet?
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