Running together…

We meet on the corner of Rosemont and Carriage at 6:10am.  

The first quarter mile I run alone. But then I turn the corner and there she is, her ponytail bobbing as she runs, and I can’t help but smile.

Our first words are always how tired we are, how rough it was rolling out of bed that morning, how little sleep we got, whose child was up at what hour. There’s no way I’d be out there running if it weren’t for her. And as we finish our 5-miles we inevitably say, “It’s just so much easier running together.” So true.

This is the girl who somehow got me to sign up for the 200-mile relay race, Hood to Coast. I have no idea how. I panicked for months afterward, convinced I couldn’t do it, anxious and worried about how hard it’d be. But now that it’s just around the corner I’m excited.

I’m so grateful for friendships who make me go farther than I ever could on my own. 

Nowhere is this truth more evident than in my marriage. My friend helps me run five miles … Jeff helps me run eight. Somehow he managed to lure me all the way around Foster Reservoir, up and down the hills of West Linn, and around and around the winding trails at Mary S. Young. He can get me to do what no other friend could, because he’s willing to let me get mad at him in order to help me grow.

I’m so grateful for a man who makes me go way farther than I ever could on my own. 

But here’s what I’ve noticed: We’re good at joining together with others to help each other accomplish what we couldn’t do alone. But sometimes we’re not very good at considering what it is we’re helping each other toward.

I think we underestimate how powerful our partnerships really are.

Just this week I’ve been struggling with conflicting emotions. I’m excited for our new venture, but also grieving many relationships that I’ll be leaving behind. The team starting RENEW is small, and sometimes I look around and feel alone. But just the presence of my friend this morning encouraged me with new strength. Just one email I received later this morning bolstered my faith and gave me fresh perspective. It wasn’t anything magic, just a small kindness–a touch.

Women are great at helping each other find deals, lose weight, or swap recipe-ideas. (I like all those things as well!) But are we also passionate about pursuing Christ-likeness together? The same way we run together at 6am, could we also meet to pray, read the Word, or simply text one another and cheer each other on in our quiet times? Could we pray for each other every single day? Email verses, encouragement from Scripture, reminders that this world is not our home?

Basically I’m saying that everything we’ve been talking about this week, We must do together. Take a step of faith and be the first friend to suggest reading a book together, praying together, memorizing a verse together. It might be a challenge, but what are friendships for if not to take us farther than we’d ever go alone? 

{I pray this space can be just this in a tiny way — let’s help each other grow and go farther than we ever could alone. Who can you reach out today to encourage toward Christ? Who can you ask for help from? Thanks so much for “running” with me … and for reading.}