Most of the time, I get my half marathon training in before the day begins. I have to get it over with early otherwise I spend most of the day trying to talk myself out of it.
I’m too tired to run after work.
I have too much to do when I get home.
I don’t feel good…I have a headache…I’m hungry.
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah…
The list of excuses can grow to be a mile long if I’m not careful.
Up until recently it was still fairly light in the early morning. But with fall just around the corner and because we have been losing daylight steadily, I’ve been running in the dark before the sun comes up. The neighborhood looks strange and completely different before the world is awake.
As I ran along the side of the road on one of those first dark mornings, I came upon a street light. I didn’t think about the shadows that the light would cast especially since my own shadow was behind me at that moment. But as I got closer to the glow of the light my shadow was suddenly beside me; then ran quickly ahead of me as I passed under and away from the light. The first several times this happened, it scared the living bejeebers out of me!
While I watched my shadow race ahead and fall behind over and over again, I was reminded that we are, in fact, living in the Shadowlands…the in-between…the not-yet.
LIVING IN THE SHADOWLANDS
Last Saturday, I sat in a church in Akron, Ohio at the memorial service of yet another fallen child. Carson, the son of my dear friend, was diagnosed with cancer at the young age of 3. After 8 years of remission, Carson relapsed a few days before Thanksgiving 2015 and left for Heaven on August 11, 2016 at the age of 12.
“We were born but yesterday and know nothing. Our days on earth are as fleeting as a shadow.” Job 8:9
“How frail is humanity! How short is life, how full of trouble! We blossom like a flower and then wither. Like a passing shadow, we quickly disappear.” Job 14:1-2
“What are human beings that You care for them, mere mortals that You think of them? They are like a breath; their days are like a fleeting shadow.” Psalm 144:3-4
On my worst days, when I feel like I am surrounded on all sides by sickness and suffering, I remind myself that it won’t be like this forever.
C.S. Lewis once wrote, “The world of shadows, of almosts and neither/nors, close calls and what ifs, will give way to the bright sunshine of a world to come free of evil, free of pain, free of death.”
There is a Day coming when God says NO MORE!
No more hate.
No more fear.
No more suffering.
No more mourning.
No more tears.
And when that Day comes, no more children will ever get sick or die from cancer. In fact, it is the Day when God comes to restore all that has been lost…my Nick will be given back to me, Carson’s family will see him again, so many children will be returned to the ones who loved them so deeply in the Shadowlands.
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’” Revelation 21:4
THE SHADOW PROVES THE SUNSHINE
I’m thankful for the streetlights because it would be impossible for me to run in total darkness. The fact that I have a shadow running beside me in the early morning proves that there is still light in the world. I am also thankful for the light that I see through the darkness of suffering. It brings me hope that a better Day is coming.
Speaking of days…only 86 days until Race Day! Yikes, it’s getting real! I am determined to finish this race if I have to crawl across the finish line (and I might have to!).
You have to hear Song #10 on my Race Day Playlist…Mr. Blue Sky by The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It’s a fun song about the sun shining after so many dark and rainy days. The video is pretty much done in a “Psychedelic 70’s” style. I dare you to listen and not tap your toes!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swYdKF1MpWg
The sun is shining in the sky
There ain’t a cloud in sight
It stopped raining
Everybody’s in the play
And don’t you know
It’s a beautiful new day
Hey ay ay!
Runnin’ down the avenue
See how the sun shines brightly
In the city
On the streets where once was pity
Mr. Blue
Sky is living here today
Hey ay ay!
Mr. Blue Sky
Please tell us why
You had to hide away
For so long (so long)
Where did we go wrong?
Mr. Blue Sky
Please tell us why
You had to hide away
For so long (so long)
Where did we go wrong?
Hey you with the pretty face
Welcome to the human race
A celebration
Mr. Blue Sky’s up there waitin’
And today
Is the day we’ve waited for!
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http://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR/Heroes/Heroes?px=2078389&pg=personal&fr_id=59186
Many of you who are reading this most likely know our Backstory, or at least part of it. If you don’t and would like to know more details of Nick’s story, you can visit his CaringBridge site here…
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/nickavery