I have always said I'm NOT a runner. I'm pretty tall and have been this tall since junior high. In my small school the coaches looked at my height and thought two things, basketball and hurdles. Well I played basketball through my freshman year of high school but I just never could handle the hurdles. 1. I'm not a fast runner. 2. Those hurdles just psyched me out! I couldn't bring myself to try to jump them. Fellow classmate Lori sailed over them like a gazelle. Me, I just ran around them. Thus ended any thought of being a track star.
On the other hand, I love music. I took piano lessons from age 9 all through my freshman year of college. I was in every vocal music group there was in school. However, I'm not really a soloist. I'm a group kind of girl. I auditioned for anything and everything except lead solos. Why? Because I loved it. I listened to music all the time. I sang in my bedroom, the shower, the car and of course in choir. In other words I just kept trying, singing and wanting it. I've been honored to have some fantastically musically talented friends in my lifetime. There was Greg who played piano and wrote songs since he was a preschooler. He wrote a song for our wedding. It was great. He now teaches music and accompanies for everybody at a college. One of the music teachers in my life moved to New York sings opera and teaches vocal music privately. My husband has a rich beautiful voice and sings from the heart. It's one of the many things that attracted me to him. So all of my life I have seen what the possibilities in music are and I have continued to take every opportunity I have seen to participate myself. It's been great. I sang in college choir and in a small group. That let me travel a few places I would have never otherwise seen not to mention make some great friends. I've sung in crusade choirs for some great evangelists. Most enjoyably I've had the privilege of getting to help lead others in worship with my husband and friends.
Why tell you all this? This morning I was thinking about how the Bible refers to life as a race. It's sad to me that many of us are like me and the hurdles. We see the race and we think I can't do that. I'm scared. I might crash. So we don't run. We avoid the hurdles. There is another option. We can be persistent and participate the best we can and see where it takes us. We might see some things we wouldn't otherwise see, meet some new people, and most of all we could experience for ourselves the unlimitedness of our God. We keep God small (and safe) in our life when we are not willing to try to "run the race".
"Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or even think, to Him be the glory." Ephesians 3:20
On the other hand, I love music. I took piano lessons from age 9 all through my freshman year of college. I was in every vocal music group there was in school. However, I'm not really a soloist. I'm a group kind of girl. I auditioned for anything and everything except lead solos. Why? Because I loved it. I listened to music all the time. I sang in my bedroom, the shower, the car and of course in choir. In other words I just kept trying, singing and wanting it. I've been honored to have some fantastically musically talented friends in my lifetime. There was Greg who played piano and wrote songs since he was a preschooler. He wrote a song for our wedding. It was great. He now teaches music and accompanies for everybody at a college. One of the music teachers in my life moved to New York sings opera and teaches vocal music privately. My husband has a rich beautiful voice and sings from the heart. It's one of the many things that attracted me to him. So all of my life I have seen what the possibilities in music are and I have continued to take every opportunity I have seen to participate myself. It's been great. I sang in college choir and in a small group. That let me travel a few places I would have never otherwise seen not to mention make some great friends. I've sung in crusade choirs for some great evangelists. Most enjoyably I've had the privilege of getting to help lead others in worship with my husband and friends.
Why tell you all this? This morning I was thinking about how the Bible refers to life as a race. It's sad to me that many of us are like me and the hurdles. We see the race and we think I can't do that. I'm scared. I might crash. So we don't run. We avoid the hurdles. There is another option. We can be persistent and participate the best we can and see where it takes us. We might see some things we wouldn't otherwise see, meet some new people, and most of all we could experience for ourselves the unlimitedness of our God. We keep God small (and safe) in our life when we are not willing to try to "run the race".
"Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or even think, to Him be the glory." Ephesians 3:20
Got to read your post with Megan before she left for Italy this morning....she could relate! Those risky hurdles! Thanks, Jody, for letting us look through the windows of your life. You always have great things to write about!
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