I've gotten a lot less perfectionistic, so now I feel free to just dump some posts here from time to time, things I wanna share with the world, whether it's recipes, crafts, or little things the Lord shows me.
The title of this blog: Running the Race 4 Him, drawn from the verse listed just below it, ties in beautifully with my love of history.
You see, the picture in the title, the one of the back country road, is a road that leads to an abandoned cemetery I cleaned up a long time ago.
The stones date back to the early to late 1800's, with the last burial made in 1903.
Each stone tells a story; most stones have epitaphs. The epitaphs are usually written not by the grave occupant, but by the family and friends who have buried their loved one.
As I uncovered stone after stone, sometimes digging deep into the soil to expose the long lost engravings, I wondered why certain things were chosen to be displayed. Some were obvious, a lament from parents who had lost their precious child, or a grieving husband over his now dead wife.
But some were more of a warning to those still living, a warning that we must not only believe that Jesus is the Son of God, came to earth and died on the cross to pay for our sin, but that we must also strive to live as Jesus would live. The graves make it clear that God can not allow sin into heaven, and if we do not accept the gift of forgiveness of our sin through Jesus' death, then there is no other way to enter heaven. Hell is a certainty, and the graves warn of it.
When my own mother died, my sister thought of the epitaph for her stone. It was short and sweet, but it summed up my mother's life in just six words:
"Dedicated Wife, Mother, and Prayer Warrior."
THAT was my mother. That was her legacy she left, but there's so much more than what those six words can even say. Whenever my mother is mentioned to people, they remember her in different ways, but it usually relates to how she shared the love of Jesus with them.
Through her cooking, teaching Junior Church, a puppet ministry, or just plain having people into our home, her life was all about living for the Lord.
I LOVE cemeteries. Some people think they're a scary place. But when I'm there, it makes me reflect on my life thus far. Am I living for the Lord? Is everything I'm doing leaving an impact on the lives of others in a good, Godly way?
Those epitaphs also help me reflect on the legacy of those who've gone before me. Those who were Godly people--what was it they had done to leave such a wonderful imprint on their world?
What can I do to carry on the work they started? How can I leave a legacy much the same my mother left?
And so, I don't even try to imagine what my stone will say. That's up to whomever is still alive when I'm gone.
All I can do is live for Jesus, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute.
If I sin, I know I can go to Jesus, ask for forgiveness, and start fresh again.
If I'm running the wrong way, my Father in Heaven will lovingly correct me and get me going on the right path again.
I know He'll give me the strength to do what's right, to keep going when it feels as if all I'm doing is running uphill.
And I know He's always cheering me on, even when no one else is.
Because....
I'm Running The Race 4 Him.
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