Are You Prepared?

While I am not a football player, I ran the Disney Princess half-marathon in 2012. I ran in below freezing temperatures in Washington D.C. until I injured my foot on my longest run yet. At about the ninth mile, I got a cramp that would not loosen. I ceased jogging at all and jumped the interval from nine to the full half-marathon while in the park a mere six weeks later. The morning of the late February race was a balmy 82 degrees in Orlando. As you might expect, I ended up with extreme fatigue, blisters, chafing, and I barely finished. I can say I was in the race, but it took me two and half hours to finish it. It was not graceful! If I had wrapped my foot and gotten back to training, maybe my time would have been faster. I could have prepared my wardrobe better for warmer weather. I would not have run in very old and worn-out sneakers for the longest single run of my life. With better, more intentional training I would have enjoyed my park days instead of being so sore I sat to wait in lines for rides.

Training, whether mental, physical, or spiritual, requires diligence. A football player cannot expect to make goals or run with efficiency if he hasn’t practiced. Good training is to plan, in advance, for when circumstances are not optimal so that when the race is important the runner is prepared for the race before him or her. Teachers and students are entering a year where things are yet again, less than optimal. How will you prepare yourself and your student (or teacher) to train for the difficult race before them? I suggest that you plan to take more breaks, adjust your expectations of yourself and those around you, treat yourself gently, allow more time to complete work, and pray more. 

Pray for all those beginning the 2021-2022 school year! 

In Christ,
Pastor Elyse