Maintenance

I just finished a "long run" of the distance I have chosen as my "maintenance" long runs in between races. (My next half-marathon isn't until March, so I felt I should back down my mileage in order to prevent injury. I decided a while back that I don't want to do any races longer than a "half," as the last time I did a full marathon, it resulted in knee issues that set me back a while. No post-race high is worth it enough for me to possibly lose my morning therapy with running shoes and the pavement.) The distance I covered this morning may sound impressive on paper, but I totally zoned out while I was running and didn't realize I was almost done until I had about 0.1 miles to go. So I missed out on the chance to pick up my pace along the way or at the end... and thus missed out on that exhilaration or rush you get after a big workout. While I maintained my ability to finish the run, I missed out on some of the best parts of the process.

As I was finishing this morning, though, (that last .1 mile while I was regretting having lost foucs) I thought about what else I just "maintain" in life. How often do I maintain my spiritual walk? Taking it another step, does only "maintaining" my faith prevent "injury"- or refining/challenging/breaking that is actually how you deepen your faith? The last two weeks in BSF, I did each week's six days of lessons in three days, as the weekends were too full for me to spend much time working on them. Did I get all that I could have out of those daily lessons? Or did I just get it done?

How often do I just "maintain" relationships- as a wife, mom, daughter, sister, or friend? Or do I daily seek to improve, to deepen, to serve better, to be more compassionate, discerning, affirming, available?

Hebrews 12:1 says "... let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Running with perseverance implies that it's hard work, that you're pushing yourself, that it requires focus and discipline, not that you just zone out and lollygag along.

My life needs a little less maintenance and a little more of seeing each day as a big "race" in which I'm doing my best to excel and finish well.