Running in the Wind

I was ambitious this morning. There was a StrengthsQuest seminar this afternoon during the time that I usually go running, so I got up a little early this morning (and called in late to work--thanks Boss :D ) to go, thus freeing up my afternoon.

The weather was a little chilly at 33 degrees. "Hey," I thought. "I'm tough. I can handle it."

Of course I could handle it. I'm a tough girl, most of the time. What I couldn't handle was the take-your-breath-away Nebraska wind. That turned me into a complete wuss. By the time I got to the lake, I could hardly feel my legs. But once I got up onto the dam... oh man. The wind was out of control!

"C'mon God," I prayed. "Please take away the wind. I just want a nice, easy run... please?"

But as I'd struggled my way head-on into the wind about 1/3 of the way down the dam, praying all the way, I was feeling desperate. God hadn't taken away the wind. If anything, it may have gotten worse. It came diagonally at me from the left and ahead. I felt as if I were crawling instead of running.

And then I realized something. If I ran down the hill on my right, and ran right next to the water, the dam would be blocking most of the wind. So down the hill I went, to run on cushy grass, with the wind-blown waves hitting the shore next to me and the geese scrambling for the water as I came toward them. The dam, whose height (this is Nebraska; height is relative) made me such a target for the wind in the first place, now sheltered me from it.

(This is the dam from the other side of the lake; I normally run on top of it, and today ran down the hill on that sandy stretch you can see)

On the other side of the lake, I ran into the wind again. But by this time I was warmed up, and while it wasn't pleasant, I was warmed up and determined enough to put my head down and run through it.

And it was as I ran along the water, drinking in the sunshine and nature, that I realized how much my run this morning is like life. God doesn't always take away the pain; He doesn't always calm the tempests of our lives. But when we call on Him, He does show us a way through the storm--and sometimes the problems that seemed to be our enemies become our shelter instead.

And when the winds of life are unavoidable, He is our strength to get through.