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Carrie Stephens

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a workout at the track

Home » General » a workout at the track

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” – 1 John 3:1

I was practically raised at the track. Not the horse track- thankfully my parents did not rely on gambling as their means of income; I mean the running track.

Most of my early memories revolve around the feel of the track surface under my feet, repeat 200s, and the smell of cut grass. I ran competitively for twelve years of my life; second grade through my sophomore year of college.

Although I rarely go back, Mr. Fantastic frequently trains at the middle school by our house. Last Saturday I went with him.

The minute I stepped onto the spongy black surface, I felt transported in time. It was as if the years between myself and my track career vanished.

I was a teenager again, sprinting the curves and walking the straights. My arms and legs, my heart and lungs, they all seemed to be doing what they knew to do best.

When I turned the last curve, I saw the lane numbers sprawled out before me, and I thought my breath would never right itself. My soul soared and I had come home.

There are a lot of things I know about. But I realize that I know running and the track in a unique way. I am comfortable there, undaunted by rules or expectations, I feel at ease with myself and my surroundings, and peace reigns in that place.

This is how I know track, and this is how I want to know God’s love. The only way to know something or someone like that is by years and years of experience. I suppose that’s why each year with Him seems so important, so unique, and so precious.

I am ever going deeper, training my heart to love him when my lungs feel they may fail, and my soul wants to quit and lay down in defeat. I learn with falls and failures how to press past plateaus and weaknesses. Each step I take makes me stronger, and draws me further than I thought I could go.

I keep thinking of the line from Chariots of Fire, “When I run, I feel His pleasure.” And I felt that, too, Saturday at the track. I felt His pleasure; as if He took all the love He has known for me all these years and poured it out right there at a middle school track.

What a gift it is to be loved by a God like ours. Today, may you feel His pleasure, too, and may it be glorious.

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Do you ever just want to open your arms wide to God and laugh at the way life is completely ridiculous? Carrie’s monthly newsletter provides a chance to grow spiritually through a blend of rich devotional teaching and cultural hot take. It’s solidly grounded in the belief that God is generally in a good mood, and the closer we get to him, the more complete our joy will be.