I run for them 

(or, the reason I'll be using my treadmill for the first time in two months)

I have never, ever been athletic--or even workouty.  My last brush with sports was in seventh grade when I got super ambitious and played volleyball, basketball, and joined the track team all in one year.  Volleyball wasn't bad; I quit basketball after one week because it was hard and a couple of girls made me cry; and I hated running so I ended up throwing shot-put and discus in track.  In high school we were all required to be involved in some sort of sport, but my friend Michelle and I convinced our headmaster to allow us to do sports independently.  Everyday the two of us would--slowly--walk around our school's beautiful, hilly campus overlooking San Antonio and chat about our boyfriends, prom dresses, and college plans.  There was never any question of our speeding our stroll up to jog-level.  


Athletics were never a big deal in my family.  Although my dad went to college on a track scholarship and was quite the football star in high school, he was hardly ever home (airline pilot) and my mother, who is from England, never thought sports were that important.  Instead we read, we shopped and ate lots of Asian food, we watched Masterpiece Theater on PBS.  I have made some brave attempts at becoming a regular workout person throughout my life, but it always lasts a couple of months (if that) before I'm back to my couch-loving self.  

our messy "gym," full of papers to be filed and things to be sold 

When we started going to our church almost four years ago, I (jokingly) told my husband it appeared one needed three things in order to fit in: an iPhone, a baby, and a running habit.  We jumped on the iPhone bandwagon two years ago and we're now working on the baby thing, but we never have been able to get into running.  Oh, trust me, I want to run, and I've tried a few times.  It always ends badly, and I always go back to just staring enviously at the willowy girls flying past me at the park as I walk my dogs.  

Nothing ever seems to motivate me enough to stick with running (or, let's be totally honest; slowly jogging).  A few months ago I went to a cardiologist because my heart was doing some crazy stuff, and he had me wear a heart monitor for a week.  It turned out that I was just having a bad reaction to some medication and a blood sugar issue (I'm totally fine now), but he did tell me my heart seemed a little out of shape and that I need to start doing cardio on a regular basis.  A logical person would be motivated by a cardiologist telling him/her to workout--nope, not me.  

This past weekend our pastor/friend, Jordan, e-mailed Jon and me about a fundraising opportunity this October.  It's called The Chosen Marathon, and it's basically a giant fundraiser for families who are adopting.  They have a full marathon, a half marathon, and a fun run for kids.  My immediate reaction was HA!  ok whatever.   Then I started looking into it, and thinking about it.  Thinking that maybe we can do this.  Maybe we HAVE to do this.  Yes, we can have a team run on our behalf (four people have already expressed interest in running on our team!) while we just volunteer at the event, but I feel like this is something we, or at least I, HAVE to do (the half marathon, not the full).  I think this is the push I've needed to start doing what's been nagging at me for so long.  I've actually been praying for awhile that the Lord would give me the courage and motivation to embrace running for my health and overall well-being because, running to fit into my skinny jeans (or, let's face it, my regular jeans), running to improve my health, running to fit in with everyone around me who is always running...none of that has been enough to motivate me to start, and keep, running.  

But now, now I run for them.  

And, maybe I can get one of these cool shirts.

***If you'd like to help support our adoption by participating in The Chosen Marathon on our behalf, please contact me at BringingThemIn@gmail.com