Seeing God through the training for a 10K
Cynthia Anderson, Co-Site Director, Dominican Republic, TIME Missions
The sun glowed above the horizon; the road was damp with remnants of rain from earlier in the morning. As people began to move toward the starting line, the anticipation of the last four weeks of training filled every muscle in my body. How is it possible to complete a 10 Kilometer race after only training for four weeks? I was now standing in the middle of a mob of people in the early morning hours, only to hear everyone cheering … and then we were off….
It was my first race in over 15 years. I had originally trained for a couple of 5k races and hoped to someday finish a half-marathon, though after God called us to the mission field, I wasn’t sure I was supposed to follow up on such an endeavor. Then one day, while talking over lunch with a friend, someone asked us if we would be interested in running a 10K race in March. With only a split second to think about our answer, we both said yes. Within minutes we came across a four-week training plan, and we both committed to complete the adventure. Our journey therefore began and throughout the entire process I was impressed with how God showed up and taught me more about HIM than I could have thought or imagined.
This race led me down a path for the past four weeks which permitted me to “C” - see God in a new way….
Seeing Him as the CREATOR of the universe
Making the COMMITMENT to know Him more
Connecting to the COMMUNITY He has placed me in
Seeing Him as the CREATOR of the universe
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1
Each morning that I would start out, there was darkness upon the earth. The coolness of the air invited a sense of tranquility and stillness as I started to run. By the completion of each run, the sun had risen above the horizon and one could see the shadows of the mountains in the distance. The stillness of the morning caused me to reflect more upon God’s greatness and majesty while everything else around me would be placed into perspective. I came to know the creator more as who He is and what His great creation has allowed us to do and be for Him. One could not marvel at the incredible creation around us and not consider how an amazing and majestic God loves us and desires for us to Know him more. I am grateful for those early mornings, even at 5am, because I had an appointment with the great creator. The mornings became a great COMMITMENT and CONNECTION for me to a great God.
Making the COMMITMENT daily and to knowing HIM more
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, Hebrews 12:1
Some mornings the run would cause me to think, why am I up this early? What am I running for? What is my why? My “why” became even more important with each mile I ran and the father I went, the greater and more attainable the goal became. The Goal was impactful, our heavenly father is impactful. He created a “Why” from the day of creation. He knew in creating us that we would sin; we would fall short of the purity for which we need to have to be in His presence, though he devised a plan from the very beginning to re-connect us to HIm. He never deviated from that plan and was and always will be COMMITTED to us. He continually draws us closer to HIM. While I saw the commitment He has made to us, it drew me closer to knowing him more and the WHY I committed to running each consecutive mile. Each mile drew me out of myself and into who He truly designed me to be, free from the past, free from sin and free from what others think of me. I used to believe that I couldn’t run, I used to believe that It wasn’t in me to be athletic, HE never designed me to be a slave to sin, but to be free to be who HE made me to be. The COMMITMENT to run caused me to see HIM, KNOW HIM more and commit to being free from what so easily entangles us each and every day.
Cindy and her family help facilitate short-term mission trips out of the Dominican Republic. She has been serving mission trips for over 10 years at TIME. Cindy was instrumental in the expansion a new area of ministry for the DR: Medical Mission Trips.
