This issue is very important to my heart because I have a nephew who is Autistic. He is now twelve years old, and has been living with Autism for over ten years. He is amazing. Not because he is Autistic, but simply because of his spirit. He has a tenderness and love about him that is sweet to the soul.
So, I'm not going sugar coat this. The relay was hard. Which to be honest, I thought it wouldn't be. My portion was only 3.35 miles, and I'm in the middle of training for a half marathon right now, so my longest run is 8 miles. I figured I could knock out my lap in under 30 minutes and then go run another with my friend who was next, so I could get the miles in to keep my training schedule up.
Guess what? There was three insane hills. I train on flat ground primarily to prevent reinjuring my hamstring.
Hills take endurance. Endurance is earned.
Earned only by hard work, discipline and commitment.
As I started down the second hill, thinking it may not be that bad....I got to the bottom and began the ascent. The 1/4 mile ascent. Yeah, it was tough, and I kept my eyes on my feet and just kept going.
My mind began to wonder, I began to think about my nephew. Here I was mentally complaining about a hill, and daily Stephen has challenges. I began to think on the things he can't do, and quickly thanked God for the ability to run this challenging hill.
(my favorite snapshot of the day, LOVE this boy)
Then I began to think about my sister in law. She is always saying that she wished she had my motivation and discipline. But she does. She parents Stephen with endurance. She's earned that endurance. She has an unwavering commitment to her son. She pursues therapy for him, she fights for him. She's been doing this for over ten years.
I ran that hill in maybe a few minutes, and at the top I had some relief. She has no relief.
Running is hard, running long distance takes time and commitment. It is mentally taxing.
I think parenting and running have a lot in common. It takes commitment, you can't run a marathon tomorrow because you decided to today. You have to physically prepare. You also have to mentally prepare. There comes a point in your training where the mental aspect of the running is almost more of a challenge than the physical part.
Just like parenting. You have to prepare your mind to stay the course despite all the 'bumps' in the road. You've got to have endurance. You don't get endurance for free. It comes at a cost. If you want godly children that "walk in a manner worthy of the gospel" (Phil 1:27) then it will interrupt your life, it will require your time, it will wear on your nerves, it will humble you in public, it will require self control in your own life at home and in public.
My friend and I who were so gung-ho about running two laps to get distance in both needed a break. But we did it, we got the motivation. My second lap was slower than my first. There wasn't the pressure of the team depending on me to get there, it was a 'volunteer' lap. But I found that as I ran with a friend, I had accountability and encouragement right there.
Just like in parenting. We need our spouses to be an encouragement to us in this. We need other moms to come alongside us and let us know our kids are not the only kids in the world who challenge authority and test boundaries. We need community to speak truth into our hearts so that endurance is nourished properly.
I want to parent with endurance. God given, Christ centered and grace filled endurance that leads my boys to Jesus, their Creator so that one day, they will parent their own with an even stronger endurance. See, my boys do what I do. They do what my husband does. In fact, yesterday in the store, I did something my mom did when I was growing up. They imitate us. It's a scary truth.
I want my life to point to Christ, that as they imitate me, they will find their Savior.
(this is our youngest, stretching after each lap I did, because I do,
not because he ran, but because his mommy did)
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