(Hint: even though my story is a homeschooling journey, this post is not about homeschooling.) ;)
This is our 11th year of homeschooling. This is also the first year that 2 out of the 3 of us involved were NOT excited to start the year. I was one of them.
I was simply not ready to end summer, to give up my lazy mornings and our pool days with friends. I didn't feel like writing lesson plans and re-learning Geometry or Biology so that I can keep up with our oldest. I didn't want to spend my time reading the introductions to various textbooks and teacher guides or figuring out how to teach this new curriculum. I just wanted to drink my coffee and read my book with bedhead until late morning when I might decide to shower for the day.
And then I read this: "Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us." (Hebrews 12:1b) And I had an epiphany, an "ah-ha!" moment! This job of educating my children is not a sprint, it's a marathon.
While I have never run a marathon, I have listened to runners talk about the wall they hit sometime after the halfway point, but before the end is in sight. And that's where we are in this homeschool journey. We are someplace past the halfway point, but still several years to go to graduate. I believe the lack of excitement my son and I feel is our wall.
This verse was so good for me because it reminded me that no matter what it is that God has called us to, it is usually a marathon. His call on our lives is rarely a sprint.
Fortunately, the surrounding verses give us the directions to run with endurance: "...let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith."
For me, my laziness and selfishness were the weights that were slowing me down. Sure, there was a time for enjoying slow mornings with a book and a cup of coffee, but that time is over and I need to let it go. Keeping my eyes on Jesus comes when I reset my focus from myself to Him and what He has called me to do. It usually involves some self-discipline--putting down my book to pick up His book, getting out of bed in time to spend time with Him before the busy-ness of the day takes over.
Your marathon may not be educating your children at home. Maybe it is the trenches of being a stay at home mom with young children. Maybe it is being a career woman who is asked to take on more. Or being single and wishing for a husband. Or being married and dreaming of having children. Maybe it is being a military spouse facing your umpteenth move and wishing the career was over. Maybe it is life after a career. Maybe it is a disability you face. Maybe it has nothing to do with what you DO and everything to do with who you ARE. We are all running a marathon.
What are YOUR weights that slow you down? How can you refocus your eyes on the prize?
Verse 2 goes on to say this: "Because of the joy awaiting Him (Jesus), He endured the cross, disregarding its shame."
We know there is great joy awaiting us in heaven. But I believe there is also great joy awaiting us here on earth as we show ourselves faithful and run with endurance. It's not a sprint. Push through the hard stuff, the wall. Do what you are called to do and do it with excellence, even when it is hard. Joy awaits.
