Starting to feel like a runner again

Today's blog started with a dream. In the dream, I sat next to a dear friend and I said something about finally feeling like a runner again. She looked me square in the eyes and said, "You ARE a runner! Never doubt that!"
I haven't always seen myself as a runner. As a matter of fact, my first race I registered as a walker because I knew I couldn't run the whole 3.1 miles. I didn't understand that if you ran even a portion of that distance, you were considered a runner. That was such a different mindset for me. I thought if you couldn't run it all, it didn't count.

I joined in the local running group, and our coach told me over and over that I should start calling myself a runner. No one had ever told me that before and I think she had to just about YELL it for me to hear it....but it slowly started to sink in. I even started signing my name of race registrations as "Donna 'I am a runner' Sumrall. It didn't make me go any faster, but it changed the way I saw myself.

A fellow runner told me "If you run, you are a runner. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run." You've gotta love that.

Once you start to see yourself as a runner, a lot of things change. You carry yourself differently. You have more confidence. You move with purpose in your everyday life. You feel more strength and therefore you are willing to step out more. I'll admit, it's a good feeling and one that I am enjoying experiencing again. As I start to see myself as a runner again, I find I'm much more likely to tie on my shoes and hit the road to log in another mile. I am a runner...

Then today in my morning devotion, I read something that tied in with this whole idea of how we see ourselves. The Bible calls us kings and priests (Rev. 1:6) and world overcomers (1 John 5:4). For many of us, those phrases are still becoming real. We're still learning who we really are. I can really identify with that! Although I have been a Christian for most of my life, at times I forget just what that means!

There is a song we used to sing years ago: "And now, let the poor say I am rich; let the weak say I am strong; because of what the Lord has done for us."

Maybe it's time Christians to start calling themselves for what they are...according to God's Word. While I don't see myself as rich, if I look at the rest of the world, I realize just how wealthy I truly am. I may not feel gifted, but when I realize all the things I am able to accomplish, I realize I do have gifts to share with others. I may not always feel it, but I truly am strong. The extraordinary thing is that once I start to CALL myself rich, gifted, strong, and blessed - eventually I begin to FEEL that way too.

A lot of life has to do with the way you see yourself. I choose to see myself as a child of the King....a child that RUNS!

1 Peter 2:9, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."