Standing in the cool early morning air, everywhere I looked there were people of all ages with numbers attached to their running clothes, all in various poses of contortion.  I was surrounded by my fellow marathon runners who were pushing, pulling, flexing, bending and twisting their bodies in preparation for the grueling 26.2 miles that would test the limits of their physical endurance and mental determination.

If someone didn't get loose enough before the start, they had to do what I did at mile marker 19 - stop to stretch out the muscles that had tightened up along the way.

In our lifelong marathon to (BE)TTER, we get stretched too, but not just in our bodies.  We encounter situations that push the boundaries of our emotional pain tolerance, to say nothing of our finances and spirituality that can end up hanging by a thread. The capacity of how much we can handle gets tested when a marriage crumbles, a career vanishes or a loved one gets addicted, leading us to desperately plead with God for a sign that points the way out of the pain.

In 2 Corinthians 4:8, 9 & 10 the Apostle Paul wrote about the purpose he discovered during the agony of those times when stamina runs low and the will to keep fighting has nearly been knocked out: "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body."

We have all been shaped by events that were bigger than us. It is during the discomfort of unfamiliar positions that we grow beyond current comfort levels and lengthen our ability to reach further than we ever thought possible.  Outlasting the times of being pushed and pulled in every direction creates the various plot twists and turns that make each of our stories unique.  It is at those points where the evidence that God's power has worked in us and is now showing through us brings confidence into our own minds and becomes a clear sign to others that if we can make it, they can too.  When you take a minute to look back over your life, you'll notice that those same pressing engagements have also been producing higher levels of stamina to accompany your storied history.  Being armed with a strong backstory and an ever-increasing flexibility goes a long way toward keeping us in the race in the long run.

Experiences bigger than us always have the potential to expand our capacity for a bigger and Better Life.


To (BE)TTER: Today we will live inspired in spirit, mind and body so we will leave a legacy of Better Life for tomorrow.