I know You believe in me, but I don't
know if I can do this anymore.
It's so hot.
I'm so thirsty.
I just--I just wish You were here.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
I know You believe in me, but I'm still
a little nervous about doing this,
even though it was my choice.
And yet I'm glad I chose to be here.
I'm excited to train.
I'm excited to grow.
In fact, it's already better here
than what I imagine it'd be.
It's so beautiful, so peaceful.
I'm not sure why anybody wouldn't do this.
But of course, everyone told me it couldn't be done
or that it shouldn't be done.
It wasn't worth the sacrifice.
People would look at me so funny when I talked about it.
After all, who on earth would ever run 100 miles?
But You know what was actually funny?
That first month of morning runs.
The sun would be coming up; my legs felt great;
the desert was incredible.
I had the whole world to myself--paradise.
And then one day, on my first late-morning run,
I felt something, something really uncomfortable.
[LABORED BREATHING]
There I was, one month in, feeling
like I was starting all over.
It was true: in the desert, interesting things do happen.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Every article I read said that I'd need to mix up my training
to get stronger--different terrains,
different times of day.
But as I did that, I began to feel small, insecure.
But You always told me to keep going,
and so that's what I did--week after week, month after month,
pushing myself to a place I'd never been.
You always told me that if I came here,
I'd find out the truth about myself.
And that's what I want.
That's what I wanted when I started.
Now I'm not even sure why I'm here.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
You always said there'd be a way, though right now, I'm
not really sure I like the way this is going.
I'm starting to see why people thought I was crazy.
Maybe they were right.
Maybe this was all just a bad idea.
I know You believe in me, but I don't
know if I can do this anymore.
It's so hot.
I'm so thirsty.
I just--I just wish You were here.
I don't think I have anything left.
I think I'm just done.
Unless--
[MUSIC PLAYING]
You told me once that if I ever hesitated because I doubted
my ability to remember that life's not about doing things
perfectly it's about doing things intentionally.
You said that it's your choices that show what you truly are
far more than your abilities.
And even if I failed, I could choose to not give up,
that I could find my courage, press forward, and rise up,
that that was the great test of the journey.
I'm not perfect, but that's not why I'm here.
I'm here to keep trying, to keep running, to keep pushing.
I'm here to keep going.
I don't know why I always try to live my life like a sprint.
It's not a sprint; it's a marathon.
And every day I turn my heart to You and hear Your voice,
I get the strength I need to keep going,
the light I need to move forward--helping others along
the way, reaching out to those in distress with no expectation
of repayment, just the pure love of Christ,
sharing my life and my journey and sharing Your story--not
burying it, but giving it freely.
Heavenly Father, I'm sorry.
This old desert just has a way of distracting me.
There's so much to see, so much to feel.
And honestly, for the first few months,
I almost looked past the whole point of it all.
All I wanted was a flat, easy path.
But that wasn't the point.
It was the climb, the adventure.
I could spend a lifetime waiting for a moment when
everything lines up perfectly, waiting for everything
to fall into place.
Now I know I don't have to.
Now I know that all I have to do is take courage,
and with faith in Jesus Christ, just
put one foot in front of the other.
[MUSIC PLAYING]