Taking the Hills

I want to know Christ...and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him.

Philippians 3:10

Running experts recommend not attempting a long distance run such as a half marathon until you can run easily run three miles. I'm not sure what their definition of easy is but after ten years of running, three miles still doesn't feel "easy". 


My typical three mile route is equally divided by a large hill. Each time I approach it I think to myself. This is my day. Today this hill will seem easy. But easy doesn't come until I'm on the other side of it.

Me and my second favorite running partner...

I find running hills difficult for three reasons: 


1. I Don't Like Hills


If God made queues for his various blessings, I doubt anyone, myself included, would line up under "Difficulty" or "Hardship". We avoid life's hills because we don't like them. No one likes suffering but life's challenges mold us into the shape of Christ. 


I don't like hills but I love becoming more like the One who purchased my victory on one.


2. I Change My Posture


When I face a hill, I'm tempted to lean forward, shorten my stride and gut it out. All these things work against my ability to run them. Difficulty can also change my posture. Typical advice during hard seasons is to "keep the faith", "you can do it" or "you got this." 


These admonishments sound upbeat but actually move my posture from one of humility and depending on God to one of pride and depending on me. When I face a hill, I need to maintain a posture of total reliance on God. He is the One who carries me up the steepest challenge.


3. My Breathing Gets Shallow


Hills wreck my breathing. It goes from slow and steady to quick and shallow. I used to wonder how it was someone could "pray without ceasing" until I heard it described and spiritual breathing. 


As circumstances come in, we breathe a prayer out.
As a situation arises, we breathe a prayer out.
As a difficult personality confronts us, we breathe a prayer out.


When I face trouble, my temptation is to let my prayer life get shallow. The one sentence prayers we've been studying (review the first three here, here, and here) allow us to keep our spiritual breath even throughout the day.


I may never run three miles with ease. Hills may never cease to daunt me. But I can choose a running partner, a posture and a pattern of breathing that transforms the uphill climb as it transforms me.


Are you facing a life hill? How could you alter your posture and breathing to better face your challenge?
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For more inspiration on preparing for life's big events, download Shannon's free 30 day prayer guide, PrePrayed: Preparation for Life's Events or Shannon's 8 Life Transforming Prayers.

What's Your Season?

The first fall I had four daughters, I insisted they dress in coordinating outfits. This was the one and only time they let me get away with that but boy were they cute. Each one represented a different season but none symbolized mine - I was in a season of difficulty.

Today I've been invited by Christin Slade of Joyful Mothering to share this season of my life with you. When Christin isn't homeschooling her five children you can find her pressing closer to the heart of God. The love of Christ shines through her in the summers of her life as much as her stalwart faith grounds her in the winters.

Whether you're looking for tips on how to teach your kids about Jesus or long to walk more intimately with Him, you'll find help and hope at her site: www.joyfulmothering.net. Won't you join me there today so we can walk together? Whether despair falling from the tree of our life or new joy is growing from the ground of our heart, we'll weather better together.

The Great Wall

Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.

Psalm 73:23

Pregnancy comes with a multitude of surprises. You ache in places you didn't know existed. You have fluctuations in energy and appetite. A miracle grows within.

I was five months pregnant when I boarded the plane for Beijing. I knew a thrilling adventure awaited me. I was determined to capture each sight, smell and sound.

The day we traveled to the Great Wall was steamy for September. It's sheer enormity daunted. To climb it in my condition would be no small feat but I was determined. In parts it was a gentle slope. In others it was a vertical staircase. By the end I questioned my choice dozens of times. Just about the time I was certain I'd make Chinese headlines from being helicoptered back down, we made it to the top.

Shannon, Five Months Pregnant, at the top
of the Great Wall

Seasons of life bring Great Walls into our lives.

The child we're not sure how to parent.


The marriage stretched beyond its boundaries.


Finances so far into the red they're crimson.


Unplanned illnesses, changes, and circumstances.

Carynne (5) is quick to tell you she's been to China and climbed the Great Wall. With every stride of my legs, she kicked hers. She was with me in each uncertain step. Together we made it to the top.

When life's problems loom, I am not alone. 


When life is too much for me, it's not too much for Him.

He is with me in each uncertain step. Together we will make it to the top.

Hidden Treasure

She sat sideways in the leather chair while snowflakes danced down her legs over the armrest. Hurricane Christmas has littered her with presents big and small. One gift remained under the tree which bore the same name as her new Nike iD shoes - Hannah.

As the wrapping floated to the floor, another wrapped box appeared inside. Nested one inside the other, there was four boxes in all. The final package fit inside her hands. Somehow this made its' paper more difficult to tear.

Trembling hands opened the velvet case inside and out tumbled her James Avery charm bracelet, a treasure from her thirteenth birthday, misplaced in 2010.

The best gift was the one she'd had all along.

I wonder about us. Did we unwrap the very best gift this Christmas - the one we've had all along?

Hannah's bracelet had been close all these months - in the middle compartment of my car. We had opened that space hundreds of times but kept overlooking the treasure within.

I do that sometimes. I look at the outside things like circumstances, annoyances and inconvenience and overlook the treasure within.

The hidden joy is pressing closer to Christ in the midst of my difficulty. It's the gift I've had all along. Sometimes I just forget to take it out of the package.