Finishing

This past weekend I ran in a 10k race.  I have not blogged about it along the way because I was afraid as soon as I mentioned it something would happen and I would not be able to run the race.  But I worked really hard and did it!  My first goal was just to finish.  And then my next goal was to finish in under one hour (long gone are the days of 8 minute miles).  And we did it!  59 minutes and 16 seconds.  

I love being a mom and I feel  so blessed that I get to stay home with my children.  I would not change it for anything!  As a mom though, there are not many times that you feel a sense of accomplishment.  When you are working, you can look back and see what you have accomplished for the day.  You finish things and move on to the next task.  As a mom, your work is never done.  Just when I think I have finally gotten the laundry under control, the baskets are full again.  The sink is always full before the previous load of dishes are even finished being washed.  No matter how many times I pick up toys, within five minutes it can look like a tornado touched down in every room of my house.  And raising kids, well that job is never done!  It is a continual effort that sometimes makes me want to pull my hair out with frustration when I hear the kids screaming and hitting each other.  But, when I see them loving each other, playing with each other, taking care of their baby sister, loving other kids, helping the younger child on the playground, saying their bible verses, telling me about why Jesus died on the cross, I just want to cry I am so proud of them (the good kind of proud).  I love it, I love being a mom.  But sometimes I just need tangible things that I can say, "whew, I finished something!"  There are so many metaphors you can make about running a race and I think I have made them all and they all have rung true spiritually, emotionally and physically.  But honestly it just feels good to see the end results of my hard work!

Now I just have to sign up for another race because I am feeling zero motivation to run for "no reason" (although we all know exercise is just good because it is good, at this stage in life I need motivation!).