Let Us Run (or walk!) with Perseverance

Good morning all! Today’s the day… Team Isaiah is lacing it up and walking/running in the Wolfson Children’s Challenge to raise money for Wolfson Children’s Hospital. We have Team Isaiah members in both the 1 Mile Fun Run/Walk and in the 55 Mile Ultra Marathon Relay, made up of 10 team members who run a minimum of 5.5 miles each. In fact, as you read this, (it’s now 4:30 am), Ashlene and Sara have just taken off together for legs 1 & 2, a total of 11 miles together, to kick off the race.

Paul and I are so incredibly humbled by your support of this amazing hospital, for your prayers, for your donations in honor of our sweet Isaiah, for cheering our teammates on, for your kind thoughts. We are so filled with love and grace by those around us, and honestly, can’t thank you all enough. So, big shout outs to Meg, Jen, Ashlene, Sara, Monica, Kellie, Mike, Tra, Kelley, Britt, Charlie and anyone else who joins us in the slight chill and suspected rain today.

If you’re out there and looking for us, we’ll be the ones in the adorable shirts above, made by my friend Jenna at Abundant Heart Apparel.
In the coming week or so, we will make several Team Isaiah tanks, tshirts and sweatshirts available for purchase, with a portion of the proceeds going back to support Wolfson Children’s Hospital through our foundation. As soon as Jenna and I have worked out the details, we’ll make those shirts available right here on this website.

So let’s talk about the message on the shirts. The verse comes to us from Hebrews. And it goes like this: 

“Therefore, being surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race that is marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus…

I’ve been thinking about this verse a lot the past few weeks and wanted to give you my take on how the verse above has moved me. I encourage you to search your heart and share with us how it moves you as well!

A great cloud of witnesses: You’re at the starting line of a race… the race is to be holy, to live a life as close to Jesus lived. To follow the commandments. And the race is not a sprint. I think that’s where some of us get lost. We get all caught up in the “now” (ask our friend Ben Crane about “the now”! I’m actually giggling as I type this! Click here to see why… Anyhow, I digress. Ok, so we live in the now. And we’re not looking at life as a marathon. We get excited about something, but it’s fleeting. We feel God’s presence but then the moment passes and we get around friends or peers or coworkers and then it’s not “cool” to be that “God-loving chick” anymore. Has this ever happened to you? It’s happened to me. EVERY SINGLE PERSON around you is a witness. Some are believers. Some are at the starting line with you, and they’re ready to run the race. Some are reluctant participants – someone begged them to come so they’re there, but they’re not there in spirit or heart. Ever been there? Some are just watching from the sidelines. No matter what, they’re all witnesses. Whether they’re on your path with you to eternal live with our Savior or they haven’t yet discovered Him and all the grace and mercy, the forgiveness He offers through his death on the cross, EVERYONE IS A WITNESS. What will you show them today?

Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles: Here’s the visual I get when I think of this. The Olympics are coming. You’ll notice when the athletes get geared up for a race, they remove all their excess “junk”, anything that would slow them down. That’s the visual I get when I read this verse. It’s almost race time – what’s holding you back? Is it guilt? Is it that you feel unworthy? What is it that ties you down? What is it that slows you up? Whatever it is, you can leave it at the starting line. It’s not your burden to carry. When Christ died on the cross, he accepted that burden for you. How amazing is that???

And the sin that entangles you? What sin is tripping you up? What’s got your attention that might be preventing you from having a deeper relationship with God? Do you know Jesus yet? Do you have a relationship with Him? It’s NOT about religion. It’s about a relationship. Period. And just having that relationship doesn’t mean you won’t sin or be tempted to sin. It simply means that you’re forgiven. Now. Right now. For every sin in your past, for the sin you’re about to commit, and the sins of your future. You are forgiven NOW. So cut the shackles. Don’t be entangled. Don’t get caught up. You have a marathon to run… and no one wants to run it with excess baggage. It’ll just unnecessarily weigh you down!

Run with perseverance the race marked out before us: Here it is. The race marked out before us. We are told in Jeremiah 29:11,
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. And in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…”

God’s plan for you and your life is already marked out. The finish line is the same for all of us, eternity with his Son in heaven. When we get diverted off that path, guess who has taken a “short cut” or a “detour”? I can tell you this for sure – it’s not God. He will never leave you nor forsake you. So when the path changes, when the finish line becomes a blur and we think we have a better way, guess what? God is still there when we jump back on. He’s ALWAYS there. We know His plan is better than anything we could ever dream up for ourselves. We simply must keep our eyes focused UP, on HIM, on all things heavenly. Paul calls it a “mirror” in his testimony, which I encourage you to listen to by clicking here and scrolling down to 7/15/12 to “Paul’s testimony”. Everything that meets you on your path, turn the mirror up. Give God the glory. Go to Him with your concerns. But keep on the path he has set before you. He has perfectly devised a race marked especially for you. Don’t miss out on the blessings he has for you!

So, what does this all mean for us with the arrival of Isaiah? Why is this verse so important to us? Simple: God decided LONG ago that Paul and i were going to meet, that we would get married, that we would have this incredible little boy who was going to change lives all over the world. Never in our wildest DREAMS could we have imagined such greatness for our lives, for our marriage, for our family. Never. Can you imagine if we hadn’t stayed the course? If we’d taken our own route? We would have missed out on the incredible blessing of this little boy. So would you! You wouldn’t be reading this right now because I wouldn’t be typing it. There would be no baby Isaiah. No miracle. But here we are. And instead of being afraid or angry or scared by the circumstances, Paul and I have been surrounded by LOVE and FAITH, enveloped in GRACE. It is only through God that we could so happily embrace this journey He has chosen for us, for on our own we’re big fat sinners! But through the grace of God, we have been entrusted with the earthly life of this amazing miracle child. And you can bet that we’re gonna buckle up for the marathon. We’re ready. We’re at the starting line, looking around at the cloud of witnesses. What will they see in us? What’s different about us?? Our prayer is that the witnesses will see hope and not despair. Love, grace and forgiveness. Not anger and hurt. We hope that we can be a reflection of the love that God has for us. Because we cannot FATHOM how much He loves us to give us the gift of Isaiah to share with all of you. It’s that simple. So we’ll stumble. It’s inevitable. But we’re reminded to strip off all that entangles us. Get back on the path. And run with perseverance the race marked out for us… for God’s plan is perfect. 100% perfect. Just like our little boy.

Have an amazing Saturday! And if you can’t participate today but want to support our efforts through Team Isaiah for Wolfson, you can mail a donation to:

Tesori Family Foundation
ATTN: Team Isaiah
830 A1A North, Suite 13
Box 453
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082

GOD BLESS! Pictures updated as the day goes on…