rejoice in this divine romance.

for the past week i have been running.
last tuesday was one of those days where i just felt gross. i hadn't worked out in a while and my body was beginning to feel lethargic. so i ran. i ran to gooddale park and stopped. i was winded and worn out, but the park was beautiful and i layed on a bench for thirty minutes just looking into the sky.
i have tried to commit myself to running for years. i usually get about three days in and then i remember how much i hate running. how my body aches and my throat burns and the only thing i like about running is being done with running. but by sunday this week i was craving it. i have been running to sermons and thinking about the lord. i run through the nearly abandoned streets of victorian village, where the roads sit quietly and there aren't other runners to decide my pace. i just run. occasionally i get to wave to couples sitting on their porch or a cat crossing the sidewalk will change my pace. but for the most part, i just run.
my roommates are weirded out. honestly, honestly, it's just good time with the lord. i don't really care about being in shape. (i mean i do to an extent, because i'm a girl.) but for the most part it is just beautiful time. and because i am not focused on how much i run or how fast, but rather focused on the lord, i am able to run like i have never ran.
the point of all of this is that i could tell you about tonight...
today i didn't really feel like running but as the evening approached i put on my shoes and headed out. i wasn't even to king ave and i could feel that today was going to be different. my body felt great. i made my way well past my regular path and down into the city. i was breathing fine and actually enjoying myself. running back to campus, through the allies, i watched the sun set over houses. purple and pink clouds caught my vision as i moved out from under branches of tall trees. i made it back to my house but wasn't tired so i continued to run. looping around dorms and zigzagging down streets, i couldn't seem to tire myself out. i started thinking about how this running thing is very much like my relationship with the lord. i have to make the decision to spend time with him everyday. i have to do it even when i don't feel like it. some days are hard and everything in my body says who cares, why are you doing this? and some days are beautiful. i am refreshed as i am reminded of the gospel. i am comfortable in his gospel. the gospel that was set forth for me. my gospel. and i am easily pushing forward in his glory.
today. my run. was like that. i feel like i could have ran forever and the only reason i stopped was because i was bored. because i wanted to come inside and read. after 5 miles of running--letting the roads take me where ever they wished, listening to beau hughs talk about remembering the gospel--i switched my ipod to true love. making a final lap around my block i sprinted up death alley from market place to my house. "when blood and water hit the ground, walls we couldn't move came crashing down." that's the gospel. the gospel that saves me.
i forced myself to stop in front of my house and my body felt a rush that was unknown to me until tonight. as i layed on the hood of my car listening to phil praise the lord for how beautiful he is, i was satisfied. in that moment. i was satisfied.