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Chasing God's glory down life's unexpected trails

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Running for His glory: When showing up for your race matters

The following is the closing article to my summer series, “Running for His glory,” on the intersection of running and faith. This particular essay was originally published at www.incourage.me. I am so grateful for the diversity of voices and guests who have joined me in writing for this series. Leave a comment if something in this essay or the series was a help or inspiration to you!

 

By Dorina Lazo Gilmore

The announcer for the Miguel Reyes 5k race introduced the elite athletes. I watched in awe as the elite group lined up first. Each man and woman were unique – some tall, some shorter, some with shaved heads, some with long hair, but all with that similar lean frame and chiseled muscles. The rest of us fell into place behind them.

The whistle sounded, and we took off. This 5k course winds through the undulating dirt hills and green spaces of Woodward Park in Fresno, California. This is the same course that high schoolers run for the State Cross Country Meet. As a coach and runner, I’ve traversed this course for many races, but I still felt out of place that morning.

I didn’t have much get-up-and-go to tackle those hills or sprint it out at the finish. I slogged along and battled with my thoughts: You’re not in shape for this. You are getting too old. You’re carrying too much weight these days.

I’ve been a runner most of my life. I ran my first 5k when I was eight with my daddy in our Chicago neighborhood. In high school, I was a track and field athlete. I took up distance running and trail running as an adult, completing dozens of races over the last few decades.

These last several years, I’ve had the huge realization that my running glory days are probably over. I’m not standing on podiums or hitting personal records much anymore. My pace is getting slower the older I get.

My forty-two-year-old body has birthed three baby girls and navigated a tough grief journey these past five years since my husband soared to heaven. I’m mushier around the middle. I look in the mirror and see these laugh lines dancing around the corners of my eyes.

My goals and focus have shifted. Now, I run to clear my head. I run for therapy. I run to feel God’s presence.

A few weeks ago, I found my first gray hair. That wild thing sprung out from the side of my temple with much gusto as if to announce a new season. I plucked it and laughed. I raised it up in the car like a trophy for everyone to see and joked that my three active daughters might be responsible.

Perhaps you might say I’ve arrived. I’ve reached what we call this middle season of life. My friend, Lisa-Jo Baker, describes this so well in her new book, The Middle Matters: “The middle is the place where we have grown into the shapes of our souls even as we might have outgrown the shapes of our jeans. The middle is the marrow. The glorious ordinary of your life that utterly exhausts you but that you might have finally started to understand in ways you didn’t at the beginning.”

That day in the 5k race, God reminded me of something important: Showing up matters. My goals may shift and my pace may wane, but I’m still running. My race isn’t over until it’s over. Being older and slower doesn’t discount me from the race. In fact, maybe this is just the beginning. Maybe He’s leading me down a new path to a new purpose in this season.

When I was in my twenties nursing babies and running a non-profit, I dreamed of days like today when I could send my kids off to school and spend my time writing. I whispered little seed prayers to God about book ideas and creative projects. Now I have the space to cultivate and grow these seeds.

Today, I’m clinging to these words from the Apostle Paul:

 So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace.
2 Corinthians 4:16 (MSG)

A few years ago, a younger mama came up to me and asked if I would mentor her. I paused at first because I didn’t feel “old enough” to be a mentor. What wisdom did I have to offer? The more we chatted, the more I realized what she really wanted was someone to run alongside her in this race called life.

Now, we set our eyes on the finish line together. Some days we run; other days we kneel. Finishing well and leading our people to God’s glory is the goal.

Friend, whether you are still raising babies or launching them out into the world, whether you are hoisting your broken body out of bed or speed walking on a nearby trail, it still matters. Someone is watching you run your race, and you moving forward today could make all the difference.

After the Miguel Reyes 5k race, I savored tacos, agua de jamaica, and paletas with my daughters. I was sweaty and out of breath, stretching there on our red picnic blanket near the finish line. My seven-year-old looked up at me with her dark chocolate eyes and said, “Good job, mama!”

Another unexpected reminder that showing up still matters: we are teaching our baby birds how to fly.

Photo by Jon Marley

*Are you a runner or enthusiastic walker? Dorina and her husband Shawn recently started the Glory Chasers running group on Facebook. They offer up courage, coaching, and community for Christian runners. If you’re a runner or know one, join us!

Read more articles in the “Running for His glory” series:

-In “When God brings you full circle,” Dorina describes how sometimes we have to return to particular places, relationships or memories in order to measure just how far we’ve come. She learned this on a trail race she ran a few times in different seasons of life.

-In “How running found me,” Danielle E. Morgan shares her story about how running found her as a young adult and has shaped her health, her mothering, and who she is in Christ today.

-In “Battling negative self-talk,” Kristy Wallace runs us through how she reframes her internal dialogue using scripture. She runs and meditates on specific passages throughout the week.

-In “How running provided healing during mental illness,” Abigail Alleman shares her personal story of how running provided an avenue for her to continue healing during dark seasons.

-In “Discovering running as soul care,” Erin Reibel talks about how she grew into loving running as a busy mama. She consider it an important soul care practice.

-In “How I started running for all the wrong reasons,” Gloryanna Boge shares about how she started out running for all the wrong reasons, but God redeemed it for her.

-In “Run the hill,” Mark W. Jackson unfolds how running hills has helped him learn perseverance through life’s trials.

-In “Finding God’s sanctuary on the trail,” Allison Tucker shares about how God meets her on the trail. I love that she is a grandma who still ventures out into God’s sanctuary in Creation!

-In “Learning to breathe at higher altitudes,” Dorina Gilmore talks about how God breathes life into us, and we live on borrowed breaths as we run life’s path today.

-In “How one mother trusts God’s timing,” Lindsey Zarob shares about how pregnancies took a toll on her body. She had to press the pause button on running for a season, but God brought it back around for her in a new place and new way.

– In “When you feel like running away,” Shannon Rattai writes about how running has become a kind of therapy for her where she can release her burdens and anxiety to God.

-In “4 ways a half marathon transformed my prayer life,” Heather Lobe shares her personal story and gives some practical ideas on how we can incorporate prayer and scripture in our runs as well.

 

**Dorina Gilmore has also written a Bible study called Glory Chasers: Discovering God’s Glory in Unexpected Places with a running theme. Peruse a full-color sample from the Bible study here. 

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September 3, 2019 Categories: Navigating GriefTagged: courage, finishing well, Grief, hope, identity, inspirational, parenting, self-care, struggle

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Meet Dorina

Aloha, friend! If you love stories, you are in the right place. I write about grief, glory, running, food, and more. I hope these words inspire you to chase after God’s glory in your life today!

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This summer our Giada is trying something new. She joined the Fresno Flyers Track Club. This means a little more competition for our girl and more ...

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Jul 3

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This summer our Giada is trying something new. She joined the Fresno Flyers Track Club. This means a little more competition for our girl and more travel for our family.
This weekend we watched our girl compete in the West Coast Nationals in Reno, NV. She snagged: 
👉🏾3rd in her heat in the 100 and 200 meters with 11th overall in both
👉🏾2nd place in her heat for 7th overall in the 400 meters, which got her a medal and a 2.75-second personal record! 🥈 
🏃🏾‍♀️If you’ve been around here for a minute, you know @shawnyoungruns and I are running coaches and enthusiasts. Truth be told, we’d be proud of her no matter what place she got. It’s a true joy to see our child run for His glory! 🏃🏾‍♀️I know her daddy is smiling from heaven! 
🥳 Is there something your kids do that brings you joy?! Share in the comments. 
#trackfam #trackandfield #trackgirls #glorychasers #walkrunsoar
103 15

Hey friend, I’m ba-ack! This week we are Walking Through His Word together in Psalm 91. If you are feeling weary or facing some challenges this ...

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Jul 1

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Hey friend, I’m ba-ack! This week we are Walking Through His Word together in Psalm 91. If you are feeling weary or facing some challenges this week, these words were penned for you.
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The psalmist reminds us that God is our:
1️⃣refuge
2️⃣shelter
3️⃣fortress
4️⃣deliverer
5️⃣covering
6️⃣rescuer
Sometimes we feel like we have to do all the things when really we are called to trust God to be all the things for us!
“When he calls me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and honor him.” - Psalm 91:15
👉🏾How does psalm 91 encourage you today?! Share in the comments. 
#biblestudy #psalms #devotional #womenoftheword #bibleverse
26 5

“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” - Psalm 90:12
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Todays psalm takes us all the way back to the time ...

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Jun 17

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“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” - Psalm 90:12
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Todays psalm takes us all the way back to the time when the Israelites were about to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land. This psalm from the pen of Moses reminds us that life is short. None of us is promised tomorrow.
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Friends, this psalm serves as a pertinent reminder that today is the day to return to God, to rejoice = return to joy, to ask Him to establish the work of our hands (instead of trying to pull it all together by ourselves!)
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👉🏾How does Psalm 91 encourage your heart?
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#devotional #psalm #womenoftheword #bibkestudy #incourage #hopewriters #christianwomenspeaker
19 3

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we live in fractured times. The pandemic forced us to distance ourselves and isolate. Politics and hot ...

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Jun 15

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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we live in fractured times. The pandemic forced us to distance ourselves and isolate. Politics and hot button issues have created a wide divide. Church hurt has caused us to withdraw and question. We’ve lost our value for doing life together.
I believe we are going to have to reimagine community in order to survive this next season. We are going to have to prune and cultivate, to bear each other’s burdens around the table and tend to each other’s wounds in the garden. We need to support each other and root ourselves anew in rich soul.
The word flourish means “to thrive, to grow luxuriantly, to grow in excellence and influence.” I don’t know about you, but I long to flourish in this one life I have to live. And even more I would love to be planted in a garden of people flourishing all around me. God designed us to flourish together!
🌺Is there someone you have been disconnected with for a while that you could reach out to today? Is there a friend or a neighbor you could invite over for tea or a meal? Let’s lean in to bloom where we’re planted in community. 🪴☕️ 
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👉🏾SAVE or SHARE this post if you found it valuable!
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#chaisisters #flourishingtogether #community #communitylife #jesusgirl #hopewriters #bloomwhereyouareplanted #womemoftheword #bettertogether #incourage
81 13

Today we are marching through Psalm 89. This one is dense with reminders that God is awesome, faithful, and brimming with steadfast love for us!
...

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Jun 10

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Today we are marching through Psalm 89. This one is dense with reminders that God is awesome, faithful, and brimming with steadfast love for us!
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I love the call and response and the honest questions that Hubble to the surface in this psalm. The people are struggling. They are wondering when God is going to show up to rescue them.
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This psalm invites us to 3 things:
1️⃣sing
2️⃣question
3️⃣trust
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👉🏾What resonates with you today?
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#prayer #psalms #devotional #womenoffaith #propelwomen #hopewriters #incourage #david
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