The blessing is outside of your comfort zone

People often talk about the spiritual journey of running.  I don't know that it's the running that's getting to me or the purpose.  Either way, I am experiencing God in exciting ways.
I figured that since this isn't my first race, or even my first time training for a marathon with Team World Vision, that I had kind of seen and experienced it all.  I kept focusing on the physical, but God is surprising me in the spiritual.  I don't even care about my physical shape anymore, because I'm out there doing it, I'm confident I'm going to cross the finish line.  So now I'm just along for the journey.  And what a journey it has been!
I've been on this journey in one way or another for almost 7 months now, but each day gets more exciting.  My friend, Clare, shared this podcast with me about running as a spiritual practice.  I've been listening to a lot of podcasts and books while I run lately, and I am amazed how God is using each and every one of them to meet me where I'm at.  In today's podcast a quote that kept being repeated is "The blessing is outside of your comfort zone."  I'll tell you, it took me a long time to figure out what was outside of my comfort zone!  I'm pretty comfortable with most anything.  But trying to raise $10,000...outside of my comfort zone!  I love sharing about why I'm raising the money, and I love sharing about what I'm learning, but the actual ask is very difficult for me.  But, God has called me to this purpose, so I am trusting that God will deliver!
It's interesting because as I ran this morning, all of these thoughts were running through my head, and I wrote them down as soon as I got home.  I almost sat down then to blog, but decided to wait.  Boy am I glad I waited!
Pastor Lupina's message today was spot on with what I was listening to and thinking about on my morning run.  It was amazing!  It's like we had all sat down together to decide a theme for today.  But we didn't.  That's how I know this is a message from God that is coming through.  Today's message was "The Kingdom Assignment" and was about Matthew 25:14-30.  The question that was asked was "What do we do with the talents God has given us?"  On my run, one of the speakers on the podcast talked about how she was the slowest on her cross country team, but that she ran for joy.  It made me think about how I don't have the gift or the natural talent of running, but I sure enjoy it!  I've always been one of the slowest, but I usually have a smile on my face.  I don't believe that God put me out here to run, but to learn and share the word about child protection and the clean water projects of Team World Vision.  It seriously keeps coming up everywhere, even in podcasts and books I'm listening to!  It's crazy...and it's God!
Anyways, when Matthew talks about the talents, he's not talking about "talent" but about money.  Which is where this comes in even more to what I'm doing.  It's about using what we have to make it grow.  We were challenged at church today with $100 to see how we can grow it and use it for God's Kingdom.  I think I'm in the midst of that now!  I started with nothing, but by sharing my story we have raised $2,000 to protect children worldwide!  I truly believe that I am going to make that $10,000 mark.
Our team is just $10,000 from making our first goal of $100,000!!!  With just a small donation of $5 (giving up coffee, soda, or ice cream for one day) you can help us get closer to that goal!  Our goal is to meet the $100,000 mark by the end of this week.  Feel like you can give more?  Donate what you can and know that your donation is going to impact children worldwide!  Want to know more about how your donation is being used?  Read this.
Somewhere in the midst of the podcast, sermon, or discussion today, I was reminded that if God calls you, He has given you the gift you need.  I believe God has called me to help protect children, and will provide the money.
I believe that God is calling me to help children not only world wide but also locally.  I spent the weekend learning about the foster care system and what I can do to help.  I've been moved by discussions I've been having, videos I've seen, and articles I've read.  So as I'm running to bring child protection worldwide, I'm also being trained and used to make a difference here in my community.  God is really doing something here!  I expected this all to be about the run, but it is about so much more than that!  Sometimes I forget that this is even for a run.  The run part just seems silly now!  But, I enjoy the run, I enjoy how God is moving in these runs, and I am excited to share more about this journey with you in the near future!  Great things are happening, and it is all coming together!

If you would like to donate to Team World Vision, or just would like to learn more, please go to https://www.teamworldvision.org/participant/carlypowne

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and learn more about what I'm passionate about and what you can do to help!