just keep going

Today I got to read the first lesson and psalm in church. I love to read aloud - so this task fits me well:) Today's reading was quite long though, and contained a list of OT names that weren't so easy to pronounce, so I wasn't totally feeling it and hurried my way through. Feelings are so unreliable I've discovered (again and again and again...). They were unreliable again today. This "long and boring passage" contained more than I initially thought - the message I needed to hear. It was the story of Hannah, who was barren, but prayed to God fervently for a son. I'm sure she must have felt weary of saying that same prayer over and over. But in time, God blessed her with a child, and she bore a son whom she named Samuel. Today's gospel lesson from Luke 18 made the same case for persisting in prayer - "And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart..." The sermon naturally followed: don't give up! keep praying!

I feel like giving up far too often. I went for a run before church this morning. I'd been feeling tired and heavy all week. I attempted to do a longer run yesterday and didn't make it as far as I would have liked, so I tried again today - hoping that today would break the cycle. I started strong and felt good for most of the way, but then I started feeling tired again, and felt like giving up. My mantra for the remainder of the run: "It's ok to feel tired, JUST KEEP GOING!"