Off to Europe!

I am leaving on a jet plane… To Leuven, Belgium for the month of July! It is hard to believe that the day has already arrived, while at the same time I feel as though I have been waiting a long time! I am traveling with 10 track athletes, just one other distance runner, with a group called Athlete’s in Action. I truly feel like it is a team that God created just for me! My roommate, Jamie Cheever, traveled to Europe last year and met this group and told me about them. She shared that they were a bunch of Christian track athlete’s that were eager to use their sport as an act of worship, to grow in their faith, and eager to share their faith with others. I don’t know if I am supposed to make agreements with God, but when I heard about it I told God that if I was healthy in March, I would commit to the trip. Through prayer, and as March came along, I peacefully and enthusiastically committed! There is a lot of ambiguity in my life, but going on this trip is one month of my life that I have a great peace about.

I am not entirely sure what my daily life will look like, but I plan to keep my Blog updated as well as my twitter feed. I do know that I will get to race in a variety of races throughout Belgium. There is a race circuit called Flander’s Cup; I think of it like Mario Cart where you choose your circuitJ Many runners travel to Europe seeking opportunities to compete and run fast times. It reminds me that the true definition of competition is “to seek together.” I look forward to seeking together with my competitors to be the best athletes we can be in order to run our fastest. I will be running mainly 1500s. I wish I could race more 5Ks, but I am so grateful for any opportunity to race. I feel like my attitude about racing is one of gratitude and excitement, which is something slightly new. I know I will be nervous, and am already a little, but I feel like I have nothing to lose but to simply enjoy the opportunity to pour my heart out in a competition and thank God for the gift he entrusted me. One of my prayers for this year has been to relearn how to love this sport no matter how I perform, and I truly do feel like God has transformed my attitude! Here are the races I will be doing:

July 6- Oordegem – 1500

July 10- Liege – 1500

July 13-Heusden, KBC- 1500

July 14- Kortrijk -800

July 27- Ninove – 5K

Throughout this trip I am praying that I would constantly rely on God and that he would show up in a big way. I am praying that no matter what the racing results or any other challenges that may come, that I would fall more in love with Jesus and entrust more of my life to him. I am of course anxious about the unknown, but my main emotion is one of gratitude for this amazing opportunity to worship God in this unique way, for this amazing opportunity to compete, and for a chance to meet some amazing people on my team and that will also be out there racing (amazing seems to be my adjective of choice)! I would love your prayers! I will keep you all updated!

Here part of a Psalm that I am praying for this trip:

“I waited patiently for the Lord;

He turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit,

Out of the mud and mire

He set my feet upon a rock

And gave me a firm place to stand.

He put a new song in my mouth,

A hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear the Lord

And put their trust in him.

Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,

Who does not look to the proud,

To those who turn aside to false gods.” Psalm 40:1-4