Running Like a 3-year-old

During Thanksgiving break, my 3-year-old daughter Shelby and I had a few hours of one-on-one "girl time." It was a perfect fall day and we had a neighbor who was out of town needing her dog fed. Perfect opportunity to combine a good long walk with helping a friend!

So we started down our dead-end, rarely traveled, five-houses-in-a-mile-and-a-half road. Immediately, because she's three, she said, "Let's run!" The elevation from our house to our neighbor's house is primarily downhill, so I told her I'd run whenever she wanted. 

I had no idea that she would run most of the way. (I also would have worn something other than jeans, for one thing!) She would sprint as hard as she could for as long as she could, then walk for about 20 steps, only to start sprinting again. I was so proud. And shocked. And out of breath. (And I call myself a runner! I couldn't even keep up with a 3-year-old going downhill!)

We got to our neighbor's house and took care of her dog. I looked at Shelby and said, "Are you ready to head back?" She looked at me in all seriousness and said, "Mama, I don't think I'm going to be able to make it back home." 

She was spent.

You see, she ran like a 3-year old: all out, resting just long enough to catch her breath, then all out again. Over and over.

She asked me if I could carry her back. (Uphill? Over a mile? Yeah, right!) I told her I couldn't. But I promised her that we could rest whenever she needed and I would go as slowly as she wanted.

We made it about 100 yards before she told me she was just too tired to keep going. We both sat down in the middle of the road and I rubbed her legs as she sipped water. After a few minutes we hopped up and started again, resting regularly and making sure not to overdo it.

And that's how we traveled back home: walk, rest, drink, repeat.

The whole episode was hilarious, and at first I found it funny to reflect on how unrestrained and unprepared a 3-year-old is for a 3-mile run.

But then I realized her run looked a lot like my life.

I go too hard for too long, not stopping to rest or recover. I pause just long enough to catch my breath, only to go hard again.

And then I realize I'm spent: spiritually, mentally, emotionally. I look at the hill in front of me and say, "I don't think I'm going to be able to make it."

Come on, you've done it too, either in running or in life. Probably both :)

But though we've all come to the point of exhaustion in our lives, there's some great advice we can learn from little Shelby when we find ourselves at the bottom of the hill with a long way to go:

There's no rush. Though we live in a fast-paced world, our loving Heavenly Father is not rushing you. In fact we are told to "wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord," (Psalm 27:14). Let Him set the pace. He won't leave you behind!

You need nourishment. Shelby and I drank almost an entire liter of water on the return trip home, primarily because we never stopped to drink on the way out. Just as it's easy to get dehydrated on a run, it's easy to forget the importance of being filled spiritually, too. Luckily our Father is a Shepherd who "leads us beside still waters" and "refreshes our soul," (Psalm 23). Let Him nourish you with His Word, His presence, His peace.

Rest regularly. Not just sleep. (Though sleep is necessary, too!) REST. Sit for just a few minutes and ask God to clear your heart and your mind. Dwell on His Word as you drive or fold laundry or rock your baby. You don't need perfect peace and quiet to find rest; you find rest when you focus on God, trusting His love for you. "Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my salvation comes from Him," (Psalm 62:5). God rested on the seventh day; we are commanded to rest, as well. Not just to renew our bodies, but to refresh our souls!

YOU WILL MAKE IT. I promise. Maybe not how you thought or as fast as you'd hoped or at the pace you started, but you will make it. Through this season. Through this week. Through this year. Through this life. "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith," (2 Timothy 4:7).

When you can't make it, someone will carry you. I admit I did carry Shelby through the steepest part. And God will never fail to carry you when you need Him. "I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you," (Isaiah 46:4).

Don't get spent! Run with perseverance and keep that focus on Jesus! (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Leslie Hudson