Getting picked

If you were a good athlete, or maybe even popular as a kid, you might not be able to relate to this - just warning you. But since you're here, you can keep reading :)

When I was a kid, shockingly, I was a terrible athlete. Terrible. I hated the whole thing. I wasn't just lazy and I didn't mind losing. I hated the idea of messing up and letting an entire team down. A team who might actually care about winning. Often I would freeze up and not know what to do next. Add that to the lack of athletic ability, and you can imagine I wasn't the first choice when it came time to pick teams.

But I was also not second, or third, or... you get the idea. Nearly always picked last. My better memories are when there would be one person picked after me. Sorry for their luck, but it made my day much better to know I wasn't dead last.

I wish I could say I knew it wasn't personal, that it didn't bother me, and that it wasn't a big deal. But I can't. It always made me sad to think that I was so terrible that no one wanted me.

Bear with me while I seemingly digress for a moment...

Since I have been running, I have found that it helps me to focus on something other than the time left when the running gets too overwhelming. I realized that when it felt too overwhelming, even the task of thinking things seemed to make it worse. So I would find myself reading the letters on the base of my treadmill just to keep my mind from wandering. The problem is there are only four words on the treadmill, so that didn't take up too much time.

What I finally did was write a passage from the Bible on a piece of paper (with a purple Sharpee - pretty girly things always make things better ;) and read it slowly, focussing on it, while I keep going on my run even when I think I can't.

It's funny how you can read something over and over and get different thoughts and ideas depending on when you read it. I had read these verses for weeks, and just a couple of days ago, a new thought occured to me. Here are the verses (It is the Message version, which I love) found in the book of Isaiah, toward the beginning of chapter 43 -

Don't be afraid, I've redeemed you.
I've called your name. You're mine.
When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you.
When you're in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you're between a rock and a hard place, it won't be a dead end -
Because I am God, your personal God, The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you:
all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!
That's how much you mean to me!
That's how much I love you!
I'd sell off the whole world to get you back,
trade creation just for you.
So don't be afraid: I'm with you.

Read the second line again...
I've called your name. You're mine.

The God of the universe has picked me and wants me on His team. That makes me smile :)