A birthday and a milestone

My Jewel turned 4 on November 21st. We celebrated her birthday by driving to Hagerstown, MD so that my Beloved could attempt her yearlong goal- to run the JFK 50. It was an amazing weekend. My Beloved began the day by rising at 3:45AM to get ready. The race began at 5AM, and over the next 13 hours my Jewel and I drove around Hagerstown just hanging out and working to meet my Beloved at key check points so that she would have a change of clothes, food, and anything else she might need.

She began in the darkness of night, and she finished in the darkness of night. At every checkpoint I stopped at, there were people getting taken away in ambulances. Yet she persevered, ran through pain, cold (17 degrees in the mountains) and fatigue (at one point she almost fell asleep on her feet while running). At her weakest point, when she fell down and wasn't sure she could get going, she was invigorated by Godly strength, kept taking steps, and ran her way to the finish line. We met her there, in the cold and darkness, and went with her into the school gymnasium to rest, eat, and wash up. There were people on gurneys with IV drips, there was one guy wearing his full length pajamas, and an assortment of others in varying degrees of pain. Not everyone finished, and that could have been my Beloved as well. But she did finish, much to my amazement and pride. I never questioned her heart, but you can never prepare for when your body finally says, "that's enough, I need to stop." She fought through that threshold and didn't succomb to it. It reminds me of 1 Corin. 9:27:

"I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."

At the end of the day, with night around us, I drove us home. My Beloved resting in the front seat, my 4 year old Jewel sleeping in the back. I could not have asked for a better birthday celebration.