Think Pink

Today I finished my first ever biathlon! It was a 5k run followed by a 400 yard swim. This is what a few of my friends would probably refer to as their Tuesday workout. But for me, today, it was so much more.

The race was a benefit for breast cancer research. I know a ton of women with breasts, so it's obviously a great cause to support.  Seriously though, I am grateful that I am not currently aware of anyone struggling with this type of cancer.   That being said, today as I started my run, I couldn't help but think of two women I do know fighting their own battles with different types of cancer.

As I settled into a nice steady pace, I began to think about these two women. The first I call a cousin, although we're not related. She's the mother of two young boys, wife to a loving man and the recent recipient of news that she has stage IV brain cancer.  The other woman, I haven't actually met. She married one of my college roommates three years ago, only to find out about a year later that she had stage IV lung cancer. She's never smoked in her life.

Since they were on my heart, I started to pray for them. I prayed for healing. I prayed for release from pain. I prayed for comforting of their fears. I prayed for physical support from those around them. I prayed for emotional support and encouragement. I prayed that they would find it easy to love. I prayed that bouts of discouragement be long overshadowed by pure joy.  I found myself rounding the corner to the finish line for the run, very aware of my own physical fatigue and pushed on to sprint the last bit, spurred on by the fight that my two lady friends, along with countless others, are waging against a serious enemy.

After the running portion of the race was finished, I headed to the pool. It was just a short wait before a lane had opened up. Anxious to get started, I didn't think about much the first couple of lengths but how to control my breathing. Soon, I started feeling lighter. Refreshed. My skin had cooled off and the weightlessness of the water gave me new energy. I wasn't the fastest kid in the pool, but as far as I knew, I was the youngest feeling person there.  I swam on with a childlike joy of being in water.

Again, I began to think of my friends; how the running portion of my race was like their fights. Pounding and hot and hard and at some points seemingly endless. And in my head I kept hearing this: Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 41:30-31)

So, to my two friends, and all of those currently fighting, what I will keep praying is that you will get to the swim. Light, relieved of the worry, supported by your own bodies to move freely and easily through cleansing water only to be made new again.