Even the little things

I thank you for answering my prayer and giving me victory!  Psalm 118:21 (NLT)

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)

I got up early today and decided to do workout 1 of week 5 of the Couch to 5k training program.  (Did you see that I have made it to week 5 and I'm still alive?!)  I have found that before I start a new week, I have to write on a little piece of paper what I'm supposed to do because I get all confused once I get started.  For instance, Walk 0-5 minutes, Run 5-10 minutes, Walk 11-14 minutes, Run 14-19 minutes and so on.  When I made my notes for this week yesterday, I internally panicked.  Three 5-minute running segments!  How would I ever survive?

Last week's workout gave me enough trouble that I had to call upon the Lord for strength, and I mean that in every way.  Before I even started workout 1 of week 4, I said a prayer that I would get through it.  During the workout, as I was pushing through the long running segments (yes, 3 minutes was tough enough for me), I would whisper prayers for strength, asking God to get me through the next 3 minutes.  And sure enough, I made it.  Awesome.  I repeated that process through all three workouts.

This morning when the alarm went off, I thought, no way can I get up and do this.  So I laid there and said, "God, if you want me to do this, give me the strength to get out of bed and get through this workout this morning."  And sure enough, I got my butt out of bed and went downstairs to the treadmill.  And sure enough, even though I didn't think I could muster the strength to get through the three 5-minute running segments, I made it.  I did it.  And I'm living to tell about it.

I realize to some this may not be a big deal, and I'm certainly not trying to toot my horn, but people, I'm running for five minutes at a time without stopping!  Wa-hoo!!!  That is unbelievable to pitiful 'ole me...because, you know, I have always hated and feared running. 

My sciatic nerve is not enjoying the running so much, but at this point, it's nothing I can't live with.  Today it's barely hurting at all.  Saturday it was very angry and upset at me.  I am hopeful that it won't get out of control.  (Although I do enjoy a good massage from my friend Connie and she knows how to tame it down.)

But the reason for my post, other than the unbelief that I'm actually sticking with this, is when I was in the shower this morning after my exercise, I started laughing.  I was laughing because God pays attention to even the little things.  He answered my silly little prayers about getting through a 5-minute run! Yee-Haw!

I've never been one to be afraid of prayer or of asking God for help, for guidance, etc., but I have hesitated many times when I thought my prayer was petty or too small to bother God with.  Such as, thinking of someone else going through something serious or scary and then feeling guilty that I was asking for help to get through 30 minutes of exercise.  I realized today that I don't need to feel guilty about asking God for help because even the little things are important to him, and He uses those times when I feel weak to show His awesome power.

When I finished my workout this morning, I raised my hands above my head at the end of the last 5-minute run and said, "Thank you, God.  We did it."