In February of 2007 I was invited by my future sister-in-law, Cindy to participate in the three-day 60-mile breast cancer walk. Her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer the summer of 2006. I told her I’d think about it, but who hasn’t been affected by cancer of one type or another. I had been walking on the treadmill every morning for the last couple of years, and I thought it might be a good opportunity to get to know Cindy better. Three days, 60 miles?! We could do a lot of talking! I said yes and registered to make it official. 

My husband is quite a worrier, and one day he made the comment that he was so worried about my doing this walk. He said, “Deb, you can’t just show up and walk 60 miles. I’m worried you are going to hurt yourself!” On the breast cancer website you could sign up for a “Virtual Trainer,” so to alleviate HIS stress I agreed to do this.  Each week I’d get an email telling me how to train each day. For example, Monday was a day of rest (I thought Sunday was the Sabbath), 5 miles on Tuesday, 30 minutes cross training on Wednesday, 4 miles on Thursday, 45 minutes cross training on Friday, 12 miles on Saturday and 10 miles on Sunday. The cross training time usually stayed the same but the miles would fluctuate each week. The breast cancer website was filled with lots of important information on how to prepare, what to eat, how much to drink, what to wear, etc., and it continually encouraged you to listen to your body. The proper tennis shoes and socks were important to prevent blisters. Drink 32 ounces of water per hour of walking to prevent dehydration. You get the idea. Now that I had the virtual trainer I needed to start to get serious. We live close to the state trail, but I didn’t really want to train on that because it’s busy and if I did get injured or needed help, no one could get to me. I decided to walk Stillwater Road which was out our back door. Randy gave me mileage markers so I’d know where the 2.5 mile mark was and out to Manning was 5 miles, etc. I was ready to really get training.

I usually didn’t walk with headphones, but I was going to be gone for about three hours, which is what it took to walk 10 miles, so I thought I’d wear headphones and listen to music. It felt really strange, and at this point I decided I don’t really need a bunch of noise feeding into my ears. I am going to just really enjoy what God has provided. I didn’t really think about this being intentional until I was sharing with one of our pastors and he asked me what made me intentionally decide to do this. I won’t forget my first lengthy walk. I was at about 2 ½ miles when I noticed a pond.  I stopped and listened to the frogs, noticed the lily pads, heard the birds and thought to myself, “Wow. Isn’t God amazing? He created all this for us!” This beautiful land, incredible sounds, and some how I never heard the cars racing by on the street beside me!  When was the last time you really noticed or took time to admire God’s fingerprints? (Genesis 1: 26-27)

The second thing the Lord showed me was the incredible bodies he has provided us with.  The breast cancer website is full of training information, any questions you might have, how to avoid blisters, etc. On this particular day I noticed that when I walked tall and held my stomach in my lower back didn’t ache. I started to think about what was in the center of my body and started thinking about the spinal cord. It’s the conduit for our entire body and houses all our nerves which allows us to think, to talk, to see, to hear, to feel. It made me realize how incredible our bodies are and how every day we take for granted they are going to work.  This led me to think about my spiritual life. When you claim Jesus as your personal Savior, your life will be strong. That doesn’t mean you won’t have trials and struggles.  I heard about a young man whose child was 12 hours old and in an incubator that started on fire.  The baby was burned over a large part of his body. The father said, “You know, people say God doesn’t give you more than you can handle.  I think God gives you more than you can handle and then fills in the gaps.” Think about your life. What or who is at the center? (Psalm 139)

Another day I had completed five miles and turned around to go back five miles. On a tree branch was a little bootie from a baby. The Lord said to me, “Sometimes my people lose their way and refuse to ask for help.” It brought to mind a good friend of mine who is in my Bible study. Her husband was having some medical issues, and they were trying to figure out if it was cancer or not. In the midst of this it was discovered that she had some heart problems, and they didn’t know until she had the surgery that she was a walking time bomb. The group kept checking in with her and asking if there was something we could do and finally one day I said, “How about meals? We could bring over some meals,” at which point she was happy to have us help. Jesus reminded me that I, too, am very much like my friend. “No, I can manage. I’m doing fine.” Why is it we are afraid to admit we need help? God has given each of us gifts and talents and when we don’t ask for help, we are not allowing someone to use their God-given gifts. Plus we aren’t allowing them to feel the joy that occurs when we use our gifts.  How do you feel about asking for help? What are your God given gifts and are they being used? (Matthew 11:28-30)

It was about 85 degrees and the humidity was high. I needed to walk 15 miles today so I had packed my water, snacks and food.  The devotion I read before leaving was about a woman who was stressed about a situation. To relieve her stress with every lap she swam she started at the beginning of the alphabet and would use a word to describe God.  God is Awesome. God is Bountiful. God is Caring. You get the idea. I decided to walk on the state trail because there was shade.  As it started to get hot, I thought I needed something to take my mind off how hot it was, so I tried the exercise in the devotion. It was an incredible experience, and I used this exercise quite often and still do. When you think about the words that describe our God, how could you not want to follow Him or how could you not want to fall in love with Him. (John 14:6)

Sometimes God reveals things to me through a song. Saturday before the actual walk I hadn’t figured out if I had a rain jacket. It was a gray day, and as I started out I prayed a little prayer, “Lord I need to see if this jacket is going to work so a little shower would be good.” I was having a conversation with the Lord about a person who I was worried about and a phrase from a song kept popping into my head which was “She’s running 100 miles in the wrong direction.” About a mile and a half from home it started to drizzle, and I thought to myself the Lord is so good. Then it started to really pour and I said to the Lord, “Okay that’s good. I’ve checked my jacket out!” However, it continued to pour and I got drenched. What the Lord showed me was with the little shower he said “Yes, I feel your pain and your concern for the person you’re worried about.” And with the pouring rain he said, “There are so many hurting people in the world and I feel all their pain.” Are you running from God or are you running toward Him? (Luke 15:11-32)

The other words from the song were “Does anybody hear or see? Does anybody know she’s going down today? Does judgment loom in us or are we lofty people with lofty glances without knowing the person?” Sometimes I’ll pick different ways to drive to work because I can’t look at the homeless guy on the corner. Am I afraid of him or am I angry with him because he’s not like me, working every day, paying my bills, being a productive person in society? Is he yearning to know the truth that there is a God and he really does care about him? How does one be a witness for Jesus? What are you seeking? (Matthew 6:33)

Three days and sixty miles! It’s meant to be hard because cancer is hard.  God blessed us with wonderful weather, strong physical bodies and extremely generous people. For me the walk itself was a very exhaustive, inspirational experience, but the preparation was an incredible growth in faith.
 
It is my hope that you will be intentional about spending time with God. My mom has been an incredible example for me by starting every day meeting with her Lord and Savior. Each day is a gift, so start it with the person who gives it to you.