Fix Your Eyes on Jesus

“…let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…” Hebrews 12:1-2

This verse from Hebrews has been a real encouragement for me this past month or so as life has been full of ups and downs.

I’ve been quite busy working as usual and traveling around a bit. I had a great time visiting Winona (another ELCA volunteer) in Saltburn, England for the weekend. We ran the Redcar Half Marathon together and had a great time catching up and hanging out. I was off work for about a week over Easter because I was sick so it was a huge blessing to be healthy enough to travel to see her and run as well.

I also had the opportunity to participate in the Invisible Children Edinburgh Rescue event with my flatmate Ronnie and my friend Katy. This was an event to raise awareness about the children of Northern Uganda who have been abducted and trained as child soldiers. The event took place in 10 countries and 100 cities all over the world. All cities were “rescued” by media or a celebrity coming to the event so they could spread the news to help get the children of Northern Uganda rescued. Edinburgh had the pleasure of being rescued by Billy Boyd (aka Pippin-one of the Hobbits from Lord of the Rings). Everyone who participated met and slept in the Princess Street Gardens under the Edinburgh Castle for the night-absolutely gorgeous night.

Last week my parents came to visit! It’s been 8 months since I last saw them so we had a blast exploring Scotland together. I was their tour guide around Edinburgh for a couple days but during the week we went to the Isle of Mull, Iona, Dumbarton, Inverary, Loch Lomond, Glasgow, and Stirling. Dad did a great job of driving our rental car on the opposite side of the road with the steering wheel on the opposite side of the car as well! We saw a lot of castles, cathedrals, sheep, hills and Celtic culture. I was happy to introduce them to my family I’ve made here in Edinburgh too. The day they left, Dad and I ran the largest race in Edinburgh together called the Bupa Great Edinburgh 10k Run. It was an awesome experience to run through such a beautiful city with 10,000 other runners and a great way to end the week!

In between the visits and events though I find myself somewhat lost. Recently a lot of my friends both here in Scotland and back home are going through a rough time. Whether it’s domestic violence, death of a loved one, illness, injuries, or spiritual emptiness, it’s hard to know what to say or understand why they have to go through so much pain. And while it is difficult and we do feel lost sometimes when these things happen, one thing I’ve learned at the centre is that we have to keep going. Life doesn’t slow down so we have to keep running the race. As Hebrews says, we have to “fix our eyes on Jesus” and believe that he can carry us through anything this world brings us. It is my prayer that each of us can grow and learn through hardships and that we may have the perseverance to run this race of life with our eyes focused on the Lord-in the good and bad times.

Peace and God Bless.