Written by Irvina Parker<\/p>\n
The main definition of the word \u2018marathon\u2019 is a long-distance race, which measures 26 miles and 385 years. The word \u2018marathon\u2019, for me, has always been tied to something more closely related to the binge watching of movies (although I really don\u2019t do much of that either), or crafting (the more probable option). A marathon for me would be based on the length of time I did something, certainly not the distance of miles I ran.<\/p>\n
I must admit, I was surprised when our daughter Jennifer first started running in college. Walking? Yes. Running? No! Within a few years, it led to her participation in various running events. Then, our son joined in and they did a few events together, and soon, my husband decided to walk some of the events with them. Before long, she announced that she was doing the half-marathon in Oklahoma City. She has since done the full marathon and the team relay. The event is the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon, which remembers the victims of the Murrah Federal Building, which was bombed in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. That horrible tragedy pulled out the best in our city as citizens rallied behind the rescue workers and the families of the 168 victims and 600-plus injured.<\/p>\n
I have been a spectator at the Memorial event but never a participant\u2026until this year! In the early part of 2018, Jennifer convinced me that I should participate in the April marathon event. \u201cHow on earth did she think I could accomplish that?,\u201d I wondered. I am a fast walker, but running is not for me. Nevertheless, I am now the proud owner of my first marathon medal. However, I must confess that it was for the Kids\u2019 Marathon, a part of the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. David and I did it with our 5-year-old grandson, who was far more interested in the tall buildings downtown than the marathon itself. I also must confess, that with the Kids\u2019 Marathon, only the last mile and a half are completed as part of the event. The other 24.5 miles are completed and recorded ahead of time, in various activities, over the course of a few weeks. I am pretty sure this will be the only marathon I will ever be able to complete. The event was so fulfilling, that I have vowed to return in 2019 with all my grandchildren and twin great-nieces. We are going to do it together. It\u2019s exciting to have the streets lined with spectators, who are there to cheer you on and tell you that you can do it! You can finish what you have started.<\/p>\n
On our once-in-a-lifetime trip to Greece the very next month, we saw the Olympic Stadium, along with many other reminders of the games which started there. The Biblical references by Paul and others, of running the race, makes so much sense in that context. A visit to Mars Hill, where Paul was tried, and then walking the old roads in the ancient cities of Corinth and Ephesus, bring the struggles of the early apostles into greater perspective. They wrote from firsthand experiences.<\/p>\n
\u201cTherefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run\u00a0with perseverance\u00a0the race marked out for us,\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>fixing our eyes on Jesus,\u00a0the pioneer\u00a0and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame,\u00a0and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary\u00a0and lose heart\u201d (Hebrews 12:1-3).<\/p>\n I have always loved the \u201cHall of Famers\u201d list in chapter 11, which prompts this powerful beginning of chapter 12. Looking back allows us to gain great perspective of the power of faith. They are great witnesses, whose stories testify to the faithfulness of our God. There is obviously a huge gap in between those listed in this chapter and today, but no doubt you have plenty of names that you can add to the list. I know I do!<\/p>\n Wherever you are in the \u2018Marathon of Life\u2019 today, take a few minutes to remember those who have gone before you and can testify to God\u2019s greatness and faithfulness. Then you must act on the rest of that passage in Hebrews 12. We are reminded to keep our eyes focused on Jesus Christ! Whether you are a leader in Women\u2019s Ministries, Girls\u2019 Ministries, or another ministry in the local church, lean into the promises He has given. Walk in His footsteps and trust Him to continue to light your pathway. His endurance and victory at Calvary give us hope. The writer challenges us to consider that victory, in order to \u201cnot grow weary and lose heart.\u201d Because of Him, we can face the challenges of the \u2018Marathon of Life and Ministry\u2019 with boldness and determination. We can win the race!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4124,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[757,20,1,27],"tags":[749,16,409,1011],"class_list":{"0":"post-4122","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allgenerations","8":"category-childrens-ministries","9":"category-general","10":"category-girls-ministries-childrens-ministries","11":"tag-749","12":"tag-discipleship","13":"tag-irvina-parker","14":"tag-life-and-ministry","15":"entry"},"title_es":"La marat\u00f3n de la vida y el ministerio.","content_es":"Escrito por Irvina Parker. La definici\u00f3n principal de la palabra \"marat\u00f3n\" es una carrera de larga distancia, que mide 26 millas y 385 a\u00f1os. La palabra 'marat\u00f3n', para m\u00ed, siempre ha estado ligada a algo m\u00e1s estrechamente relacionado con ver pel\u00edculas en exceso (aunque en realidad tampoco hago mucho de eso), o hacer manualidades (la opci\u00f3n m\u00e1s probable). Un marat\u00f3n para m\u00ed se basar\u00eda en el tiempo que hice algo, ciertamente no en la distancia de millas que corr\u00ed. Debo admitir que me sorprendi\u00f3 cuando nuestra hija Jennifer comenz\u00f3 a postularse en la universidad. \u00bfPara caminar? S\u00ed. \u00bfCorriendo? \u00a1No! En pocos a\u00f1os, la llev\u00f3 a participar en varios eventos de carrera. Luego, nuestro hijo se uni\u00f3 e hicieron algunos eventos juntos, y pronto, mi esposo decidi\u00f3 caminar algunos de los eventos con ellos. En poco tiempo, anunci\u00f3 que estaba haciendo la media marat\u00f3n en la ciudad de Oklahoma. Desde entonces ha hecho la marat\u00f3n completa y el relevo del equipo. El evento es la Marat\u00f3n Conmemorativa de la Ciudad de Oklahoma, que recuerda a las v\u00edctimas del Edificio Federal Murrah, que fue bombardeada en la Ciudad de Oklahoma el 19 de abril de 1995. Esa horrible tragedia sac\u00f3 lo mejor de nuestra ciudad cuando los ciudadanos se unieron detr\u00e1s de los rescatistas y la Familias de las 168 v\u00edctimas y m\u00e1s de 600 heridos. He sido espectador en el evento Memorial pero nunca he participado ... \u00a1hasta este a\u00f1o! En la primera parte de 2018, Jennifer me convenci\u00f3 de que deb\u00eda participar en el evento de marat\u00f3n de abril. \"\u00bfC\u00f3mo demonios pens\u00f3 ella que podr\u00eda lograr eso?\", Me pregunt\u00e9. Soy un caminante r\u00e1pido, pero correr no es para m\u00ed. Sin embargo, ahora soy el orgulloso propietario de mi primera medalla de marat\u00f3n. Sin embargo, debo confesar que fue para el Marat\u00f3n de Ni\u00f1os, una parte del Marat\u00f3n Conmemorativo de la Ciudad de Oklahoma. David y yo lo hicimos con nuestro nieto de 5 a\u00f1os, que estaba mucho m\u00e1s interesado en los edificios altos del centro que en el marat\u00f3n en s\u00ed. Tambi\u00e9n debo confesar que con el Marat\u00f3n de Ni\u00f1os, solo la \u00faltima milla y media se complet\u00f3 como parte del evento. Las otras 24.5 millas se completan y registran con anticipaci\u00f3n, en diversas actividades, en el transcurso de unas pocas semanas. Estoy bastante seguro de que este ser\u00e1 el \u00fanico marat\u00f3n que podr\u00e9 completar. El evento fue tan satisfactorio que promet\u00ed regresar en 2019 con todos mis nietos y mis bisnietos. Vamos a hacerlo juntos. \u00a1Es emocionante tener las calles llenas de espectadores, quienes est\u00e1n all\u00ed para animarte y decirte que puedes hacerlo! Puedes terminar lo que has empezado. En nuestro \u00fanico viaje a Grecia el mes siguiente, vimos el Estadio Ol\u00edmpico, junto con muchos otros recordatorios de los juegos que comenzaron all\u00ed. Las referencias b\u00edblicas de Paul y otros, de correr la carrera, tienen mucho sentido en ese contexto. Una visita a Mars Hill, donde fue juzgado Paul, y luego caminar por los viejos caminos en las antiguas ciudades de Corinto y \u00c9feso, lleva a las luchas de los primeros ap\u00f3stoles a una mayor perspectiva. Escribieron desde experiencias de primera mano. \u201cPor lo tanto, ya que estamos rodeados por una gran nube de testigos, desprendamos todo lo que obstaculiza y el pecado que tan f\u00e1cilmente se enreda. Y corramos con perseverancia la carrera marcada para nosotros, \u00a0<\/sup><\/strong> Fijando nuestros ojos en Jes\u00fas, el pionero y perfeccionador de la fe. Por el gozo puesto ante \u00e9l, soport\u00f3 la cruz, despreciando su verg\u00fcenza, y se sent\u00f3 a la diestra del trono de Dios. \u00a0<\/sup><\/strong> Considera al que soport\u00f3 tal oposici\u00f3n de los pecadores, para que no te canses y pierdas el coraz\u00f3n \u201d(Hebreos 12: 1-3). Siempre me ha encantado la lista del \"Sal\u00f3n de la Fama\" en el cap\u00edtulo 11, que nos lleva a este poderoso comienzo del cap\u00edtulo 12. Mirar hacia atr\u00e1s nos permite obtener una gran perspectiva del poder de la fe. Son grandes testigos, cuyas historias dan testimonio de la fidelidad de nuestro Dios. Obviamente, existe una gran brecha entre los que se enumeran en este cap\u00edtulo y hoy, pero sin duda tiene muchos nombres que puede agregar a la lista. \u00a1S\u00e9 lo que hago! Dondequiera que se encuentre hoy en el \"Marat\u00f3n de la Vida\", t\u00f3mese unos minutos para recordar a los que lo han precedido y puede testificar de la grandeza y la fidelidad de Dios. Entonces debes actuar sobre el resto de ese pasaje en Hebreos 12. \u00a1Se nos recuerda que mantengamos nuestros ojos enfocados en Jesucristo! Si usted es un l\u00edder en los Ministerios de Mujeres, Ministerios de Ni\u00f1as u otro ministerio en la iglesia local, conf\u00ede en las promesas que \u00c9l ha dado. Sigue sus pasos y conf\u00eda en que \u00c9l continuar\u00e1 iluminando tu camino. Su resistencia y victoria en el Calvario nos dan esperanza. El escritor nos desaf\u00eda a considerar esa victoria para \"no cansarnos y perder el coraz\u00f3n\". Gracias a \u00c9l, podemos enfrentar los desaf\u00edos de la \"Marat\u00f3n de la Vida y el Ministerio\" con audacia y determinaci\u00f3n. \u00a1Podemos ganar la carrera!","author_name":"","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/10\/The-Marathon-of-Life-and-Ministry-Irvina-Parker.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4T9u2-14u","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}