Pajama 5K and the Girls

Yesterday, I was talking with one of my friends and she reminded me that there was a 5K at 8:30 that night. The 5 K was to help a group of runners raise $25,000 for Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Awareness. I had been running again some, but was not 100% I could do very well. I'm pretty sure I had mentioned on my blog that I have had problems with shin splints since late last year. I was training for a half marathon and my shin splints got so bad that I had to take the time to stop and rest. I even took the time to go to a physical therapist.
So we met up at 7:45 last night for a group picture and a "little before my bedtime run" and it was super fun. It was not what I would have naturally chosen to spend my time doing on a Friday night. I told them when we started running that my body was screaming, "What are you doing. Don't you know that it is Friday night and you are supposed to be on the couch watching a movie with a bag of Cheetos." Obviously, I would not have done it without my friends encouraging me to go though. Also, I probably would have walked half of it if I did not have a little positive peer pressure as I was running. They basically said, "We're not leaving you so you better run." It's great to have mean friends! :)

Seriously, I cannot imagine doing life without a group of friends like this. As a pastor's wife, it is sometimes a lonely business. You feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders and that there are very few people you can trust. I have a very unique and wonderful situation in which the Lord has brought a lot of people into my life who are trustworthy and are very special to me. God has orchestrated this time and He is definitely worthy to be praised.

I pray that you too have a group of special friends who are positively encouraging you to try things you would have never done otherwise.

Ecclesiastes 4:10 (New International Version)

¹⁰ If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!