Running Uphill
New Years day I was driving my mom back to her home about 75 miles away. I always enjoy our rides together because we spend the time listening to Christian music and talking about our faith journey.
Before reaching my mother’s house we arrive at 4H hill. From the top of the hill it is about a half mile to her house. When my sons were younger when we arrived at 4H hill they would get excited because they knew it was only a couple of more minutes before they would see grandma and grandpa.
I have a lot of memories about that hill. As kids we use to ride our bikes down it. It felt as if you were going 100 miles per hour. It wasn’t quite as much fun going up; the hill was so steep we usually had to walk our bikes back up.
When I got in high school 4H hill took on a whole new meaning after I read an article in Sports Illustrated about my favorite football player, Walter Payton. In the article Payton stated he would run up and down hills to gain speed and strength. Wanting to be like Walter I thought I would do the same thing, after all I had the perfect hill at my disposal.
I would run up and down it 10 (or was it 5?) times and then cool down by walking (sometimes crawling) home. I remember one hot humid August afternoon. I had just dragged my body up to the top of the hill and was looking forward to a leisurely walk home. As I was approaching the top a snake decided to cross in front of me. The snake slithered I sprinted. In fact I didn’t look back until I reached home.
As I was driving up the hill New Years Day I couldn’t help but think of the correlation between running up the hill and running the race of life. The devil attacks us when we are tired, but then God takes over and renews our strength. Then we shall mount up with wings like eagles, we shall run and not be weary, we shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31).
