We Have Been Given Grace #BecauseHeLives

I used to poke fun at people who loved to run. It didn't make sense to me. Who wants to pound the pavement with their feet, feel pain for miles on end, and be out of breath the entire time too!? But somehow the way it always does when I'm being stubborn,  my perspective changed.

A few years back, my sister and I decided to change our tune and set a New Year's resolution to run a half marathon. To this day, it is one of my favorite New Year's resolutions of all time. After persevering through the first four long months of running, something clicked for me and I fell in love.

Yesterday after working all morning at a computer, I happily slipped in my headphones and started what I assumed was a perfectly side-walked, relatively flat, 10 mile run to the Timpanogus temple and back. My assumptions were wrong. The side-walk disappeared every 3 minutes for no apparent reason. The route went up and down and up and down again more than a few times. And those 10 miles were really 12.

 As I reached the temple at my 6 mile mark, I quickly took out my headphones ("I Got It From My Mama," was the furthest thing from reverent). I paused my workout and walked around the temple, admiring the peace, the gorgeous flowers, and the happy people all going about their own lives around me. We've all heard LOTS of people use a marathon as a metaphor for life, but it really is the root to why I love running. Enduring to the end of race is always a glimpse for me into enduring to the end of this life and through the eternities. The truth I gleaned today from my run centered on grace. 

"For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."-2 Nephi 25:23

We may have a life path that seems to disappear before our eyes and switch to the other side of the road at inconvenient times.  Some of us may face more than our fair share of ups and downs. And still others will realize that enduring to the end is a bit longer than they imagined. But we are NOT left alone. 

Because He lives, we have been given grace. With His grace, we are enabled to accomplish and be more than we could be alone. Elder Holland says it best,"Christ is not waiting for us at the finish line once we have done 'all we can do.' He is with us every step of the way." Every step we take in this life is not taken alone because He really does live. I love this time of year to remember our Savior. Happy Easter!


P.S. Watch this #becauseHelives Easter video and just fall in love with it for me please!