Running with Kids

I had to have Mackenzie at school by 6 AM this morning so she could go to Discovery Place in Charlotte, NC. As I drove out of the parking lot, I had this tiny moment of fear. I just left my baby in the hands of someone else who is going to drive her to another state in a giant bus. What if something happens?

It was a fleeting thought, but it was there nonetheless, so I prayed. As long as I was up and awake I decided to get in a short run before everyone else in the house woke up.

As I was jogging along I noticed that even though I have not really run in sometime, it was a lot easier than I had imagined. This was probably because it was the first time in a long time that I was running without one of the kids with me. Pushing that jogging stroller up and down the hills around here is no easy task and I have yet to go very far with that thing that I don't have to walk at least part of the way.

Some things in life, I thought, are much easier without kids. Don't get me wrong, I love them and wouldn't trade them for the world, but they are not easy. As I was patting myself on the back for how easily I was running up the current hill, God very clearly reminded me that the reason that this hill was easy today was because for the last two months, I've been pushing Max up it with me.

Running with kids is not easy, but it's made me stronger. Raising kids is not easy either but I have a feeling it's going to have the same effect.