Sharing is Caring

I’m not a runner, but I’ve gotten into running since the end of last semester. I am not very motivated to get up early and I live in Texas, so running outside in the afternoon is not the smartest idea. So I end up running at night. And I like it that way. But one thing about running at night is that it is sometimes hard to see because here in Abilene, Texas, we don’t always have lampposts lining the streets… and we don’t always have WORKING lampposts lining our paths. So sometimes, I end up running in the dark. Which is fine for the most part; the roads are nicely paved and I can usually tell where there are cracks or dips. But to be honest, with only a light in the distance and a vague idea of where a crack or dip MIGHT be, I tend to slow down when I’m running in the dark—partly because my night vision is not equal to that of a feline, partly because I am very cautious of my “bad” knee (even though I do wear my brace when I run in the street), and partly because I know what falling w...

Growing close to people is hard. It takes a certain level of intentionality along with grace and acceptance. It takes looking past the ugly, looking past the hurt, looking past the burden and choosing to always see the good in people. Growing close to people is hard because it takes effort—effort to put work into relationships with the risk that the effort may not be reciprocated. It’s hard because in the process of growing close, there becomes some sort of dependence on each other—a dependence of time, support, love, friendship, and community. It’s hard because somewhere along the way, this dependence is barely noticed. It is just accepted and kept as the norm. And while this dependence is not necessarily unhealthy, it is hard because you do not even know that it is there. And then comes the hardest part about growing close—having to say goodbye to someone on whom you didn’t even know you depended.  Life is funny that way. You can go months on end without even noticing someth...