Happy New Year 2017. I don’t know about you, but 2016 may rank as one of my worst years ever and I am so glad that it’s over. It was a year that I looked forward to but little did I know that it would hold so many challenges and trials and tribulations. I found this image
and yes, I’ve come a long way but not in a good way – it’s been a seemingly endless downward spiral.
January 1st, 2017 was good though, and I did my first race in about a year and a half (a 5K on July 4th, 2015). It was the Egg Nog Jog 5K, which I haven’t done since January 1st, 2005 when I pushed Grace in a jog stroller when she was 7 weeks old.
The bad news, though, is that I can see the damage that the past year has done. In 2000, I raced the Egg Nog Jog 4 mile and my time at the two mile turnaround was 11:50. Today my two mile time was 26:30. Is that shocking or what? Even in the July 4th race, I ran 31:42. My time today was 41:24 – almost 10:00 slower.
So what do I need to do? One thing is to get a tooth extracted. It is a failed root canal from 2009 and apparently it has a pocket of infection at the base. I really need an even playing field in my life and that certainly makes it uneven.
As for the other challenges and trials in 2016, God only knows what He has in store. I must trust that as Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you,†declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
I don’t know how 2016 was for you, but if it was as bad for you as it was for me, we’re in this together and we need to trust in the Lord. It’s a new year – don’t look back.
