I have been inspired…

One of my friends who I follow on Instagram has been doing the Runner’s World Run Streak.  She has gone for a run every single day from Memorial Day until the Fourth of July.  Every day she posts an Instagram picture showing her accomplishment.

Her daily posts have inspired me…

It has taken over thirty days of seeing these pictures for me to finally say, “I’M DOING IT!!!!”

Joe and I were sitting having our coffee this morning and this conversation took place:

Me: “Joe… I read on the internet that if you run a mile a day, then you will only lose like a pound a month.  But I figure that since I do NOTHING now, then running at least a mile a day HAS to do SOMETHING. I do NOTHING now.”

Joe: (looking at me over the newspaper from his recliner – just like an old married couple) “I don’t believe that.  You have to lose more than one pound in a month.”

Me: “I mean running a little is more than I do now.  I do NOTHING. I’m going to do the streak!  I am going to run at least one mile a day every day until the end of July. “

Joe: “Why?”

Me: “Because I want to look good for you.” (duh)

Joe: “If you are going to do it to live longer to be with me, then great.  If you are going to do it to look good, then you don’t need to do it because you already look great.  If, however, you are doing it to feel better about yourself, then great. “

See why I love this man???

So I am proclaiming it to all of the internet that starting today I am going streaking.  Accountability is a beautiful thing and I am proud to say that I hit the road yesterday morning and ran a measly 1.3 miles, but it was 1.3 miles more than I have run since April.  Today Joe bought me a new pair of running shoes and we ran a quick 1.35 miles before the sky opened up.

I have noticed how hard I can be on myself.  I looked at pictures from the beach last week and I actually had to think, “Ok, if I was looking at some random girl, would I think she was pretty or not?”  That realization really upset me.  I wonder what I am teaching my two girls when I am complaining about the me that God so beautifully created.  Am I teaching them to be hard on themselves?  Am I raising girls who will eventually become women who feel they need to get plastic surgery to get a man?

Last week at the beach I did something I have not done in a while – I wore a bikini on the beach.  I may not be completely satisfied with my size, but the girls were THRILLED that I was wearing a bikini.  Their love and praise (and that of my amazing husband who validates me with every breath he takes) made me proud of my body – even if I sometimes think my boobs are too small or the bags under my eyes are too pronounced or my muffin top is, well, there.  I am WONDERFULLY MADE.

Psalm 139:14 – “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

And that’s what I want our girls to know.  I want them to be proud of themselves just the way God made them.  And I want them to see that I am taking care of myself because it’s important to take care of our bodies and treat them like a temple.  If we don’t respect and value our bodies, then who will?

1 Cor. 6:19-20 – “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body.”

So I am going streaking… and when the girls comment on it, I won’t say that I want my waist to be thinner or that I want my arms to look sculpted.  I won’t tell them that I want to look pretty for Joe.  Or that I need to look prettier for myself.

I will tell them that I am taking care of ME.  So I can live a long and happy life with Joe and them and my future grandchildren…

… because I LOVE ME.  Just the way God created me.