Cactus

I have recently discovered that I have been uniquely gifted in a specific area of life. The discovery itself is actually quite disappointing, as all the women in my family who have gone before me (my mom, and both my grandmas) have NOT been this way.

Here's the thing: I can kill cacti! You are probably aware of the fact that cacti are plants which are considered to be virtually impossible to kill - which is why they survive so well in the desert. Well, I managed to do the impossible!

As I have mentioned, this is made further dreadful by the fact that people have often asked my mom what she does with her plants to make them look as beautiful and lush as they are ... and she has got A LOT of them!

The garden of my paternal grandmother was for years somewhat of a local place of interest. People would stop in front of her house and discuss the beauties of each and every unique and rare flower and plant that decorated her front yard ... (My grandma is too old now to still be able to work as much as she used to in her garden, but I must admit that her garden is still much more beautiful than my balcony with my three little plants ...)

Anyway, here's the proof of my unique talent:


Notice the cool looking beautiful green wreath around the dead cactus. You know why it looks so nice and green? Because it's FAKE!

So, the mistery remains. Nobody knows how I ended up an offspring of such a horticulturally gifted family ...

Lessons from the trail

St. Paul the Apostle had it right when he wrote:

"... let us lay aside every weight,and the sin which so easily ensnares us,and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us ..." (Hebrews 12:1)

I have often wondered about his comparison of the christian life to running. I have heard people teach about it, and talk about endurance and such things, and it all sounded so cool and nice, but it didn't sink in until I found myself on such a trail ...

We have been jogging for a while now, and I have discovered so many parallels between the christian life and running ... other than it being good physical exercise, it has also been an invaluable spiritual lesson.

1. Keeping your eyes on the end

We usually go jogging eary in the morning. Sometimes it can be very difficult to get up and out of bed,and to put on my running gear. But I have learnt that if I give in to the laziness and stay at home - without fail - I always regret it later.

It is the same in my spiritual walk: if I allow myself to get lazy, it shows, and I regret it.

If you have ever done some form of regular exercise, you know how great you feel when you have finished. I have learnt that this is precisely what I need to focus on in those moments when I don't exatly feel like going. If I remind myself of the end result, it is so much easier to begin the fight against my tired, lazy flesh.

It is the same spiritually: sometimes we get tired of the spiritual warfare, of the daily battles against the flesh, against the world, against ourselves.

But: if we make it a point to remind ourselves of the glorious end we know the Lord promised us, it is much easier to face the daily battles we face.

2. The ups and downs

The trail we have been running on is in the Mecsek hills above Pecs. Thus, the elevation of the trail changes quite often. Sometimes it is sooooo hard to make myself keep running when we get to an uphill slope.
My favorite part on the whole trail though is the really cool, LONG downhill slope. Running down on it ALWAYS feels soooo easy, and even if I was super tired shortly before getting there - this is where I recharge. Here, I feel like I am the coolest runner ever :) and I feel like I could run for 10 more kilometres ... shortly: READY FOR THE OLYMPICS!

Just like in the case of the physical trail, so it is in our spiritual lives: when there's a trying uphill period, YOU CAN KNOW that it will for sure be followed by a long, easy, downhill "flight".

This is always a great reminder.

3. Growing stamina

When we first started running, we were sooo weak. We could barely complete the trail (and sometimes we did fail).
But the longer we train, the more we run - the more we can endure - and the easier it gets. Of course, then we always need to go further and run a bit more than last time.

There are always new challenges to face, new areas to conquer. However, the old ones that have already been conqered rarely present a challenge after a while. Yes, sometimes I still have to stop for a break at the uphill part where I used to always have to stop at the beginning, because it seemed too difficult. BUT: now, I only have to stop SOMETIMES, and NOT ALWAYS like I used to. That is certainly reason for rejoicing!

"OUR" TRAIL - ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL?