This has been one of the best things I have done for myself in a long time, other than spending time in God's Word much more, of course. The time that I spend running allows me to have that quite time in prayer and contemplation before the Lord. It has opened up a new level of listening and attending the the voice of the Lord for me. When my body is busy and my mind is at rest, when I have absolutely nothing to think about but placing one foot in front of another, I can hear Him better.
What a concept! The body busy and the mind at rest~ leads me to the idea of how Jesus was able to rest in a storm. ( Matthew chapter 8)I know it is not the same, but for me it helped me to see how to learn to rest in Him even when it seems opposite.
I hope to address this a bit deeper in a devotion on prayer that will be on my website soon, so please come visit me over there when it is up. I hope that it will be an encouragement to you. Let me just say that in face of what prayer is, what it does, what it accomplishes.... the more we are "out" of the recipe and allow the Lord to lead us in prayer the closer we are to what I believe prayer is meant to be.
Running has helped me have more energy and feel less pain in my joints and muscles ( surprising but true). It has helped to balance hormones and emotions that sometimes spring up during my days. :) The benefits have not been just for me. I have seen how my excitement to take care of this vessel has passed on to my children. Which is win win for us all!
It has been so fun to see them excited to run with mom, or ride their bikes, or walk.... whatever they choose, they just get moving. My husband joined in the fun and took the liberty to make me my own running path. I LOVE it!! It has been such a huge blessing for me.
Let me tell you why:
When I originally started running, it was slow and methodical. First of all, I ran around our paved barn yard ( which worked so well for me when I started running). Then I enlarged my run by running around the perimeter of the drive way which circled the buildings and extra drive ways at our house. ( We live on a nice little farmette in the country which gives me so much enjoyment and space to run.) This year, we are running a path into the field behind house. The nice thing is that where before I had to "count laps" to keep track of how far I have run, now I just have to go from start to finish and 1 mile is complete. :)
Our goal this year was to run a 5K event as a family. Some of us will actually run it, while others may walk, but we are going to do it together.
So how can we apply this to Physical Education in the home school?
- First of all we can take the time that they take each day and apply it to their physical education credit. For many of us, getting Physical Education in is a real difficulty.
- We tend to get most of our outdoor activities and physical education credit completed during the spring and summer because it is so much easier to do.
- Other activities we try to plan during the Fall and Winter months are:
- Archery, Swimming, and horse-back riding.
- Optional: you may find a nice co-op where you can attend a gym class.
- We have planned how to run effectively so they can aren't running so hard or fast that they become injured. I may have them ride their bike one day and run the next.
- Choose a goal to work towards. Find a race or an event that you can enter as a family and plan how you can get ready for it.
- For some of your children it may just be getting out and walking while for others it will be the competitive running that excites them.
- This website has a great plan for planning your journey from the "couch to the 5K".
- Then get out and DO IT!
We are continuing the journey from our couch to the 5K this year, hoping to finish our first family 5K in September or October. Hopefully this has encouraged you to start your own journey as well.
Blessings!
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