“Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” - I Corinthians 9:26-27 (NIV)

I have taken up running and have been surprised how much I have grown to love this rather grueling activity. I have heard friends in the past describe running as “addictive,” and I always laughed at that thought. Addicted to sweating and pain? No, thank you. I’ll stick with being addicted to chocolate! But as I took the plunge and made a commitment to run, I realized that there is something about pushing yourself beyond your limits that becomes a personal challenge. The more you do, the more your body craves the challenge. And so, I am now one of those poor fools who can say they are “addicted” to running—as crazy as that sounds!

There is a stretch that I run every day that is always especially painful and difficult. I dread this part of the run, yet I know it is part of the course I am on. And so I find myself having to endure this one long stretch, huffing and sweating through every step, gritting my teeth and willing my legs to keep going. My brain cries out for me to stop. My legs threaten to quit on me. I keep thinking that the more I run, the easier it should get—but for some reason it isn’t getting any easier.

On that long stretch of road, one way I keep going is to tell myself that I just have to get to the next mailbox. Even though my body is crying out to stop, I focus my eyes on that next mailbox and run towards it with everything I have to give. Sometimes I feel like I won’t make it, and I have to literally pray my way through as I strive to reach that goal. But somehow, each and every time, I make it to the next mailbox, and then the next, and the next as I persevere. When I do this I am strengthening my endurance and stretching my abilities. If I didn’t try and trust, that would never happen.

The other day I realized how much like homeschooling my “next mailbox” mentality is. How many times do we find ourselves in situations with our children that seem too hard, too big or too much? We want to sit down on the side of the road or give up and go home. But instead we tell ourselves we just have to get through one more day or overcome one more obstacle. We don’t dare look all the way down the road, because we know that would shut us down in hopelessness. Instead we say, “Just one more mailbox.” We put our noses to the grindstone and keep on running, one painful step at a time. It isn’t the easy way, and yet it is the time when we see God show up. We learn what it means to cry out to God like never before, and we learn to trust Him on a whole new level. We know He will sustain us and equip us. More importantly, we begin to hear His sweet voice cheering us on.

Are you in a place of simply needing to make it to the next mailbox? Maybe you need to hang in there as you struggle with a child’s learning disability. Maybe you need God’s help to make it through a trying time with a difficult child. Maybe you’ve had the worst year ever and are battling burnout. Whatever you are struggling with—whatever looks too hard about your homeschooling journey—don’t give up and stop running. Stay the course. Trust God. Mailbox by mailbox He’ll see you through all the way.

“I have found that there are three stages in every great work of God: first, it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.”

~ J. Hudson Taylor

Trying To Keep My Ducks In A Row,