TODAY THE WORDS are LAST LAP. I am going to admit during the last several years, I have not been physically active as I should. Oh, I bought a treadmill and I did excellent for the first couple of weeks and then…..I managed to “do” what I do best is fall off my regimen. I start, I get excited, and then I quit. I am being a lot more honest than most will admit. So why am I writing on the Last Lap? I remember when I jogged 3 miles a day on a track, so it wasn’t exaggeration. We, as humans tend to do that too. We hear a lot of people telling about their adventures in the gym and I am not calling anyone out, and there are several people who are very serious about their routine; that is not who I am referring. 

When I was young, and I mean young, I felt I needed to lose some weight. I went on a strict diet and began exercising. As a rebel against any kind of routine, I knew I had to go to a track where I could accurately measure my distance. I began by walking one lap, jogging a half lap, walking another lap and as time went by; I added a half lap making me run a lap and so forth until I ran 3 miles every day even if it rained. I was proud of my determination and I have to say; it worked. The combination of the diet (which I have learned eating a balanced meal is healthier in the long “run”) and the exercise resulted in weight loss as well as inches and firming. I looked great and continued to do this until my husband was drafted and off to Germany we went.

Throughout my life, I have started and stopped; started again but I never forgot the last lap. It wasn’t that it was the 5th lap, the 6th lap, or on and on. It was the knowledge I was starting the last lap of my progressive move to do more which was important. By completing the last lap, I had accomplished another goal. Even though, sometimes my muscles were hurting and I had to push to make it around to completion; I was excited. My adrenalin carried me most of the lap and when I finished, I usually bent down and was thankful for fulfilling another benchmark. Most runners or ones who are in an exercise routine know what I am referring to by adrenalin and are feeling a sense of heightened energy.

Now for the deeper thought……Life has so many laps and we are in a race from the beginning of our lives to the end or the conclusion of the last lap. We never know how many laps are in our race; some have more and some have less and there is never a set route. It seems as if some have to run on smoother tracks while others have to take the more rugged and more dangerous route. Life will throw obstacles in our way and we even fall down and have to get up; many times over and over. If we continue with faithfulness to what we have committed; the race becomes more relaxed; our soul muscles don’t crimp and we begin to feel the full extension and can even build up and surpass some record runs. As the ones who know me have already figured out I am referring to our race in life which can and should bring us closer to the last lap of life. We should want to hear the cheering of the Heavenly Angels and Our Life Coach, God applaud how we made it across the Finish Line. May we bend down and thank God for helping us make it through the last lap.