Home field advantage can be a game changer when it comes to sports. Crowd noise during 3rd down and inches or 4th and goal especially. It’s also been the reason Dave and I have walked into work Monday mornings with no voices left.

One of my favorite marathons was 2017 Chicago Marathon for its impressive crowd support along literally every single street. Usually along a 26.2 mile course, there might be a few pockets of small crowds cheering on runners and even an occasional band or DJ. So to have streets filled with cheer squads the entire race on an unseasonably warm fall morning was a much needed surprise.

Speaking of much needed surprises, I got one last Saturday that ended up being a game changer…

We had just flown back from a whirlwind quick trip to our old stomping grounds in NorCal two days before. Having arrived Monday at 1am which was really 4am EST, we hit the ground running the next day to do what I had been dreading and putting off the last few years. Purging and packing what was left of our California lives. Dave and I spent two whole days on our feet Tetris-ing (that word is now a regular part of my vocab) 30+ years of photos and assorted miscellaneous into a 5’x7′ UBOX and his car which we will be driving cross country back to Indiana next month. I’m most definitely guilty of being a momma hoarder as I had several large boxes of items I had saved and sealed dating back to both kids’ preschool days. I mean, c’mon, how can you throw away a Mother’s Day portrait with macaroni hair or Baby Jesus in a walnut shell Christmas ornament? If I hadn’t been there to supervise, Dave would’ve.

Must be a man-thing, but he might as well have ripped my heart outta my chest when he opened up the popcorn tin I’d saved storing all of Natalie and Meagan’s baby shoes. The man was in rare Tetris Master form as he proceeded to put one shoe in each of the other boxes we had sorted through so we could save the space that my precious tin was going to occupy. To be fair, I had actually cancelled our UBOX the week before since the budget was not allowing and I had optimistically thought I’d be able to toss more boxes than I was actually willing. But after the first day and seeing his wife’s hoarding kick into high gear, Dave checked UBOX online and found the price was now HALF what it was from when I’d reserved one a month ago. Book it, Dan-O! *Cue Hawaii Five-0 music.

The Tetris madness went on from dawn til dusk for two days, but miraculously, everything either fit in the UBOX, Dave’s car, two dumpsters, or our good friend’s truck and trailer. The next day as our flight took us over the San Francisco Bay on a clear, beautiful 80 degree morning, I took a deep breath, looked at Dave and said “We did it.” Then spent the rest of the flight crying, praying, and praising God for how He was in every detail of this last page of our California chapter of life.

The next day (Thursday) I woke up feeling more tired and sore than after any of the 55 marathons I’ve run over these last twelve years. The Sam Costa Half Marathon in Carmel was Saturday. I had signed up months ago not anticipating our last minute travel and packing plans. I’ve never been so unprepared and untrained for a race. In my mind, I’d decided to just pick up my race bib and shirt then run it virtually when I was feeling like a functional human again as opposed to a dazed, sore, jetlagged blob. Then I got this text from a good friend:

Oh man…how can I disappoint a five year old? Or would she be more disappointed watching all the speedy runners fly past her house while waiting for me to finally show up? You know how time goes with little kids…twenty minutes feels like a day. With the Saturday weather forecasted with unseasonable below freezing temps and SNOW (I’ll never get used to this Indiana weather – lol), I texted my friend back that I would be slow as molasses and worried about them standing out there in the cold. She had the nerve to reply that they would gladly wait for me and even be ready with a warm cup of water and poster!

One word: HUMBLED. I can’t even anymore. Just when I feel like giving up, God steps in using people and circumstances to remind me what He’s all about. Grace, compassion, mercy, healing, restoration, salvation. And here I was only thinking about running.

I woke up Saturday morning to see a blanket of white outside. I instantly felt bad that my friends would be standing out in the snow waiting for me, but apparently they are more hardcore than me as I dunno that I would stand outside in 15 degree real feel waiting around for a bunch of crazy runners.

With the high winds, the race organizers wisely opted to not put up their traditional start line arch, so as I walked out towards the starting area, it was not super clear where I should position myself. I normally start somewhere in the middle of the pack. In my peak running years, I would position myself closer to the front. I went to what I thought was the back of the pack which quickly became apparent it was the front as the race director counted down to “GO!” and everyone sped past me in a massive blur with a couple of runners mumbling expletives since I was THAT annoying runner slowing down their 6 min mile goal pace.

Knowing my friends were waiting in the cold, I did make every effort to pick up my own pace. When I turned up their street, I got excited to see them – especially little Ava – expecting a barrage of pink and purple as she is normally clothed in her favorite colors. She did not disappoint as I could see her from a mile away. Okay, half a mile, but still.

As promised, she had a big cup of water ready for me and even ran like a pro beside me so I wouldn’t have to stop or lose stride. Again, I can’t even! I was so touched…I had to stop. I gave her a hug, took a big sip of water, waved at my friends holding the only personalized race sign that’s ever been made for me, then took off to run what would end up being my fasted mile split that day.

Talk about home field advantage! My friends’ home was definitely my advantage. I ran the next few miles with a heart so full that I couldn’t help but praise and pray for this precious family – the friends God used to literally get me outta bed that morning.

The cold and wind picked up later in the race, but it didn’t matter. I kept running, praising, and praying. You know once you start praying for one person, the Holy Spirit prompts you to pray for others…and so on. It’s kinda like that children’s book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie with Nat and Meg’s reading projects based on the book that I’d packed 20 years ago now on it’s way in a UBOX to Indy.

I’m continually amazed at how God demonstrates He is in the details of my life…of my race…of my move. I see Proverbs 3:5-6 in a whole new light now. Trusting every next step to Him – whether it be in a race or a move cross country – committing each detail to His hands, I can rest assured He will keep me on track.

“Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he’s the one who will keep you on track.” MSG translation

The NKJV translation says “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” It took a cross country move for me to see how acknowledging Him in all my ways means to submit every step, every mile, every detail to God and watch Him do what He does best. It means laying down my anxieties at Jesus’ feet and not picking them back up. It means trusting in His timing, provision, protection, and favor when solutions aren’t obvious and I wanna make everything fit my own way.

Good to know He is the ultimate Tetris master.