What I learned before 5am

So I have these friends…

And lately, things kinda really a whole lot suck for them.

I wish they were closer.  I could bring over chocolate and coffee and just BE their friend.  But  a while back they followed God’s call somewhere else.  It makes the suck that much…. suckier. (I should really invest in a thesaurus.)

I was thinking about these friends while I was running this past week.

Lately, I’ve been getting up really, really early to run.  I have no idea why the time change had the opposite effect on me than it should have, but I get up earlier than I ever did before.

Last Friday, I was up before the clock hit 5.

That’s right, my alarm was set to a time that started with a 4.

How sick is that?

But I need to get out and back before my hubby leaves for work.  And apparently I decided to start that habit the week DH had to be at work a little earlier than usual.  So to be home for him to leave at 6, I needed to be out the door before 5.

It’s a different little town I live in before 5 a.m.

Dead silent.
Dark.
But not the 8p.m. dark when it still feels like the light is lingering even though it’s long gone. 
5am dark is even darker.  It’s the dark with the anticipation of the sunrise that’s still a couple hours away.

I wanted to share with my friends what I have learned on these early morning runs.  And just for fun, lets share that with you, too.

My big epiphany?

I am louder at 5 a.m.

Profound isn’t it?

But I never noticed my footsteps before.

I run with music.  Loud music.
It keeps me on pace.  It drowns out the noise.
But drowning out the noise is less necessary when it’s so very quiet.
So with quieter music, all of a sudden I could hear my own steps.
And for a while, I could swear everyone in their homes could hear me.  I could picture them in their beds, wanting to throw rocks at whoever was waking them up at such a terrible time.  In my head, I sounded like a herd of elephants.

I was running the same speed and tempo and making the same noise that I would be doing at my regular time.  But then, others were out.  They were getting in their cars, walking their pets, driving by, living their lives…and my steps, they didn’t stand out from the rest of the wold stepping around me.

Before 5am? I sounded loud because everyone else was silent.

Sometimes, when we are walking our path, when we are following God’s call, we are surrounded by others, following their own calling.  We are still doing what we are supposed to be doing, but there are others beside us.  Individually, we aren’t making as much noise, God has called us to work as part of a bigger plan.

But sometimes, we are called somewhere that there is no one else to run with.  It’s hard to be doing what no one else is.  Your average person (myself included) thinks getting up a 0 dark stupid to go for a run is a ludicrous idea.  And walking through life when it seems the world around you thinks the stands you are taking, the path you are following, the Cross you cling to is foolishness…

It can feel like we are making so much more noise. 

That’s because we are the light in a world that is sleeping.  

We are always that light.

But the darker the world, the brighter (and louder) we seem.

It’s easier to run in a group mid-morning when the birds are chirping and the world is singing around you.
But getting out of bed when all the smart people are still sleeping and head out in the cold, you have to be a whole lot more committed than the average sane person is to running.

It’s easier to follow a call when friends are following beside you.  When you get there and the others have the same passion and commitment it makes a huge difference.
But when you are that one Freak clinging to Jesus while being called out and called names by the sleepy people for waking them up?
Many of us would give in and try to tippy-toe through the rest of our run to make sure we didn’t disturb anyone else.
It takes a true commitment to God’s call to remember that it is better to allow them to be angry that you woke them, than to let them stay sleeping.

Eventually my friends are going to see others.  Maybe not many, maybe not for a good while, but you will inspire other people to step out in the dark and the cold and get a little loud.  It may very well be after your time on that road is done, but that’s okay.

A sleeping world can’t help but notice the freaks in their running shoes before dawn.

I wish we could run beside you for a while.  I really do.  If nothing else I could cause a scene to make you less conspicuous.  I’m good at that.

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