Jodi: Now I get to my break. Let me see what the boys are reading during their breaks. Hmm. This book is more about sports than I care about. Let me skip over and see if I find a chapter a girl may be interested in. Okay, chapter twelve looks interesting. Maybe I will just start reading there.
CHAPTER 12: FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE
1630 hours; Marathon mile one: I will walk until about mile five. Then I will try to run. If I
can do that, maybe I can finish in around 14 hours. That would be a respectable
time.
Walking with this group is a good way to distract me from the pain I am feeling
in my feet and weary legs, although I do NOT feel like doing what they are
doing. Singing is just not my thing. Besides, I need to save my breath to finish
this run course. My asthma may act up. I need my lungs to be as rested as
possible to keep that from happening. I also want to avoid having an asthma
attack, since I cannot carry my inhaler with me. I should probably take a pull
off my asthma inhaler at the aid station when it is offered, even if I am NOT
having an asthma attack. Inhaling oxygen will also help my legs recover more
quickly.
In the meantime, my distraction will be thinking about something pleasant, like
when I proposed marriage to Nicole. Even though I am a writer, the apostle Paul
said what was in my heart much better than I ever could have ....
1 If I speak in the tongues [1] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, [2] but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.
11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.
12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain, faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love."
I Corinthians 13 NIV
This is the passage I chose to read to Nicole on the night I proposed to her. It is a description of God’s perfect love for us, but I felt that it was also the type of love that Nicole and I had for each other. It is, to me, the most beautiful passage in the whole Bible. In the last verse, (I Corinthians 13:13) the apostle Paul said what was in my heart better than any cleverly worded poem that I ever could have written.
We had talked about the possibility of marriage for a month or two, but no plans had
ever been finalized. It was time, Nicole informed me, to make a decision. I thought of
ways to propose...
I heard about one triathlete who, upon crossing the finish line of an Ironman distance
triathlon, went directly to his intended and presented her with an engagement ring. News reporters, picking up on the gist of the situation, recorded the whole event for the world to see. Another brand-new Iron Man carried a sign across the finish line asking his girlfriend to marry him. Unfortunately, the object of the young man's affection decided to take an ill-timed break from the festivities. A little help from the crowd, who chanted the potential bride-to-be’s name until she appeared, helped to remedy the situation. It resulted in the originally desired effect-a yes answer to the question on the cardboard sign.
Such shenanigans, while original, I knew, were not quite my style. A quiet dinner, supplemented by a card with a handwritten note, would be more in line with my demeanor. Still, I must give that young bicycle cop (as well as the card carrier) their due, because the two of them had taken their two passions in life, and intertwined them.
Many people that I train with may not believe this, but racing is not my top priority in
life. I only started training to accomplish two things-first, to get into shape, and
secondly to get closer to Luke and show him a different perspective on his ideals. I think that both of my objectives were accomplished, (as I write this, I have lost over 40 pounds; and Luke later disclosed that his father led him to make a profession of faith).
The desire to compete, improve, and challenge me to do things that I would
have never dreamed of trying, even as an energetic teenager, still grew stronger every day.
That desire, however, and the satisfaction that goes along with the accomplishments it
provides, could never replace my desire to have someone in my life that I knew I could trust with my well-being.
I had never met anyone before that, not only did I feel I could let my guard down; I
never felt the need to raise it in the first place. This was extremely unusual for me. I had
some female friends with whom I felt comfortable confiding about my relationships, but I had never had a confidant and a girlfriend before. Nicole was both. Even now, she will patiently wait for me to finish a race or a training ride, and, because she is so familiar with my abilities, will know when something has gone wrong. During both of the races that I didn't finish, she convinced volunteers to look for me, because she knew it was taking me too long to finish the leg of the racecourse that I was on.
If someone is that in tune with another in something as inconsequential (in the overall
scheme of life) as a race, then how much more is she inclined to be in tune with you in other aspects of your life?
To finish THIS part of my story, Nicole said yes, and we set about to find a date for our
nuptials.
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