532.
532.
The number of miles I will walk between now and November 7. This distance is the rough equivalent of walking from my home in Memphis, TN through Dallas, TX to Forth Worth and back to Dallas. Ironically, I will finish the final 60 miles at the Komen 3-Day for the Cure in Dallas-Fort Worth.
532.
The number of miles I will walk between now and November 7. This distance is the rough equivalent of walking from my home in Memphis, TN through Dallas, TX to Forth Worth and back to Dallas. Ironically, I will finish the final 60 miles at the Komen 3-Day for the Cure in Dallas-Fort Worth.
I’m only six weeks into training and the realization of what this walk requires has become very apparent.
- Shin Splints
- Pain.
- Sweat … oh my … the buckets of perspiration!
- Discomfort.
- Hours and hours of walking.
- Time.
- Missing other events in order to train or recover from training.
- Sacrifice.
- Time and sacrifices required and impact on relationships.
- Misperceptions.
- Hours and hours of walking in pain in discomfort while missing other events and folks not “really” understanding.
- Loneliness.
So … why do I, and my friends also walking in the 3-Day, continue this journey? We continue because we have committed to this event as a way to honor our friends and family who struggle (or struggled with) cancer. My motivations are the women who, literally, walk a lonely life journey of pain, discomfort, time, sacrifice, and misperceptions because of cancer … something with which a training program can never compare.
I am also encouraged to continue with training because of my anticipation for the 3-Day weekend. A weekend culminating six months of training alone by joining with my team, among thousands of others, to celebrate, mourn, and honor our friends and family.
It is not over-reaching to say that this experience is a microcosm of our individual life journeys. We each face and overcome pain and joy, sometimes with grace and sometimes with struggle. We are often given a group of people to walk with; however, we must also walk some of the journey alone.
We struggle but we walk forward in our lives, sometimes in a crawl, because we look ahead to a day when our days of mourning will end and we will worship and celebrate our Creator for eternity.
532.
Training.
Leading to hope.
Ending in joy and celebration.
Forever.
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 76:25-26
Christy McFarland
Christy currently serves as the Director of Public Affairs at Crichton College in Memphis, Tennessee. Crichton is a Christian, liberal arts college committed to equipping students to think critically, grow spiritually, and change their world. Prior to moving to Memphis, Christy served as the Minister of Local Outreach and Assistant Minister to Singles at Northwest Bible Church in Dallas, Texas. She is a graduate of Rhodes College and Dallas Theological Seminary. Christy’s passion is to see individuals encouraged and equipped to fully live and exploit their unique calling, gifts, and talents, thus, allowing the Church be a strong, incarnational, evangelical presence within the local and global communities. She has a twin brother who serves as a missionary in Europe and a younger brother who lives in Dallas, Texas with his new wife (a match for which Christy claims full responsibility). Her mother and step-father live in Memphis, Tennessee and father and step-mother live in Quebec City, Quebec.
