{"id":441,"date":"2012-09-18T03:35:50","date_gmt":"2012-09-18T03:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kandynolesstevens.com\/?p=441"},"modified":"2012-09-18T03:35:50","modified_gmt":"2012-09-18T03:35:50","slug":"12-days-to-go-but-i-cant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/?p=441","title":{"rendered":"12 Days to Go: But I can’t"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

“Junk Art” Motorcycle
Available at Reed’s Run<\/p><\/div>\n

Each year, I have a few people that pull me aside, and tell me that they want to run a 5k but that they just don\u2019t think they can.\u00a0 I totally get that.\u00a0 If you followed along on my journey to finishing my first triathlon, then you would also know that my biggest hurdle to overcome was my personal fear of failure.\u00a0 In the end, not only did I finish, but I beat my own personal best time.\u00a0 Granted I was not gifted with any stellar athletic genes, but I did show up.\u00a0 But before I started \u201cshowing up\u201d, I used all kinds of excuses: getting older, out of shape, severe asthma, I hate running and the list goes on.<\/p>\n

Thankfully the story of\u00a0our \u201cauction guy\u201d does not parallel my own.\u00a0 The first year of fundraising was Reed\u2019s art show and the auction items were supposed to raise money for his trip to Australia.\u00a0 The second year (1st<\/sup> Reed\u2019s Run) the auction items were put together by the Reed\u2019s Run team members.\u00a0 But three was definitely a charm.\u00a0\u00a0The third auction year\u00a0was when a friend from church, who had been such a positive encourager for Sawyer during his rehabilitation, called and asked if he could help out with the auction.<\/p>\n

My first response was \u201cWe aren\u2019t in the business of turning down good help.\u201d But in the back of my mind, I thought how much can one guy do.\u00a0 My friend has had some struggles in his life \u2013 a severe learning disability, the death of his sister, and a few other things that would definitely knock some down. Not my friend. \u00a0Remember my list of excuses that kept me from keeping a promise I made to Reed & Sawyer about completing a triathlon.\u00a0 It seems my friend never has time to pencil in the reasons why he cannot do something.<\/p>\n

He just got down to business, and the auction items started rolling in.\u00a0 And rolling in.\u00a0 And rolling in.\u00a0 He is amazing.\u00a0 My gifts and talents do not include the ability to do what he does.\u00a0I would be quaking in my boots going out\u00a0soliciting donations and chatting with people I\u00a0don’t know. At the first hint of no, I would be out the door.\u00a0 Thankfully, that is not my friend’s method of operation; because without his diligent work, the auction would never be as successful as it is.<\/p>\n

I have been thinking a lot about my friend\u2019s commitment to our family and specifically to Reed\u2019s Run.\u00a0 I know that God has equipped each of us with talents to do His work, but sometimes, I am so afraid to fail that I don\u2019t even start.\u00a0 I am so glad that my friend doesn\u2019t seem to possess that same gene. I am so blessed to know someone who seems all of life\u2019s possibilities and not the potential problems.<\/p>\n

So even if you don\u2019t ever win a 5k, I believe there is a lot more \u201cI CAN\u201d in all of us, if we just show up and try.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0I think my friend would definitely agree.\u00a0 Hopefully, more of his attitude will rub off on me, so that the next time I come across a challenge, my answer will be “I KAN”!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Each year, I have a few people that pull me aside, and tell me that they want to run a 5k but that they just don\u2019t think they can.\u00a0 I totally get that.\u00a0 If you followed along on my journey to finishing my first triathlon, then you would also know that my biggest hurdle to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[45,212,231,526],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}