Shari Borden

The idea behind Running with Freedom was birthed more than 20 years ago as I observed people running on the street.  I would tell my roommate when we were driving along, “Wow, they are running with freedom!” I was more aware of it when I was suffering from an injury.  I wanted to be back hitting the pavement.

I also saw people struggling to run, and my roommate and I would look at each other and say, “(italicize – Not)running with freedom.”

As Christians, I believe we are also running a race. Often we try to keep running through a lot of hurts that life hands us. Just like running with a physical injury leads to greater injury, continuing to run through life with unhealed emotional or spiritual wounds starts to affect other areas of our lives in some way.  It can cause us to shrink back because of the walls we’ve put up for our protection. It can keep us from trusting God in situations He may have designed for a purpose beyond our understanding. It can cause us to have error in our view of God and others.  We get out of balance.

I have personally lived this, both physically and spiritually.  Physically, as I’ve gotten older I’ve realized with running that I have to assess the hurts and discern whether I am just sore or truly injured.  In the past, I wanted to run through the hurts which only caused more injury.  Now, instead of ignoring the pain and pushing through, I stretch, take the day off, or do some other form of exercise.  Spiritually, the same principles apply to offenses or hurts –instead of ignoring the pain and pushing through, I deal with it by praying and submitting it to God. I don’t want to try to do this race called life through hurts anymore.

The purpose of Running with Freedom is to help people run their life race free from any hindrance that may be holding them back from their potential and destiny. We are all running some sort of race – how we do so is up to us.  I realize that this life is so short and as I look to God and eternity, I want as many people to come to know Jesus as possible. Not only do I want people to be with Him forever, but I also want them to realize the possibility of living in the Kingdom here on earth.