Fight For Your Finish Line

My name is Wendy Kern. I’m an LPGA golf professional and co-owner of Mulligan’s Golf Center in the Shenandoah Valley. I teach golf professionally and LOVE it!

I’ve been an active person all of my life and have loved sports. But in my mid-20s, my body started to rebel. I’d developed fibromyalgia, which was a new diagnosis at the time. For the next 15 years, I tried many different treatments and medications to help manage the draining fatigue and agonizing pain.

I was floundering in my faith during my 20s and early 30s. But I’d heard of Joyce Meyer many, many times and started listening to her teachings—and she inspired me.

God Guides Us

When I found out that I could have a close, personal connection with God, I wanted to be in the Word pretty much every day. That’s when I started to feel His guidance for my health journey. And I realized that movement was going to be my solution. So, I started slowly, taking walks. I cut foods out of my diet that were causing inflammation, and I started feeling tremendously better. I’d also decided to pick myself up mentally and push forward instead of stepping back. And that’s when I went from walking to running to racing.

Of course, your smartphone is your best asset when it comes to listening to things on the go. And so, I found the Joyce Meyer Ministries app, and I enjoy her daily shows. Joyce’s realness is very inspiring to me.

I try to make it a point daily to have some sort of growth opportunity when it comes to my faith—and that usually involves listening to Joyce. You know, we’re all damaged in one way or another and we need Jesus. And Joyce is always there to tell us, “Yes, your days may be bumpy but God’s right there, He’s on your team.”

God Strengthens Us

By my early 40s, a lot had changed in my life. I was starting to feel well enough to do a run-walk kind of thing, and that’s when I finished my first 8K, which was a major milestone for me. As I got healthier and stronger, I decided 8Ks were great, but I wanted to push a little more. So, I started training for half-marathons, which led to signing up for a full marathon at 49.

It’s scary to step onto the starting line for a marathon, especially when you’ve never done it before. But I just told myself, “It does not matter how fast you finish, it’s just that you finish.”

God’s Word Motivates

I needed positive things to listen to along the way, so I ended up downloading a whole series of Joyce’s shows where she took the Lord’s Prayer and dissected it line by line, which I thought was neat. My playlist consisted of two or three of those shows, some music, then two or three more shows and so on, enough to last the whole four hours of the race.

You know, Joyce is funny, she’s inspirational, and she’s kind. So, there were times when I’d say “aww” or she’d make me laugh or say “Yes, ma’am. That’s the way.” It was helpful to have things to reflect on during this physical journey that I was taking, and to look around and appreciate what I was doing and not just be focused on putting one foot in front of the other.

If you ever talk to long distance runners, you’ll hear about certain points where they’ve hit a proverbial wall. I think I hit mine around mile 17. The wind was blowing sideways, and sand was flying at me. So, that was uncomfortable and not fun, but it was part of the race.

With God, You Can Make It!

When you commit to something, whether it be your job or a race or even to your family members, there will always be hurdles to get over. And you’ve got to learn to face the discomfort and, to a certain extent, ignore it, knowing there’s a finish line in front of you and a bigger picture of what God’s will is for your life. And so, you’ve got to keep going and keep pushing and keep trusting, knowing that it’s all part of God’s big plan.

For the last mile, I was making sure my feet went high so I wouldn’t trip. When I crossed the finish line, it was an amazing feeling of accomplishment and gratitude that I’d made it, that I’d completed the race. I really did not care what my time was. I think it was 10 minutes longer than what I’d planned. But I took my time and went through the aid stations, stopped to make sure “fallen” runners were okay and enjoyed encouraging fellow runners.

For me, it wasn’t only about the race. I wanted to have the marathon experience, including the training. Long distance running can be lonely because nobody wants to run 20 miles with you. And in life, you’ll go through times where it’s just you and the Lord. But He will give you the strength to make it to your finish line. You just have to be determined enough not to quit.