In an amazing story published by Runners World over the weekend, it was reported that Mason Wright, a Salt Lake City-based ultrarunner better known as Buff Runner, just completed 1,000 miles around a track at Layton High School in Layton, Utah. The final total: 18 days, 13 hours, and 11 minutes of running in circles. Or, more accurately, 4,000 laps of the same oval, making Wright one of the few people in history to finish a 1,000-mile track challenge.
Wright did the run for The Single Parent Project, an organization that supports single-parent families. He’s previously shared that he grew up with a single mother and wanted the run to represent the kind of effort single parents put in every day without a finish line waiting at the end. Last year, he also ran 421 miles across Utah to bring attention to the same cause…
After finishing, Wright wrote in his final journal entry that he was still trying to process what he had done. “Mentally, I don’t know how I am okay,” he shared. “I don’t know how I kept moving. I don’t know how I did this. And that’s what makes me proud.”
And, you know, while single-parent households can certainly produce thriving and responsible adults such as Mason, it’s not an easy road for the solo mother or father doing it and it’s certainly not the plan God had for the family—which is one man and one woman joined together in marriage, focused on following Him, and intent on raising their children to do the same.
This is shown in the divine family hierarchy the Lord, Himself, instituted—with the man of the house submitting to God’s authority, the wife submitting to the husband (as he submits to God’s authority) and the children submitting to and obeying their parents who are obeying the Lord. This is the perfect order that creates harmony in a home and fosters an atmosphere for godly growth.
My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother; For they will be a graceful ornament on your head, And chains about your neck.
Proverbs 1:8-9
We can further see that God’s design for families included both a mother and a father in the words of Solomon, who wisely declared that hearing the instruction of our fathers and not forsaking the law of our mothers would be the equivalent of wearing fine jewels… obtained at a great cost and so priceless that they would be passed down from generation to generation.
Which means when a child has both a godly father and a godly mother who love and submit to God and one another as the Bible calls them to, the child will be blessed with priceless knowledge and wisdom, among other things.
Now this isn’t to say that it can’t be done in single-parent households. It can be done with God’s help. But it certainly wasn’t what God intended. And for good reason. The support system that marriage provides benefits both the parents and the children.
“Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” Hebrews 13:4
“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” 2 Corinthians 6:14
So, knowing that God’s design for the family is always the best one, seek to do whatever it takes to model a godly marriage my friend. And if you’re not married, choose your spouse wisely and wait for marriage to have sex. People might call you old-fashioned for doing so, but you, your family, and society as a whole will reap the rewards.
Heavenly Father, thank You for giving us the perfect design for what family should look like. Help us to honor You by adhering to Your statutes regarding family, sex, and marriage Lord. And Lord, for those single parents who, for one reason or another are raising children on their own, give them the strength and the wisdom to be a godly parent and to lead their children to You. It’s in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen.
Happy Running!
No comments:
Post a Comment