Grace of God Within (1 Cor 15:10) by Alice Chapman

18 Sep Grace of God Within (1 Cor 15:10) by Alice Chapman

“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective.  Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them; not I, however, but the grace of God that is with me.” ~ 1 Cor 15:10 (full readings)
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Alice’s Reflections:  Tomorrow more than 250 LIFE Runners will gather in Dayton, Ohio for the 2014 Air Force Marathon weekend events.  Tomorrow evening’s Pre-Race Pasta Banquet will be a celebration of the year’s Pro-Life awareness efforts, the national team’s fundraising campaign, and the accomplishments of runners and walkers who have trained mightily for their race event.  On Saturday, runners and walkers of all ages and abilities will compete in events ranging from a 1 kilometer sprint to the grueling 26.2 mile marathon; some of these warriors will be attempting to complete a particular distance for the first time ever!  Still other team mates around the country and even the globe are preparing to run races in their own communities to bring awareness to the sanctity of life and raise money to advance the protection of all human life.  What do all of these things have in common?  It is that none of this would be possible without God’s grace and abundant blessings on those who toil for the sake of His children, those unborn who are voiceless in our society.  We give them a voice by being visible among the crowd in our bright blue “Remember the Unborn” jerseys.  The silent witness we give as we endure the discomfort and hardship of that long distance run makes us abundantly more effective, in much the same way as God made St. Paul so powerfully effective at spreading the gospel, despite the fact that he spent a lot of that time in prison!  So yes, there will be hardship this weekend for even the strongest runners at the Air Force Marathon.  But those wearing the LIFE Runners banner will find inner strength that is God’s grace within them.
* Alice is a public health officer in the U.S. Air Force and is stationed at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia.  She and her husband Glenn have a son.
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Faith Challenge:  No matter where you are in your faith journey, no matter where you are in your physical training, take strength in knowing that your efforts are not in vain.  Our God within you takes all of it for His purposes.

Counter-Culture News: LifeSiteNews, LifeNews, American Family, Vatican, Project Rachel..
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Our Prayers: Pray LIFE Runners Creed to End Abortion.  Add Prayers. Pray with meals, bedtime, wake up, unceasingly. Consider mid-week Family Rosary (17 min). Let’s pray now.
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Feast Day:  St Joseph of Cupertino
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Faith Quote:  “Strength does not come from winning.  Your struggles develop your strengths.  When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.” ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger
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Through Christ our Lord,
Alice
Jer 29:11-13