Running the race set before me!

Kerissa • January 27, 2012

   I love to run.  Yes, I can’t run long distances yet…  But whether it’s running to the mailbox at the end of our driveway, running from a restaurant to our parked car, running up our long flight of stairs two steps at a time, or running to our couch to read my Bible or a good book, it fills me with PLEASURE!  You may think, “What’s so fun about running a little?”  Well, it’s because I was on crutches for 6+ months last year!
   Before I had my SCS implanted, I went through grueling months of physical therapy, “learning” how to walk again.  It was painful!  At my first PT appointment, that’s what I had to learn to do.  WALK.  I was like a toddler learning how to walk.  I had to walk for 1 minute, 3x a day for the first week…then 3 minutes the second week…then 5 minutes…8 minutes…until I could walk for 25 minutes at a time!  It wasn’t a fast walk, though, because the CRPS pain was so severe.  And I couldn’t do one tip-toe with my right foot no matter how hard I tried because it felt like a knife was stuck in the ball of my foot!  But now, after my surgery last September and still more months of physical therapy, I can now run, jump, AND tip-toe 20x at one time with my right foot!  God is good.  And He was good even when I couldn’t walk, even when I couldn’t tip-toe.
   So THAT’S why I love to run.  And when I run, I feel so free!  When I was thinking about that, I thought about how it’s the same with my life as a follower of Christ.  Because Jesus washed away my sins when He died on the cross for me, the chains of sin no longer keep me in bondage.  I have been set “free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2)  “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).
   On this journey, I don’t want to “run aimlessly” (I Corinthians 9:26), I want to “run with endurance the race that is set before [me], looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of [my] faith…” (Hebrews 12:1-2)  My friends, join me in this race!  Keep looking to Jesus!

P.S.  This coming Monday, Jan. 30th, I will be having my third stellate ganglion block done.  I would greatly appreciate your prayers once again!

October prayer request

By Kerissa Lee • October 19, 2025
Dear friends, At the beginning of October, I started taking a new medication for the autoimmune disease. I thought I was tolerating it just fine, but after several days passed, I began experiencing nausea, loss of appetite, weakness all over, and increased pain. 🙁 It’s like I’m experiencing another “mito crash.” I found out that this specific lupus medication affects mitochondria. That is, it causes an overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS). This, in turn, causes cell damage and oxidative stress. I sure wish the rheumatologists would have known about this before prescribing. But I have to remember that Mitochondrial DNA Depletion Syndrome is rare, and they’re not “mito experts.” Anyways, the last time I felt like this was back in May.. I’m so grateful to God that I haven’t needed to be hospitalized from this, but at the same time, I’m also sad that this happened at all, especially because I had such a nice stretch of stable health. I’d really appreciate your prayers, that this muscle weakness can resolve soon, and that this increased pain all over will get back to my baseline. Every time I have a “mito crash,” it feels like I’m fighting the flu which always sucks. The pain has been hard to bear. And whenever I’m in the thick of it, it’s difficult to remember that this too will eventually pass. 😢 Pray that I will endure and follow Jesus’ example like this passage from Hebrews 12:1-2– “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross...” Thank you all so much for praying for me. ❤️

Thank you! (+ a prayer request)

By Kerissa Lee • October 4, 2025
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." James 1:2-3

Praises & Prayer Requests

By Kerissa Lee • September 3, 2025
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23