Being Barnes: My Very Own Angels

Doctrine and Covenants 84:88:

And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.

So, I ran my 4th half marathon on Saturday. You would think that by now it'd be an easy peasy lemon squeezy routine run, right? Well, wrong. Its still a challenge. Its still a taxing task physically, mentally, and emotionally {It doesn't help to eat junk food nonstop the entire month leading up to it, just fyi...}. I'll have lots more to say on the race and the entire family filled week later on; but for now, I need to tell you all about one of the coolest experiences of my life that occurred during this race.

Around mile 7, I was starting to lose the feel-good pep in my step as I ran. I passed my cheering proud parents around mile 8 which was encouraging, but I quickly started to feel tired again. As I was approaching 8.5, I was just about getting ready to walk for the first time when I looked up and saw Brent and Jon standing on the side of the road. Brent was all suited up to run and came on out to join me. For the next two miles he stuck with me as my motivation dimmed, my pace slowed, and I started to get a little crazy as I sang out loud to the songs playing on my ipod and I whined about how bad I had to pee and I wasn't sure if I could hold it much longer. He was a good sport and a really big help right when I really needed it. As we came up on mile 11, Brent pointed to the sidelines where I saw Jon and Josh, yelling and jumping up and down as they saw us approaching. Those boys were also ready to run, and run they did.

This is where the cool part really started. For the last 2 {frustratingly excruciating} miles, these 3 boys where my angels. They all assumed a position: Jonny boy was on my left side with his hand on my back, literally pushing me forward. Josh was on my right side spouting out positive affirmations {"Endurance is your middle name! You can do this! You are so close! You are doing so amazing girl!}. Brent was running backwards a few paces ahead, facing me, helping me keep my head up and keeping me focused forward and focused on finishing. I had my very own personal motivational cheering squad! It was incredible. When we passed the water station they grabbed cups for me and got me what I needed. When I passed under the water mister they made a fun little tunnel for me to run through. When I couldn't take it any longer and needed to stop to use the Honey Bucket during the last mile they ran ahead, guarded an empty one, held the door open for me, and waited for me outside. They never left my side, never deserted me or let me quit or give up on myself. They kept me going and they helped me finish. At the very end when they had to peel off right before the finish line, I could still hear their voices in the crowd, yelling at me to keep going, to push as hard as I could, telling me that I was almost there. And when I finally finished, they were all there with even more friends, waiting for me with hugs and congratulations.

They probably thought it was no big deal. They probably think i'm making way too big a deal out of it. But seriously, they have no idea what impact they have had on me. The outpouring of love that I feel is overwhelming. The fact that they took time to get up early on a Saturday morning and come run a few miles of my race with me is incredible. To know that I have such amazing people in my life is one of my greatest blessings. I can't think of a much better definition than this for having "angels round about me to bear me up."

To Josh, Brent, and Jon: Thank you! I am at a loss for words that I can use to fully express to you how much you mean to me and how grateful I am for this memory I will never forget and for the friendships that we have.
I love you boys!

I wish more than anything I had a picture of the 4 of us running together at the end. But alas, we didn't get one. So post-race pictures will have to suffice.

{They may be angels, but it was near impossible to get a perfect picture... mostly because of me and my spazzyness...}