She crossed the finish line of the Boston marathon and was able to receive her Abbott World Major Marathon 6-star medal for running the top 6 marathons on the world! Her name: Jane-Jane Ong, a dear friend of mine from Cebu, Philippines.

 

Jane-Jane had completed 5 of the required races, which included Tokyo, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York, but she had given up training for the Boston race because of the difficulty of getting a slot in the race. That is, until October 2022, when she learned that Abbott World Major Marathons was giving out 150 slots for those who lacked Boston to complete their 6-star journey through a lottery. She applied for it, and in late November was given the only one of these slots for someone from the Philippines. That meant she had four months to train. Jane-Jane says, “It is only by God’s grace that I was able to do my training and manage my injuries” for those four months. She calls it a “story of God’s favor and grace” and gives all glory to God.

 

The Bible says, “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23-24 NKJV). And that’s exactly what Jane-Jane did. She thanks God for granting her heart’s desire and recognizes that she would not have been among those 30,000-plus runners that day if it weren’t for God’s help.

 

What is on your To-Do list today? You may not be running 26.2 miles or 42-plus kilometers. But you may feel like it! Whatever you have to do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord, for you are serving Him. And the Bible says you will receive the reward from Him!