by Todd Habiger
todd.habiger@theleaven.org
TONGANOXIE — One evening about 10 years ago, while running through her neighborhood, Starla Scott noticed a man running and making the sign of the cross the entire time.
She wondered what he was focusing on. What was his prayer? What was his motivation?
In the end, the exact details didn’t matter.
“I realized he was focusing on Christ the whole time,” she said. “I thought that was a really good idea.”
So Scott started praying while running. Running had made her feel better physically and mentally for years.
Now it makes her feel better spiritually.
“I like having that time alone with God, where I can speak to him,” she said. “And I can speak out loud if I want to because there’s usually not anybody around.”
Scott works at Saint Luke’s Cushing Hospital in Leavenworth as a clinical lab scientist. Because hospital work can be stressful, Scott runs before work. Often, her thoughts and prayers are with her patients.
“I pray that I’m able to touch their lives and be a positive person that they see when they are not feeling well,” she said.
“I also pray for God to give me the wisdom and know-how to take the best care of them,” she added.
