Tonight I saw something that amazed me. I attended a middle school track meet this evening to watch a girl, who I'll refer to as "Katie", run in a District Championship tournament. She had originally thought that she would not be able to run and had expressed for me not to bother with coming to see her. But I'm glad I went.
As the meet began, I saw Katie sitting across the field. She had been labeled as an alternate. In her mind she had been labeled as insufficient and incapable of competing in the events. Essentially, she felt unwanted. As the evening progressed, Katie sat watching each separate event start and finish without her being able to contribute. She cheered for her teammates and yelled when each girl from her team crossed the finish line. Whether they won their race or not, Katie still cheered as if they had won an Olympic Gold Medal. She slowly progressed from an "I just lost my best friend" look to a "team player" look.
The meet was coming to a close when I saw Katie making her way to another part of the track. Could it be? Could she be lining up to race? She was indeed. As she made her way onto the track for a baton relay, I could see that she looked a little different from the start of the meet. She didn't even have the "team player" face. At first, I thought it was nervousness. After all this was not a race that she was familiar with running. It wasn't until the race began and she took the baton that I realized what I saw on her face. It wasn't nervousness or anxiety. What I saw was a most amazing thing. I saw perseverance. As she ran, perseverance took control of her body and led her around the track. Her family and teammates were cheering and all I could do was watch in amazement.
Perseverance is what the writer of Hebrews was describing in chapter 12 when he said to run the race that was marked out. It was this type of perseverance that I witnessed on the face of a 13 year old girl who, when cheered on by such a great cloud of witnesses, finished a race that was unfamiliar to her.
I think the writer of Hebrews truly meant that no matter how uncomfortable we are, or how unfamiliar our surroundings may be, listen to the crowds. If we listen we can hear those who have kept the faith and who, through their faith, cheer us on today. So I'll take my lead from Katie, the "unwanted" alternate, and from the writer of Hebrews. Run with perseverance, never looking back, staying focused on what lies ahead. I can only imagine what a glorious feeling I'll have when I finally reach the finish line.
By the way, Katie's school won first place in the Division.
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1 comment:
I am truly touched that you chose to use me on your blog and you helped me to see that night in a new perspective. I know that, just like me, you will finish your own race with much more accomplished, more people influenced by your ways, then you ever could have dreamed of. Just don't look back.
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