Run Girl, Run.

 We were all sitting around the table finishing up dinner and my oldest was telling us about her utter humiliation on the track that day.  We all laughed out loud as we imagined her attempting to jump the hurdle and land flat on her back.  She told us that she just lay there wishing she could disappear.  As if that wasn't enough to want to die, her coach ran over to check on her and all the other runners just stopped what they were doing to laugh and point.  Worst of all, the ex-boyfriend, of only a few days, was one of the spectators.  It could not get any worse.  We laughed and cried and laughed some more.  

To tell you the truth I was shocked when she climbed in the car that day and told me she was going to do hurdles.  This is the first attempt in her life to compete in any sport.  She has 4 brothers and even though she is the oldest, in a lot of ways she has grown up in the shadow of her two closest brothers.  We are a sports family...  football to be exact... and in a lot of ways she has found it hard to figure out where she fits in.  I think fear had held up back in the past, but this year she decided she was not going to give in to fear.  

I was so happy when she decided she was going to run track.  I was so proud that she was going to put herself out there and be brave, but I knew this decision also came with some risks.  I knew that starting in the middle of high school, while everyone else had been doing this for years, could be a big disadvantage.  I knew that like any new thing you start the potential to fail a few times was highly likely.  I knew that failure had the tendency not to motivate, but discourage and often discouragement leads to quitting.  

I know...  because quitting is an habit in my life.  So, I expected her to say, "I'm quitting.  I can't do this."  I expected her to say I need to move to another school where no one knows my name.  

She didn't quit.  In fact she will be running today in her first meet and she will be jumping those hurdles.  She knows that the stakes are even higher today than they were that day in practice.  Although she wanted to lay down and die that day instead of facing all those people who had just witnessed her fall, she got up and she tried again and again and again.  

I learned a few valuable lessons that day from my daughter.  Lessons about living and about running this race for Jesus.  

First of all...  run girl.  Run no matter who is watching.  Run even though you've never done this before.  Run and give it everything you have.  Get in the race.   Do it even though you are scared.  Don't listen to all the reasons why you shouldn't do it.  

Be teachable...  you've never done this before... that's ok.  That's what the Coach is for.  Talk to the people who know what they are doing.  Talk to the people who are successful and find out what they do that works and do that.  Practice.  There is NOTHING in this life that you will automatically be good at.  Practice makes progress and we get a little better every time.  Too often we don't even start because we are looking at what other people are doing and what they have already accomplished.  

When you fall, lay there a minute and laugh or cry or whatever you need to do, BUT don't stay there.  Don't get up and run off the track and hide somewhere.  So what there are people pointing and laughing... every single person messes up sometimes.  Get up, hold your head high and go right back to the mark and start again.  One of the most important qualities that any person and especially successful people have is the ability to laugh at themselves.  It's the person who takes themselves too seriously who have a hard time finishing the race.

Don't take the people on the sidelines too serious.  They will have a lot to say along the way, but what are they actually DOING?  Keep your eye on the prize.  Stay in your lane.  Finish the race.  Along the way you might trip, but get up and keep running.  Listen to the people who see your potential, the ones cheering you on.  Listen to your Coach, she put you in that race because believes YOU CAN DO THIS.

Paul talks about our journey as Christ followers in the terms of a runner in a marathon. He says, "Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us...

1.  Let us lay aside every hindrance and sin that so easily ensnares us.  

2.  Let us run the race with endurance,

3.  The race that lies before us.

4.  Keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith.  

We have a race to run.  It was chosen for us by God and He has equipped us with everything that we need to run the race.  Keeping our eyes on Jesus (our finish line) and getting rid of all the things that could knock us our of the race is the key to running our race successfully.  Learn from your mistakes, don't give up because of them.  Don't compare yourself to the runners around you...  This is the race that was marked out for you.  

There have been so many times I started running, but quit along the way because I believed that I wasn't good enough or I didn't have what it takes.  I would listen to the negative self-talk or to the people in the stands laughing and pointing.  Sometimes, I would quit because of my own hang-up and flaws.  There have also been many times when I didn't even get in the race because of fear.

My girl is teaching me so much about going after what you want.  I'm amazed by her determination to try something new and hard.  I'm inspired by her resolve to work hard and keep getting better.  I'm encouraged to see her sift through the lies and self-doubt and hang on to the truth no matter what.  Her bruises will become scars that will tell the story of courage and bravery to finish her race and today she will be a stronger person than she was before.  

The easy way is to quit.  The easy way is to believe the lies.  The easy thing would be to run off the track and never go back...  but nothing worth having ever came easy.  

Maybe your find yourself flat on your back after taking a big spill, get back up and try again.  Maybe you're out of the race all together, get back in and try again.  Be brave.  Have courage and finish your race.