When i was 8 years old we had a track & field day at school! I was a really fast kid at that age. I also gave credit to the special new shoes my mom bought me for the event. With those shoes on i was bound to win ! ! ! I got my hair cut so i would be more aerodynamic and wore the typical 1970 something style shorts (it was okay back in the 1970’s my advice now is, please burn them!)
One thing my dad knew more than i did at the time was that i was great at the 50 yard dash, but not so much at longer distances, let alone a marathon. I stretched and got ready for about 15 seconds, hey i was 8, my attention span was pretty short. I walked around smiling at friends who also ran fast and i smirking at those who couldn’t. I got into the starting position and BANG the starter pistol rang out!
Never having really run in an event, the gun sound startled me right from the start. I lost my footing and did a face plant into to track pavement. I was able to jump up and press on but felt my face turning several shades of red and could hear the crowd yelling and some laughing. Already behind a little, for the first few minutes of the race my mind could think of nothing else but of how i fell and of how i could ever to catch up. I wasn’t focusing on finishing i was battling with myself and that just slowed me down more.
Because this was elementary school the distance we were running was shorter than that of middle school or high school but for me it seemed like we were running for hours and no matter how much i tried to catch up i seemed to fall farther and farther behind. I knew i was in real trouble when some one passed me on the track and i was already in last place to begin with! My elementary school mind thought, does this mean i’m in second place now? The reality that i was not going to win almost overwhelmed me until i heard my dad yelling from the crowd, “KEEP RUNNING BEETLE!” That put a pep in my step. I ran until my side started to hurt and then i heard the coach yell, “walk for a little bit, you can still finish!” I did just that.
Being in the back of the pack i was able to notice some kids looking up into the stands as they ran; looking for their parents, grandma or girlfriend. Later a friend of mine said he saw his family dog up in the stands and ended up running into the lane next to his. I finished the race and now know it didn’t really matter what place i was in i still finished.
As i grew up i learned how to pace myself a little better. In middle school we would train with weights on our ankles so that we would build up leg muscles and when we took them off we would run even faster. When we laid aside those weights our legs felt as lite as a feathers!
In high school we would run up and down the bleachers and train in order to build up our cardio and be able to endure running further and longer distances.
This brings me to the point of this post:
Philippians 3:13-14 MSG
Philippians 3:13-14 NIV
Hebrews 12:1 NIV
Hebrews 12:12-13 NIV
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Thanks again Tom. This reminds me of the poem “Don’t Quit”. I like the way you showed different translations.
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Thank you, if you find that poem post it here in comments. This blog is a great way for me to keep things that minister to me in one place but without filling huge filing cabinets.
🙂
I don’t always post the different translations but it is helpful to see the different wording saying the same thing but in a way we may
identify with better.
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