The Big Dogs and the Rain

In May, I had the chance to "run with the big dogs," and then I ran in the rain.  Here is what happened: 

The third weekend in May, I competed at Fast Cow which was held on University of Illinois campus at Urbana–Champaign.  The competitors at this race were some of the fastest and most experienced in the US.  Going in, I knew that I would be one of the slowest competitors.  Even though I was the slowest in my events, I decided that I would still give my everything in each race.  My times were not my fastest but still fairly decent.  I wished that I could be faster, but I was not too disappointed in my performance. 

In the same weekend I went up to Lake Forest, Illinois for the Great Lakes Games put on by the Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association (GLASA).  When I had looked at the weather for the weekend, I noticed that it was going to rain, however, I did not notice the temperature.  The entire track meet it was raining, windy, and in the forties. All of my times were very s-l-o-w.  All of us out there were very cold.  Few athletes had realized that the temperature would be so low and had dressed appropriately.  I had not packed for it to be cold.  We were all soaked to the bone and shivering.  The track meet did not stop, nor did the athletes go home; we all stayed out there enduring the weather that we could not control, and we finished what we had come for.

The Apostle Paul, when speaking of knowing Christ said "But I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:12-14)  In both of my events that weekend I had a chance to give up, but by God's grace I endured to the end.  I want to remember in my spiritual journey that I can't just give up.  Just as I hold on and push through when it is hard in racing, I need to hold on and push through in my relationship with Jesus.