Well, another year of track season has ended. It has been a great season. Actually, it has been a great year. WELL, actually, it has been a great LIFE! There have been some good finishes and some not so wonderful finishes. Chase has conditioned well and maintained a great cardio condition that has enabled him to run the longest of races at each meet. He has had the desire, determination and coaching to help him preform to the best of his ability. And he has.

Last night he ran only one race, the mile. He has ran the mile and a half and the mile in the past, but had asked the coach to only run the mile for this meet, the district meet. There had not been any after school practice this week due to the TAKS test, however, each afternoon after school he went to the LifeCenter and conditioned and then came home to run. He is definitely a self motivator. I would have seen it as a week of Blue Bell and sitting on the sofa. But not Chase. He saw it as a time when he had to pull from deep inside to train for the win.

After all of the preparation he did not finish as well as he had hoped. He finished 10th. There were about 22 runners, so he did well comparatively, but did not do as well as some of his earlier finishes of 6th and 7th. His head hung low as he found me in the stands after the race. I wasn't sure if he was disappointed in himself or feared we would be disappointed in him. When I asked him to reveal his thoughts he was just that, disappointed in himself. He wanted to finish better. He wanted to win. I looked in those wonderful brown eyes, as if looking directly to his soul, and asked him, "Did you do your best?". He quickly and honestly said yes he had done his best. That is when I told him that he can NEVER be disappointed in doing his best. He ran a race to be proud of.In that moment I looked him in the eye it was as if time stood still. In that one little moment as I stared at his soul God showed me once again his miracle. Not that I ever forget what healing took place in Chase, but there are times that I get a renewed vision of that touch.

These are my thoughts that took place in the one moment:

"10th? 10th? Really? I don't think so. For some reason my heart saw you cross the finish line in 1st place. I am not even sure there was anyone around you. You blew everyone else away. You ran with wind beneath your wings. It looked effortless. I can not believe what I saw.....well, actually, maybe, just MAYBE there were 9 that crossed before you. But do you know that I felt so blessed seeing you cross 10th that my heart only saw you? It was as though you were the only one in the race. I felt so blessed that I was even sitting in the stands ABLE to watch you run, much less finish and have a good finish. For almost 15 years ago I did not know if you would even live. AND, if you did live, I had no idea that you would be able to walk, much less run. So dear son, don't be disappointed. I'm sure not. I'm actually in awe."

That is how we are to live our daily lives. There will be others that appear to finish ahead of us. Others that seem to have won. But when we realize the power that is in us through the Holy Spirit and run the race of Life with the finish line in sight, we will not only finish, but finish well...as to not disappoint.I close by saying again....10th? Not really.