Crossing the Finish Line

I just got back from our Thanksgiving retreat and it was a success. In many ways, it didn't feel like Thanksgiving at all. But in other ways, it was exactly the kind of Thanksgiving I should be having every year. This week, I had the chance to stop and really THANK Him.

On Thanksgiving afternoon, we had an old fashioned field day. We divided up into four teams and participated in events such as the potato sack race, the crab crawl and the classic egg on a spoon race. It came time for the egg race and three of the teams finished up very quickly. I looked back and noticed a remaining little boy from one of the team was still struggling with his egg. He was moving ever so carefully but the egg was getting the best of him. It was just too wobbly. It was pretty obvious he was slower than all the rest. It was pretty obvious he was majorly struggling. And it was pretty obvious that his team was going to lose. You know what his team members did? They wildly cheered him on to the finish line. COME ON! You can DO IT!! YEAH COME ON!! They slapped him on the back when he finally crossed the finish line. "You DID a great job"they yelled. The moment lasted for only a few minutes. We quickly went onto the next event.

I just think about all the times I have tried to balance my wobbly egg on my little spoon. Its pretty obvious I am on the losing team. Its pretty obvious I am struggling. We all have experienced that feeling. That feeling of losing a race. That feeling of being the last one. But in reality, we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses- spuring us along to finish the race that was set before us. Those people who have passed the finish line- they had wobbly eggs too. They had struggles too. And they are spurring us along to finish. It was a perfect picture of His grace. It was a perfect picture of His blessing. And for this, I am truly thankful.