Stoking the Fire

Chloe ran competitively for a team for the first time in the fall. I was blessed to be able to coach her in her first season in cross country. She had never participated in sports in her younger years, so I was interested to watch how things would go for her. Apart from hoping running would be a good fit for her, I also had hoped she would find out what she was made of.
And she certainly did. The girl found out that she has fire in her bones.

It didn't take long for her to feel the satisfaction of pushing herself when it hurt and to be anxious to do it again. If you are an endurance athlete, you understand what I'm talking about. With three older brothers, she wasn't intimidated to get in the mix with the strongest boys on her team and allow them to help her become a stronger runner through trying to keep with them in workouts. Her grit started to show and it also started to pay off.

 Chloe started showing up in the top finishers of big races, and even winning the local meets. She found a gift and that she was making an impact. She also found that she was learning more about who she was on the inside. And this is a pretty big deal to a 13 year old. 

The beauty of running (and endurance sports, in general) is that it causes you to take a look inside of yourself and see what you are made of. No one can make up for what you may lack. No excuse can be made for falling short. It's all you, through and through. The thoughts that pour through your head during a race, overcoming fatigue and cramps, pacing, focusing on speed rather than pain....it's all a process of learning and maturing that only you can master for yourself. 

The fire and passion she is learning through running is one that I pray she will hold onto for the rest of her life. Not that she will see running as her most valuable accomplishment, but that she will continue to learn about what The Lord has accomplished for her on the cross. That He has set a fire in her bones that burns for Him. That through this beautiful platform of running, she will she give Him glory and that she will be satisfied in what He accomplishes through her. And though desires will wax and wane, He will always stoke that fire within her to pursue Him to her fullest. I pray that she uses that fire to show compassion for the hurting and to recognize the struggle in human hearts beyond her own. To extend grace and mercy and great love. 

So my job is to be a fire stoker. To fan the flame and be sure there is heat being produced. I didn't start the fire, but I can be sure to do my best to keep it lit by holding her accountable in both running and much more so in her faith. To set an example of being a girl on fire myself, whose faith is strong and who lives a life that honors my Savior....far from perfection, but filled with grace that I have received and can extend to the world.

"It's not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What's important is that God makes the seed grow."  

~Corinthians 3:7

I am incredibly thankful for this girl, who is quickly becoming a young woman. She teaches me so much about my own heart. We are cut from the same cloth. I'm helping her learn that it's good to feel most everything. But, it's learning to use it to not feel bad for yourself, but to see inside the hearts of people in the race alongside you. To encourage them when they stumble so you, yourself can be encouraged too. Teenage years are tough stuff, but I know she is well stoked for the race.