Training for the Prize

I am so proud of Kaelie, my 12 year-old daughter! Saturday she ran in a 5k race for the first time, and she only started running a couple of weeks ago when she joined the track team at the middle school.

It was a nice, cool afternoon, perfect weather for running. When the race started I was surprised to see her so close up in the front, and assumed that unless she was REALLY good at pacing herself, she would drop back pretty quickly and finish up near the back. That wouldn't have mattered, I was just totally impressed with her for getting out there and giving it a try.

Imagaine my surprise when she finished right in the middle with a time of 27:11. Not only that, she came home wearing a medal around her neck for placing third in her age division! The smile on her face was priceless! It was such an encouragement to her to finish so well, and the timing was perfect because it will really boost her confidence going into her first track meet this Thursday. She'll be competing in the 800 and the 4X8 relay, as well as long jump.

Finishing the 5k so well also enabled her to see the benefits of all the training she has been doing. Even over Spring break, I was so proud of her for the way she stuck to the training schedule the coaches had provided, getting out there to run and work out on her own. That takes discipline and passion, as well as a certain amount of maturity.

Aside from all this, I was especially proud of Kaelie for a decision she made yesterday. Her last volleyball tournament is scheduled for this coming Sunday, and it's about an hour and a half away. In order for her to go, she would have to skip church and ride up with a teammate. Her dad or I would drive up a little later to get her home in time for church confirmation class in the evening.

Meanwhile, she's participating in a youth group retreat that starts Friday night, runs all day Saturday, and culminates with the group attending church together Sunday morning. Kaelie didn't even hesitate about her decision. She said that she has sacrificed several church services and activities for volleyball this season since all the tournaments were on Sundays, so this time she's going to sacrifice volleyball in order to attend church with her group on Sunday.

This time, God allowed me to see the benefits of training. Proverbs 22:6 says "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." (NIV) Our girls have been involved in the church since they were infants in the nursery. We attend Sunday school as well as worship services every week. We pray at home and do devotionals, and try to apply Scripture and biblical truths in our daily lives. Kaelie is now attending youth group and weekly youth Bible study, as well as confirmation classes.

I don't say all this to brag, but to point out the fact that all this takes effort. Just like Kaelie's training for track, spiritual training requires discipline and passion. Don't we ever want to sleep in or just stay home and relax sometimes on Sunday mornings? Absolutely. Is it a pain having to drive Kaelie back and forth for youth group, confirmation and Bible study? Occasionally, yes, especially if I'm tired after a busy day. But think about the results of the efforts! We don't have our children in our homes and under our direct influence for very long...think how fleeting that 18-year time period really is. It's so very important to take full advantage of that time to "train them in the way they should go." God, who created them, entrusted them to our care! How can we do anything less?

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever."
1 Cor. 9:24-25 (NIV)