Pressing On

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” ~ Philippians 3:12

He’d never run more than the obligatory mile in PE class. But his friends planned to join cross country, and he wanted to hang out with his friends. Middle-schoolers can be quite persuasive. So I paid the athletic fee, completed the forms, and made an appointment for a physical.

That was the easy part. I’d been a runner for thirteen years, and I knew his greatest challenge lay in the fact that only twelve days separated his decision from the first day of cross country practice. Learning to run multiple miles at a time isn’t crash-course material. It’s a skill earned over months and years of grueling practice–not less than two weeks.

But he was determined. I told him I’d pay the fee if he promised to run with me every one of those twelve days until school started. “I’ll be your coach,” I said, and he heartily agreed.

Until Day Nine when I pushed him to run further than he’d ever run before.

It was a typical August afternoon, blazing hot without a breeze. The first 1.5 miles took us uphill, at which point we’d turn around and come home. If he could make it to the half-way point, I knew he’d survive the cross-country team without breaking a sweat.

But he started to fade at the half-mile mark. By three-quarters of a mile, his good-nature turned around and went home, leaving me with a grumpy adolescent. By one mile in, he started talking about taking up another sport and all the reasons why running is stupid.

Up ahead I saw our turnaround point. I knew if I could get him to the top of the hill, to the light pole marking our summit, he’d make it home triumphant. But never has a half-mile felt so long. That final hill was long and hot, and in spite of my cheering and prodding, my son abandoned his run to the summit in favor of a nice easy walk.

Both my son and I learned two important lessons that day:

1. Sometimes the finish appears unreachable when you’re tired. But it’s not. Better to press on than end up kicking yourself a few hours later.
2. Even if you fail, get back up and keep running.

Since that frustrating day, my son has run up to four miles without stopping. He finished his cross country season, shaving several minutes off his original time. And now, every time he runs, he runs through to the very end, touching the light pole as a symbol of running his entire race, all the way to the finish.

Whatever your race, whether it’s a difficult child, a struggling marriage, a season of confusion in your relationship with God, or simply the struggles of daily living, run your race. Your whole race. And even if you fail, leave it in the past and get back out there to run again.

“Brothers, 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 3:13-14