The Finish Line

The other night we were celebrating the end of regular season baseball with a team party at the bowling alley. My husband had a coaches meeting at the field so he met us at the bowling alley after his meeting. On the way home he pulled up beside us at a red light and made silly faces at my children. Because they're boys they immediately yelled for me to "Race him! Beat daddy home!"

Let me pause here and say that we did not once go over the speed limit or drive dangerously but we "raced" daddy home. We started on highway 280 so there were multiple lanes of traffic but as the "race" went on I could tell we were going to win. The boys were so worried about daddy beating us. Even when Chris got stopped at a red light and we pulled ahead they continued to ask where he was. Every single car that got near us they panicked asking, "Oh No! Is that Daddy??? Don't let him beat us!" I kept telling them he was nowhere near us. We got this, boys!

Eventually the two lane road turned into a one lane road and the one lane road turned into a country road and the country road turned into our finish line. As we pulled into the driveway, finally, Walker said, "Ok, I think you are right mommy. We are going to beat Daddy." I couldn't help but reply and say, "Walker, I have been telling you all along that we would win. Why are you just now believing me?"

And in the exact moment those words came out of my mouth my heart was so convicted. It's like I heard God say to me, "Brittany, I could ask you the same thing." Why does it take pulling into the driveway, crossing the finish line, to finally breathe a sigh of relief and say, "Ok God, NOW I trust you"? I think of how much calmer the ride home would have been if my boys would have trusted me from the beginning. We could have talked together, laughed, or had a dance party. Instead they were so focused on what was coming up behind us and whether or not we would win. I knew we would win just like God knows how every single race will turn out. When we face a problem we have two choices. We can constantly worry about what's coming up behind us or what's going on all around us or we can put our trust in God from the starting line and have a much calmer race knowing that whether we win or lose, he's running right beside us always.

"Dear Lord, forgive me for the races I have tried to run by myself. Forgive me for the times I have turned around and took my eyes off of you at the finish line. No matter what obstacles are coming up behind me I know that if I keep my eyes on you it doesn't matter who or what passes me. Thank you for your love, mercy, and grace."