....kids

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith. Hebrews 12:1-2 

The 1992 Olympics in Barcelona featured one of the most memorable moments of sports history.

Derek Redmond of Great Britain was on the way to fulfilling a lifetime dream, that of winning a gold medal in the Olympics. He had earned a spot in the semifinals of the 400-meter race, and as the gun sounded to start the race, Derek got off to a great start. He was running the race of his life, and the finish line was in sight, when suddenly he felt a stab of pain in his right leg. He pitched face-first to the track with a torn hamstring. The race was over for Derek.

He struggled to his feet before the medical team could reach him. Though every runner had passed him, he began hopping forward, tears of pain and disappointment streaking his face, determined to finish the race. Suddenly, a man plowed through the security guards on the sidelines and ran onto the track. He raced up to Derek and hugged him. "You don't have to do this," Jim Redmond told his weeping son. "Yes, I do," Derek answered. "Well, then," his father said, "we're going to finish this together."

Derek's father gripped his son around the shoulders, and they faced the finish line, resolutely waving off the security men who hovered about them. They limped and hopped together, Derek's head sometimes buried in his father's shoulder, and stayed in Derek's lane all the way to the end. The watching crowd gasped at first at the unusual scene. Then, one by one, they rose to their feet, and began cheering and crying at the son's determination and the father's support.

How many times have I stayed in the stands when I should have run onto the track to support my kids? Too many, I must confess. But becoming a refuge to my children will mean running to their side, not to carry them, but to come alongside them when they face hurt and disappointment.

    It will mean saying, "We're going to finish this together."

    It will mean enduring the stares of the crowd and ignoring the cries of critics.

    It may be personally risky, it may be professionally unwise, but it will be worth it to hear my kids say, "Thanks, Dad, you're my defender."

Maybe you've been there. Without warning, everything you've planned for and worked hard for your entire life came crashing down at your feet. Maybe it was a disaster, a force of nature, that destroyed your physical home. Maybe it was a divorce that destroyed your family. Maybe you were terminated from a job with undue notice and for no apparent reason. The race that you had prepared to run ended as abruptly as Derek Redmond's race, and it seemed the whole world passed you by.

Your life lay in pieces, and the thought of quitting loomed before you as the only feasible alternative. Who could blame you? But, like Derek Redmond, you decided to finish the race. Why? You had no chance of winning. You had no chance of fulfilling the dream you had set out to accomplish. But, determinedly, you began to place one foot in front of the other.

Suddenly, someone burst through the crowd and came alongside you. It was your heavenly Father. "We'll finish this together," he says, as he wraps his arm around your shoulder and limps forward with you to the finish line. And as you hobble, side-by-side, the air is electrified as the audience is enthralled. Rising to their feet, a low rumble begins to form above the clapping of hands. Their applause -- an inadequate expression of praise for such a meritorious event -- is muffled by the stomping of their feet. The sound rises to a fever-high pitch as together the Father and son cross the finish line.

"I will never leave you. I will never forsake you."   That is why we can say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper, so I will not be afraid." Hebrews 13:5-6

- wayne holmes