An 'A' for Effort by Susan Barclay

I have to admit, I’m not a big sports fan and the only Olympic sport that really interests me is figure skating, which is not part of the summer Olympics. This year, though, I will take an interest in the Paralympic swimming competition, since a young man who is part of our church family will be participating. Go, Alec, go!

One thing I know about Olympic-level athletes is that they train hard and train often. Every day they work at their sport for hours, trying to better themselves, better their time, building strength and endurance so that ultimately they might beat their competitors and win the prize. They don’t allow excuses to get in their way – they make time and manage it well, pushing themselves to do and be their best, trying to achieve the most that they can.

This is how I should be as a writer – spending hours daily honing my craft through practice; reading as much as I can the work of the best writers; learning from the pros; taking courses; never settling for my second best or mediocrity. If my goal is publication, and it is, I also need to learn the art of successful submitting; how to work with agents, editors and publishers; how to accept and avoid rejection; how to win the prize of a ‘yes.’

This is how I should also be as a woman of faith – spending hours in God’s Word and in prayer, drawing closer to Him and becoming more like Him every day. Not only should I be enjoying His grace and the gifts of His love and mercy, but I should be extending these to others and exalting His name so it might be made great in all the nations. In fact, my life as a writer and my life as a Christ-follower ought to be inextricably connected.

May I live as Paul exhorted in 1 Corinthians 9:24 (NLT): Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!  
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Winning and Losing by Tandy Balson

“I never thought watching a bicycle road race would be interesting,” I said to my husband.  The 136.9 km race was well underway when I sat down to watch this Olympic event.

After a steep climb two riders were clearly in the lead. When they started the descent, one pulled away.  As her lead increased the commentators said she would be hard to beat. With 10.7 km to go, Annemiek van Vleuten of the Netherlands crashed.  She went down hard and didn’t move for quite some time.  I can’t imagine how difficult it was for her competitors to ride past as medics tended to her.

Maria Abbott of the USA moved into first place.  We watched her maintain her lead until the final few kilometers.  A group of three behind slowly decreased the distance between them and passed her in the final meters before the finish line.  She gave it all she had but finished out of the medals by mere seconds.

It wasn’t the front runners who won the medals, but the ones who paced themselves. They held back slightly during the race so they’d have the energy to finish strong. They were also the ones who stayed together and shared emotional support during this grueling exercise.

I realized there was a lesson here for me.  Many times I’ve had a strong start and then faltered before I reached the finish line.  Sometimes I’ve plodded slowly up a steep learning curve. Once I have the required knowledge and am on the descent I try to make up for lost time.  As I speed to the finish line I encounter an unexpected bump and down I go. It may be a stumble that I recover from easily.  Or, it may be a spectacular crash. 

The more time I spend on the ground assessing my disappointment and injured pride, the greater the chance I will admit defeat.  Instead of getting back into the race I question why I ever entered it in the first place.  In effect, I beat myself.

My objective should not be to set goals that I reach in my own strength.  I want to run with endurance the race God has set before me.  Instead of trying to speed ahead, I need to follow the pace he dictates. Sometimes that includes slowing down. Part of my preparation must be quiet time spent with God. That’s where the true training comes from.  I’ve learned he will guide me and place me with others for mutual support. Together we will advance into the writers he wants us to be. This is how I can hope to achieve the prize of bringing glory to him.

I heard a sports commentator say that in order to be winners, athletes have to believe they belong with the best.  That goes for me as well. As a child of God I am already a member of the winning team.

 

Run Like Your Pants are on Fire by Melanie Fischer

For some reason, when I read this month’s theme from the movie Chariots of fire, I envisioned a man running with his pants on fire. This, however, doesn't make much sense; if your pants were on fire you probably would not run—you would stop, drop and roll.

Not only did this month’s topic spark this odd image, but it sparked the message for this post.

What I am trying to get at is this: we need to go like we have a fire under us. Our life is like a race. Not in a competitive or rushed manner, but in the way that we need to keep going until we get to the finish line. Of course the Lord only knows the day that we will cross that line, but in the meantime we are to keep going and run a good race!

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." 2 Timothy 4:7 NIV 

It is amazing to feel God’s pleasure in our writing, but the fact is that does not always happen. I tend to feel His pleasure more in “having written” than in the writing itself. Showing up and doing the work, even when it is not satisfying, is an act of worship and is glorifying to God.

Of course the race is different for all of us. Some writing races (probably few) look like this…

But for many, our races look a bit more like this…

The writing race isn’t always fun, it isn’t always easy, it isn’t always pleasurable; however, let’s wipe the mud off of each other’s faces, put band-aids on our boo-boos and cheer each other on.

The tendency may be to stop, drop and roll…but unless your pants really are on fire, we need to keep running this race.

If you are discouraged and need to feel God’s pleasure, I say step up to the starting line then start running. The Lord WILL be with you the entire time because He promises that He will never leave you nor forsake you. We may not feel His pleasure the whole way through, but He will be waiting at His gate for us as we cross that finish line. He will peer into His book of life, smile upon our names, and say “well done good and faithful servant.”


"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace." Acts 20:24 NIV



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