My husband and I recently went “home” to visit my
parents. One morning we woke up and went
into town to run/walk around the high school track so we could get our 2-3
miles in for the day. As I started my
second or third lap I found myself smiling as I remembered telling myself,
almost 30 years ago, that I would *never* run again.
You see, I’m not a runner, but when I was on the high school
track team (I threw the discus) my coach asked me to “run the 2-mile” whenever
there were so few girls in the race that all I had to do was finish and we
would get team points. I did it ~ for
the team ~ but hated every step, and so when I approached the final finish line
of my last 2-mile race I promised myself I would never run again unless it was
to save the life of a child! And I meant
it.
Fast-forward 20-some years and I actually paid money to run
in a 5K race (but that's a story for another time); and since that
experience I actually enjoy jogging with some real running sprinkled in
sometimes ;). And that’s why I found
myself smiling as I realized I was running ~ because I chose to ~ around the
same track where I had declared, at the age of 17, I would never run again.
As our teenage sons struggle with their testimonies or
blatantly make choices contrary to what we’ve taught them, it’s easy for us to
believe they will never change their minds, never remember all the things they
know, never find their way back to the Gospel again.
But, do you still firmly believe everything you were most
adamant about when you were a teenager?
Or even a young adult?
I don’t. And that
made my run around my old high school track even sweeter.
My son may be on a different path than I imagined he would
be, but I can still love him through the ups-and-downs of his journey because I
know he won’t always see things the way he does right now. Being the mom, even through challenging
times, is so much better from a place of love rather than from constant worry.
