I Remember

Article By Paul Lipe

I REMEMBER, when, with a bit of embarrassment, the first time I ran the 400 meter. This took place when I was a sophomore at a new school which had consolidated students from five area junior high institutions. The school I had attended the past year was small and did not have a track team. Several sophomores from my home town thought we would try out for track at our new high school and we would meet at Davidson Collage and test our talents on their track. Never having run the 400-meter race, I did not know what I was doing, but I thought I was showing my buddies how to run that race. My mistake was that I started out in a sprint, leaving my friends behind. They didn’t stay behind long because my sprint caused me to run out of gas.

My son Jonathan must have heard my story, because he was planning to run this race when he reached high school. His junior high team had a meet in Rayville which had concluded all its events and his coach told him there was a high school meet involving smaller area schools, using the Delhi track for its events. He suggested that Jonathan might enjoy the experience of running the high school 400-meter race against the competitors of those smaller schools. As soon as we got back to Delhi, Jonathan contacted Billy Calvert, the Delhi track coach and asked what strategy he might use as he competed. The coach told him to sprint out of the starting blocks; after he came out of the first curve, he should begin the back stretch with long strides, and go into his sprint as he came out of the last curve. Either Coach Calvert was a excellent coach or Jonathan had discovered the race he would run when he reached high school- because he not only won the race but he also set a new record! The last I heard, he still holds that record.

One of the prime advantages of athletics is one can learn so much about succeeding in life. I know that my association with sports has impacted much about the way I approach the work of my ministry. Illustrations taken from sports are often helpful in discussing issues of life. From my story above, one can learn not to approach a problem with full speed ahead attitudes and having a plan in guiding us with challenges that confront us. If we have a plan and stick to it, success will often be the result of our efforts.

In our running the race of the Christian life it is a wise person who regularly studies the Bible, attends church regularly, and has among our best friends those who are followers of Christ. Christ has run the race for us but he gives us his grace for our lives and for living for his glory.