“We’re all just walkin’ each other home”
Other teams, other schools know and fear our home course. “Suicide Hill,” they call the mound that each runner must scale two times. Rising from the grassy flat, it tests the will and endurance of the most seasoned talent and turns the legs to Jello. (“Puke Hill” it could also be called, for I’ve seen exactly that.)
The heat and humidity on this day are searing. Dehydration’s a real threat, and yet those kids keep running. “Go, Panthers!”
My eyes are glued to one of the runners, a young man with blue eyes, a double crown, and a sprinkling of freckles across the nose. I scan the pack, watching for him to appear through a break in the trees. He rounds the corner and, legs pumping, he passes me on the straightaway. I run for the finish line, shouting all the way, for the hill looms yet once more between him and that line. Mother will be there, waiting.
I can see that his strength is fading. The heat, the difficulty of the course, and the psychology of the contest combine to make this a huge mental battle. He’s very tired.
He begins the climb. Up, up, and up he goes. I see him crest the top, then hook around and begin his downward descent. Oh, how I am cheering. At the bottom of the hill and across a grassy spread, I can feel his pain
All at once, I see another young man with a head full of Jesus hair at the bottom of Suicide Hill. His gaze is fixed on the exhausted athlete. He’s shouting words of encouragement. As the runner finishes the hill, he begins to run alongside him, talking all the way. And he runs him right on in. Race finished.FacebookTwitterGoogle+DiggPinterestBloggerThis beautiful picture of brotherly love between two of my sons encapsulates my goal and my mission, “We’re all just walkin’ each other home.”FacebookTwitterGoogle+DiggPinterestBloggerI know with all of my heart that I did not come through trauma and abuse to merely survive. To hang on by the skin of my teeth. I did not walk through hell and then out to stay a survivor. I came through hell and high water…
To thrive! To devote my life and energy and power and strength to walk my fellow man (and woman) home. And so I will.
If God’s been faithful at anything this year, He’s surely been faithful to open my eyes to the needy around me–to the ones He’s placed right before me, right behind me, to the left, and to the right. He’s enlarged my heart and given me the power and confidence to reach out with love. To do all I can to walk each one home.
With such affection and gratitude for those of you who follow me here and on social media. Thank you for reading and hanging with me this year. Great things to come in 2020! See you next year.
Warmly,
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