Running with Friends

It was my daughter’s first high school cross country meet. I was there to be moral support and transportation, and a small gaggle of parents and coaches and I wandered around the course cheering on the runners. After three miles of wet grass, tree roots, and inclines (I hesitate to call anything in Lafayette by the exalted name of Hill), Samantha rounded the corner to the finish line.

She was by herself on the course, but surrounded by encouragement. The boys had run their race first; one of her teammates jogged back and ran the last leg of the girls’ race alongside her. She was not coming in first, not by a long shot, but the rest of the boys’ team was lined up creating a tunnel with their arms for her to run through as she reached the finish line.

It is a beautiful, moving thing to watch your child be loved.

None of my children have had serious romantic relationships yet, and I suspect I’ll have more mixed feelings when we get to that stage. But to see the genuine friendship of these other kids for my daughter was a great blessing. These boys had already run the same course–they knew what she had just gone through. Their enthusiasm, encouragement, and friendship helped carry her through those final difficult strides.

This was all two weeks ago, and I can’t stop thinking about the image of my daughter running through the tunnel of her friends’ and teammates’ love.

As I was reflecting on it again today, probably because another meet is coming up (way too early) tomorrow morning, the gratitude I felt for experiencing that moment was still very strong. And it occurred to me that if I can rejoice so much in seeing my child cared for, maybe a small gift I can give to God is to show this sort of care to others of his children.

It is a commonplace to consider caring for others as a duty of the Christian, but this experience helped me to see that idea in a new light: every time we go a little bit out of our way to care for another human being, to make their day a little easier or a little brighter, we are giving joy to God in the same way that watching Samantha’s friends rally around her lifted my heart.

Anyway, that’s what I’m thinking about today. Another challenging race is coming up tomorrow, but I feel like I can count on Samantha’s little community of high school distance runners to be there to support her through it. And I hope that when God sends one of his children my way, he can count on me to be the cheering squad, the shoulder to lean on, or the water-bottle deliverer–in short, I hope I can share a little of the love he has given me through so many wonderful people with whoever he puts in my path in the future.