Be Bold:

I work with the cross country team at my school, and this has been an exciting season.  We are having a lot of success.  I love cross country, even when we are not having the most successful season.  However, it has been really good because we are a very small school, and we often do not have full teams.  We didn’t have a full girls team last year, but we have competed with a full girl’s team consistently this year.  It has been exciting for the girls’ team, having a great and impactful season.  I think they are encouraged by their abilities and their potential. I don’t know if they completely understood what they were capable of, at the beginning of the year as they are now.  

Something I do really love about the girl’s cross country team that I get to help coach is how humble they are.  They are really hungry about being competitive.  They are desiring to have a good team and to do their absolute best.  However, they have never been too arrogant or full of themselves even amidst their success.  They are really taking to heart 1 Peter 5:6.  This verse says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” 

They are excited for their success, but they are even more excited for one another’s successes or achievements.  They know there is no “I in team”.  The team remembers that they need to work hard at the next race.  Even if they have beaten a team before, or even if they are ranked, they know that a race is not won on paper.  A race is new every time you go there, and it is trying your best.  They do not get cocky, even amidst their accolades.   They know that this takes every single individual running a good race, so every time a team member sets a new personal record, there is great joy coming from amidst the team. 

They follow this through their compassion and support of each other.  They care about being good teammates. They spend time together outside of cross country watching movies and conversing with each other.  It fills my heart with joy that they care about being friends outside of the sport they are competing in.  Because of this, they are interested in each other’s well- being and supporting one another.  They lift each other up with encouraging words and listening ears.  I know this as the person who drives the van for them.  They are talking non-stop to each other and listening to their life stories.  It is always an interesting ride to and from the meets.  

Recently, I was asked to join in their prayer circle at one cross country meet.  I didn’t know that while they were in their huddle, they were actually spending time in prayer.  I love that so much, I can’t even describe it.  They were so bold in their faith.  They didn’t care that they were at a school event where others could see. Some would be ashamed to pray or even ask to pray together at a school event in front of so many people.  They weren’t though.  They were willing to be bold in their faith and willing to ask the Lord to achieve what they know they can’t on their own.  This is having complete boldness and humility.  

The heart of their prayers was awesome.  It was not a cry or an ask to win.  They prayed to do their best, and they prayed for a safe run, yes.  But their main prayer was that they are running for more than themselves. There was an emphasis on living and running for God.  They know their main motivation and their main success is only possible through God, and they want their running to be a part of their testimony to God, not a separate entity.  

Hebrews 11 is considered the Faith chapter.  Not only does this chapter provide a definition of the word faith, being “confidence in what we hope for, and assurance in what we do not see.” (11.1) This chapter also dives deep into many heroic stories of those in the Bible who conquered their fears through their faith in God and through God’s help.  This includes Abraham, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses.  Faith is their common denominator, and it is what made them all heroes of the Bible.  

One verse from Hebrews 11 that really stood out to me was verse 6 which says, “And without faith, it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to Him, must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”  My girls were showing faith in going to Him before the cross-country meet.  They are speaking their faith amongst their teammates and in front of many other athletes.  I have been inspired by my cross-country girls, and this is a good reminder for me to be continuously bold in my faith as well as humbly coming before God with any of my concerns.