Do Your Best

This morning at our little family gathering, Rick asked the kids "What does Mom always tell you?"  Suddenly I was scrambling thinking, "count it all joy? let love cover it? don't use that snarky tone?..."  We were getting the kids ready to go to their first summer track meet, so I was trying to think of what would be applicable.  Then he told them, "Do your best and leave the results to God." 

It is hard when your kids are competitive to keep it in perspective.  I want them to do well, and they want to do well even more.  It started when my oldest daughter entered school.  She was in a class with a lot of kids that were the youngest of large families, or only children with very driven parents.  She was the oldest of a large group of young children.  I didn't have a lot of free time to quiz her on spelling, or edit papers, or help her with projects.  After all we were talking about kindergarten, and I didn't think she needed to know the Lord's prayer in Latin yet.  She would come home frustrated that her work wasn't good enough.  I was frustrated that we needed to meet a very high standard in an area that I was fairly unfamiliar with.  I finally sat her down and told her that her work may not look as good as everyone elses, but it was hers.  It was the best she could do on her own.  She wasn't going to get as much help with her school work as some of the other kids in her class, but that is okay, God put her in that position because He knew she could handle it.  She might not be the top student in her class, but she needed to give it her very best and leave the results up to God.

The scenario has changed lately.  She is doing well in school, and has caught up with her peers.  Now my girls have discovered that God has given them athletic gifts and they need to learn to use them to His glory.  They like to run with other people, and they tend to set their pace by the other runners on the team.  BK unfortunately, is the only girl on the cross country team.  She keeps pace with the guys in her class, who are all very good.  When she has to run with only the girls she has trouble figuring out how to pace herself.  I have tried to get her to wear a watch so she can see how she is doing, but she prefers to stick with the front runner, and then hit the sprint at the end.  So far, it is working for her.  At her last meet she broke the school record, and set her own personal best, but came in second.  She could have come in first but she let up on her last step, and the winner knew to lean forward on the finish line.  It was a good lesson for her.  Sometimes our personal best is not the best in the race, we give it all we have and we come in second, or third, or maybe last.  The most important thing is to give it all we have, the results are up to God. 

Mads was running with stiff competition this year.  She was a freshman, and most of them were seniors.  She was concerned about beating them their senior year, when she has several more years to run.  I pointed out to her that not everyone improves year to year.  This may be the best year she has.  I encouraged her to push herself to do her best, and let God place the winners.  She had an incredible year, with a lot of challenges.  Today she will be running with some of the best runners in the state of Washington.  She has run against them before, and she needs to just focus on her run.  In the end, each day is a gift.  God has given each of the girls talents to use for Him.  I hope that they remember to be thankful for the speed that God has given them, and the competition that He has provided them to help them work to their full potential.  These races are just little reminders that life requires discipline and grace, and that in the end all of the results are in God's hand.