The Finish Line


Here are pictures of my daughter Chloe at her triathlon this last weekend. My younger daughter and I got there early, found Chloe and took these fun pictures. Then we waited near the finish line….and waited….and waited….and waited some more. They were taking down the signs when Chloe finally crossed that finish line.

I couldn’t have been more proud.

Me and my triathlete
Chloe doesn’t do anything halfway. Once she puts her mind to something she is ALL IN. With her recent move down to Long Beach for school and adjusting to her new living situation, she didn't have a lot of time to train for her race. This was only her second triathlon. She had fun and I’m proud of her for finishing.


As I was waiting just beyond the finish line, I noticed the athletes as they came through. Some looked relieved, some looked elated, but many looked exhausted and spent and needed a few moments to slow themselves down. It was interesting noting the different responses. I saw the cheerleading sections of different family and friends at the sidelines grinning from  ear to ear and excited for their loved one at the finish line.

THE FINISH LINE.

I couldn't help but feel a tug and a longing in my heart for my own finish line in this season of my life. That call I made to my pastor nine months prior; “How does the church deal with this kind of thing?” I finally confessed the sins I committed with that chaplain almost 2 years prior. I never got that question answered and now, after being “pregnant” with hope that there would be an apology, some shred of redemption, none was to be found anywhere. Instead, a painful, lonely journey of emails and a few sparse calls which were fueled by that question I originally asked in January: "How does the church deal with this kind of thing?" The loud silence propelled me to get that question answered with broken tears and desperate appeals to God to let me be done with this matter.  

So, nine months later I will officially hand the matter to the head governing body over this denomination tomorrow and expose all the sordid details. I will breathe a sigh of relief because there’s not much more I could do and I am hoping and praying I cross that finish line, sweating, red in the face, panting hard and pushing my body over that threshold and under that banner that says, “ Finish Line.” My prayer is that I give birth to peace, victory, comfort; even if I am needing a little time to come down from the intensity of the event. I'm feeling hopeful that I will see God smiling after I press "send" and hurl through cyberspace years of heartache from those who call on Jesus as their Savior who, in reality, need some help in walking out those hard truths in Scripture.  

God have mercy on them.

God have mercy on me.

And hopefully, prayerfully, God is glorified in that process. 

My swimming girl running out of the ocean


Cycling away


The finish line!



Of course, I had to be a goofball.


Me and my cutie pie - Julia.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Sounds of...Nothing

Image
A couple of mornings ago I awoke on my own at 5 am. I listened for a couple of seconds and then I heard... Nothing Ahhh...the sounds of quiet. You might think that because I'm quite a talker and rather loud (it's a Hollcraft trait -we're all LOUD!), that I must like a lot of noise. No. I  love quiet and solitude. Perhaps it's because I get so little of it. But at 5 am it was so quiet - no traffic sounds in my neighborhood or yard equipment whirring and buzzing, no dishwasher or washing machine shaking and rattling, no sprinklers twinkling water around, and mostly, no people noises. Not even Tim softly snoring, breathing loudly, or mumbling about chemistry assignments (Tim really never leaves his work entirely at school!). It was glorious. I thought about this period of silence I was enjoying. I began to think about people who had needs that I knew of and prayed for them. I told God that I was all His today and that He could use me in anyway He wanted. I knew tha...
Read more

Good Reads

Image
     A few weeks ago I finished John Piper's newest book, Spectacular Sins. When I first saw the title on his blog I was taken aback. Spectacular sins? I had never quite heard of sin being referred to as spectacular. But - it was a spectacular book on how God is glorified and his will is accomplished through the BIG SINS of biblical characters like Judas, Saul (Old Testament), and Joseph's brothers. It resonated with me because on a smaller scale I believe God accomplishes his purposes in my life and the lives of those associated with me through my failings, mistakes, and sins.I had come to this understanding awhile back and was oddly comforted by it. This book brought home that point even more. There's a lot more I could say about it, but I recommend you just read it. Awesome and inspiring!      Currently I'm reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz because I'm leading Elena's book group for her history and literature curriculum ( Starting Poin...
Read more

Frosted Flake Chicken A La Tim

Image
 Yum!Yum! Good eats! Frosted Flake Chicken A La Tim Need a new recipe for the holidays? Want to try a little something new and, uh, unusual ? Have I got a recipe for you! Here it is:  Ingredients: 1 "adventurous" and hungry husband 2 packages of skinless, boneless and defrosting chicken thighs that were a really, really good deal and waiting to be tried in a new tasty Apricot Chicken recipe later that week 1 cup of crushed Frosted Flakes 1/2 cup milk 1/2 cup flour 1 glass baking dish that is ungreased so that you have to spend an inordinate amount of time getting the chicken unstuck from it after you throw out the hard, crusty, vomit-looking inedible coating from it Directions:  Step 1: Go to Ikea with Daisy at around 5:00 pm on a Saturday evening and leave no provisions for dinner; no leftovers and nothing already prepared. Step 2: Don't call home with any practical, LOGICAL suggestions for dinner or suggest picking something up while en route home from said...
Read more