Hey! Who Moved the Finish Line?!!

Our Family. Triathlon 2005.

"Doesn't it seem like we should be almost done?" I asked my husband as we jogged on the desert trail.

"I think we're just tired because this is the last event."

"I don't think so," I gasped, "this seems longer than three miles."

My husband and I and thirty-five friends and family members were competing in a triathlon to celebrate my husband's fiftieth birthday. We had already swam 400 meters and biked twelve miles and had only the run to complete.

Unknown to us, someone had moved several trail markers, lengthening the course. We found ourselves running a longer race.

Have you ever noticed that life sometimes has a way of moving the finish line? You plan, you set goals, then things change?

This happened to us in the triathlon and it happened to us again yesterday.

Yesterday the Primary Elections were held in Arizona which included the race for Chandler's City Council.  Kevin was running with five other candidates for three seats. Kevin placed third, but without the needed fifty percent of the vote to be elected outright.  He and the fourth place finisher will have a run-off in November.

I cannot even begin to tell you how much I hoped the race would have been completed yesterday, but it appears our sprint has become a marathon.  And although I prefer sprinting -  lots of speed, short distance, quick outcome - we are in for a longer run.

So what will we do?

First, we will escape to San Diego this weekend for our anniversary! Then we will re-group, strategize and plan for two and a half more months of campaiging. We will take some deep breaths, stretch our tired muscles and adust our strides for a longer race. And although it doesn't seem like it today, before we know it, the finish line WILL be in sight.

1 Corinthians 9:24 says,

Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.

How are you running today? What adjustments do you need to make to your race?