Chosen

We return home today after four days of competing, walking at least a hundred miles a day, climbing hills that never go down, eating food that is very bad for us, sweating ourselves so dry that all our eyeballs shrivelled up, and using towels that will be reused next week as sandpaper. This is fortunately just the short list of negatives.

Yes, it is true I expected us to do much better and even our affiliate director didn't understand why we were scored as we were. We were 18th of 80 teams but we do need to keep it in perspective- they are supposedly the best in the world. Still, after working so hard all year I would have preferred to win.....

As we were dressing to attend closing ceremony , I knew we had little chance of a medal as our scores were low but the kids had had a great week, shown unexpected spurts of maturity and kindness, and it had been a fantastic experience. They had done their best and I was proud of them.

My phone rang as we returned to our room in soaking wet bathing suits to get ready for dinner and closing ceremonies. One of my team members had been chosen to be in the main event on the arena floor that evening!. 50 kids out of 12,000 were selected. The odds of that were even more astronomical than us winning first. Her dad , my assistant at Globals was almost in tears when I told him Kathryn was chosen and we had to race off to the arena now, two hours earlier than planned.

It was a great moment for Kathryn and our team cheered her on with immense pride.
And as I filmed the event, I thought about how much of life is not what we plan or hope for. But we are all chosen, against astronomical odds to live it anyway with grace and humility for a purpose we sometimes don't know or anticipate.
I bet way more than 12,000 angels are watching and clapping their wings, cheering us on.

Deuteronomy 7:6 For thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God: Jehovah thy God hath chosen thee to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth.

Nothing is impossible with God
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