Running through the finish

Ohoh. The tool bit was lost somewhere in the clutter of Trebuchet parts dismantled on the ground, the day was waning, and the Dad who had offered to help the kids use the power tools to build the Trebuchet was growing dismayed. What he had hoped to be a one afternoon project was now stretching into its fourth day of work. This is what I have discovered to be true after my many years of coaching kids when the kids really do the work....rather than the adults. It takes at least ten times longer than you think it will, and you will grow weary of saying, "Ok, very funny. Back to work now," especially if you are working with middle schoolers.  And this is why most science projects appear to have been built by parents rather than their kids. They are! The parents start off with good intentions and maybe let little Johnny hold the wood in place, but within seconds, Little Johnny has been locked in his bedroom and Daddy spends all night making a project little Johnny will be proud of.

We really do want the kids, not us, to build the trebuchet, so it may or may not be done in time for Science Olympiad. We thought it was done.... but minor adjustments have a way of ballooning and pretty soon, tempers are worn thin, pieces are scattered, and everyone is wondering when the finish line will be in sight. This is of course not what we should all be straining to see. As soon as you start looking for the finish, you lose drill bits and patience and the piece you are cutting turns out crooked.

We had been at our agility class with Polly right before our Trebuchet building time. She was helping Asherel analyze Honeybun's agility trial this past weekend. One of the little frustrations at the trial was that Honeybun would weave properly through 11 of the 12 weave poles, and then pop out of the very last one, earning a fault, when she had been hundredths of a second from doing them perfectly.
"That's why," said Polly, "You should always run the weaves as if there were 2 more at the end."
I remembered in my racing days, when I used to run faster than the dead earthworms on the road, my coaches used to always remind me, "Run through the finish. If you run to the finish, you will slow down and you may be beat in the last second.Run as though the finish was 50 yards further."

This is good advice for life in general. If our sights are only set on the finish line, we are either discouraged by how impossibly far off it seems, frustrated by how slowly we approach it, or stop the moment our feet cross it and end up winning nothing but reaching the end.  So many times we are admonished to focus on the goal, and to be sure, we should not lose sight of the goal. But sometimes, the goal really is unattainable, and then what are we left with?

Enjoying the process, running with joy, as though the finish line were not even there or at least not the most important part of the race.... perhaps that is what we need more. I suppose it might be summed up with the Biblical admonition, in Hebrews, where we are reminded that we are not to give up, not to grow weary, but to run with perseverance for the Lord. It is not for the finish line we are running, it is how we are running, and for Whom.

As we headed home, Asherel said, "That was fun."  She waved happily at Josh, her partner, their priorities intact, if not their Trebuchet.

²⁶ What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?(Matthew 16)

Hebrews 12

 ¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.