The Kentucky Derby and Mothers

I love that the Kentucky Derby and Mother's Day are often (maybe always?) the same weekend. Raising a Derby winner and raising a child are not that dissimilar. You have to treat both with gentle but firm guidance, breaking bad inclinations, but not the spirit. You must train them to use their God-given talents, but know they can't just run wild. They must be taught to run with control, and to go the distance.

If you give them their head, they will run themselves to the ground before they hit the first corner. If you hold them in too tightly, they will be left eating the dust of the pack. You want the very best trainer money can buy to guide them through their education, and you want the race to be jockeyed (accompanied) by someone with experience, gentle hands, fearless instincts, and a desire to win.

The best mother knows all this. It is surprising there are not more women Derby trainers and jockeys. I was rooting for the horse with the woman trainer this year. The woman had been in the hospital, with about a week to live, when she had a heart transplant and a new lease on life. The horse had been born ostensibly dead. As the trainer watched sadly, the foal suddenly breathed, leaped to his feet and ran.

That horse placed third yesterday, which all in all, is pretty amazing given the history. I think it would have made a better blog if the horse had won, but another long shot won instead, and I am sure he had a compelling story of his own. We all do.

My favorite mother would have been a good horse trainer if she weren't afraid of horses. She knew to give us freedom and trust us even when we didn't deserve it, so when we were in the race, we would know how to run responsibly when we couldn't hear her voice. She knew that reining us in now and then prevented broken legs and maybe a few broken hearts, and that the race is not always to the swiftest, but to the determined. She knew to let us follow our passions and let us discover our limits, while being sure we had fresh hay in the manger and soft straw in the stall when we limped home discouraged and weary.

To all those wonderful mothers out there training their foals for the Big One, you are doing the most important job on earth.  And for this mother, this often stumbling, bumbling but so hopeful mother, I cling to the One who has eyes wide enough to watch my babies as they run off to races I can't accompany them upon.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom.


Proverbs 22:6
 ⁶Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.