Fear and Encouragement

I love running and now I have found that, I love obstacle course races. Through a series of events, I was reconnected with a high school friend and his wife. Quickly, we found a common bond in our love for obstacle racing. For two months, we have trained and prepared for this race. I had one fear that haunted me was the 30 foot rope climb. 

I can remember watching kids at Bethesda Elementary School climb the rope so fast and be back on the ground faster than I could count to 50. I have always avoided the rope. My oldest daughter loves to climb ropes and sees it as "fun" and "exciting"! She didn't get that from her mama. So I knew going into this race that I would face this fear. 

As I reached the top of the 14 foot tower climb and crawled across a cargo net, I saw it...the ROPE. I grabbed the arm of my teammate and said, "Oh no....there it is!" She assured me that I would do great. I still had my doubts. 

We ran up to the ropes and I chose the one with the best knot placement (or so I thought). I jumped on and began to climb. (I never looked down into the pit of muddy water because I knew that my climb would end the moment I did!) The next thing I knew, my amazing teammate was right next to me cheering me on. I got to the next to the last knot and I could see the bell that I had to ring in order to fully complete the task. The next knot was within my reach but my head couldn't get in sync with my body to push one more time. I hung there and tried to reach the bell but my fingers were 6 inches from the bell. I looked to my right and saw my teammate (who had rung the bell) hanging onto her rope just to cheer me on. Then I heard the voice of another runner cheering me on. Fear griped my heart and I couldn't do it. My arms were fatigued and I knew that the climb was incomplete. I climbed down the rope and found my teammate and headed over to complete the 30 burpees that were required for those who couldn't finish the obstacle. As I began to count, my teammate came over and said, "I'll take the burpees with you." 

In that moment it hit me. I had faced my fear, but I didn't defeat it, yet the entire time, Aubrey was by my side cheering me on. Then she took the penalty with me even though she didn't deserve it. The rest of the race and for days after I can still see that bell and my fingertips hanging in mid air hoping to reach it. Throughout the rest of that race, we came to great challenges and every time another runner would shout a word of encouragement or physically help me to achieve that goal.

I turned to my friend at one point and said, "if the world was a Spartan race things may be a little better off!" Because at every turn, a complete stranger was cheering me on or lending me a hand to help me overcome the obstacle in my path. What if we as Christians started stopping along the way and offering a hand to those in need around us, or taking an extra few minutes to give a word of encouragement to those who may be weary along the race of life.

"Therefore encourage one another and build up one another,"  1 Thessalonians 5:11