For the joy set before us: The Amazing Race

Posted by Alysun


Read Hebrews 12:1-11


Parenting small children is a crazy, never predictable reality. I’m reminded of Hebrews 12:1-2: 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, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author 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.


I turned on the tv one evening to see that the Amazing Race was on. I saw the teams sprinting through an airport and gasped, "I've been there! They're in Maputo, they're in Maputo!" I said with great enthusiasm. My husband came the room and we watched transfixed as the clueless teams tried to find the office for an airline that would give them tickets to Johannesburg. "It's upstairs by the cafe!" I shouted at the tv. Watching the familiar airport on tv brought back a wave of memories as my husband and I have explored that same airport quite a few times flying in and out of Mozambique.




I've been faced with many challenges while traveling that would make great tv if I had a crew following me around. I was stuck in a deserted train station/homeless shelter in Naples. Or climbing the Ifle Tower in the pouring down rain. My camera was stolen on the same train ride where I realized the back of the train doesn't always reach the same destination as the front. I took a 40 hour bus ride across Canada sitting beside a cursing midget. And I faced sunset at a rural African airport with no ride in sight. That's to name a few. And my husband has many more because he's traveled more that I have.


While thinking about these adventures, they don't really compare to real life now. All those scrapes I was in far away from home seem rather simple because I faced them as an independent person, not a parent in charge of other's healthy and safety. It's a whole new level of stress and frustrations.


Take yesterday for example: we were trying to find a simple family fun destination. It should have been easy enough to find with clearly marked signs.... if we turned the right way off the freeway... and if we didn't have 2 children literally screaming at the top of their lungs for the same story book.


I imagined the tv crew following our every move and thought of a great idea for a new show. It would be a combination of the Amazing Race and Nanny 911. Now that would be a challenge! Forget about easy stuff like lugging 50 pound cheese wedges up a steep hill in Austria or bungee jumping off the Space Needle. The real challenges in life arise when children, wonderful, beautiful children, enter the picture. I’ll expect the royalty check when Amazing Mommy Race is syndicated.


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, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author 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.


Throwing off everything that hinders doesn’t mean leaving the kids with the baby sitter, it means taking the amazing race with them and running with perseverance. The cup of milk forgotten under the car seat and tantrums in public all come along for the ride. The key is in the next part, “fixing our eyes on Jesus.” The whole process is impossibly tiring without Him.


He endured trials unimaginable to us yet faced them with joy. Jesus is the source of strength, the energy that will motivate us to the finish line. Whether it is cheese wedges hefted up a hill, 40 hours next to cursing midget, little children who won’t stop whining or screaming, or entangling sins, this journey is so very hard at times. The author and perfector of faith is there running the race too. For the joy set before us….