So my first day of Algebra my freshman year I had the Football and Track couch as a teacher. He is calling role and he gets to my name. He calls out Dawnell Hall.....pause....."not Captain Billy Boogie Hall?" I reply with, "who is captain billy boogie?" He asks me if I was Wayne Hall's sister as he was approaching my desk. He asks me to stand up as he gives me a look over and then asks me if I run? I tell him I don't think I am capable of becoming much on a track but he insists I come on out to run for him.
Fast forward...WHY I showed up for track practice is beyond me. All the coaches are there with their time watches to see what "captain Billy boogie Jr's sister could do" I have to say I was quite a let down. I was not horrible but definitely not a first placer! However, I found myself a place as a sprinter and a shot and disk thrower. One thing I never became was a distance runner. If the run went beyond a mile I was throwing up.
Much of what God calls us to takes some sort of running. Sometimes it is a sprint and others it is a marathon. We see in 1 Cor. 9: 24-27 that Paul refers to our Christian life as a run for the final prize. I have learned however that life can be broke up into segments of that race. It seems early in my walk with God he gave me sprints and as I mature in my relationship with Him the runs gets longer and longer.
I Corinthians 9:24-27 says, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize."