The Cheering Crowd

By Michelle (Graceful, Faith in the Everyday)

The sun beams warmth even as the wind whips straight through fleece and long sleeves and windbreakers as we stand on the curb, arms crossed tight, shoulders hunched, hoods cinched.

Rowan takes his place toward the back of the pack, green number pinned squarely to the front of his tee shirt. Hands over ears as the gun cracks loud, they shuffle and stumble and then finally break into a jog. The front runners sprint, stampeding like a herd of wild mustangs, and it’s nothing short of a miracle that no one gets trampled as the pack thunders by, hundreds of kindergarteners bent on finishing first.

Brad and Rowan pace themselves, sticking to the strategy they’d formulated earlier that morning. “We start slowly at the back,” Brad advised, “and then when the runners start to tire, we pick them off one by one, passing the ones that started out of the gate too fast.” Rowan had nodded solemnly, a good plan.

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One Heartbeat at a Time

By MAD21

My friend Bridget Chumbley did a beautiful tribute to her mom last week on her blog. In her post she included a video someone put together for Mother's Day with a song sung by Steven Curtis Chapman. I think every mother should hear it, and be encouraged by it.

You're up all night with a screaming baby
You run all day at the speed of life
And every day you feel a little bit less
Like the beautiful woman you are

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