THE RACE
“Runner coming in!” someone yelled! Oh how I’d longed to hear that! I could hardly contain my excitement as I put the final touches on the doorframe I’d been working on.
The event was only a few hundred yards from where I lived, so I was able to cover the distance in record time. I got there just in time to see my runner top the final hill.
I had longed for this day! My runner was about to cross the finish line. I had been there when the race began, and to see its end was pure joy. As I look back on it, it hadn’t been an easy race for him.
He started the race with a sprint… but after awhile, he settled into his pace. The ground was flat and the weather was clear … it was a beautiful day! As he passed me at the first marker, he gave me a big smile! Being in this race meant everything to him and he had thanked me so many times for paying his entry fee.
Well into the first leg of the race the weather started to get nasty. The wind picked up … coming head on, it blew sand into his face, at times blinding him. As he passed me at the second marker, I gave him the goggles I’d brought …prior to the race I told him I would provide everything he needed. He smiled as if to say, “How did you know I‘d need them so soon?”
As the wind died down, it began to rain. The path he was on became muddy. He slipped and fell several times but never stayed down long. I cried out words of encouragement to him as he sloshed through the mud, and it seemed to spur him on. After awhile, the weather cleared. It had taken a toll on him, but now he seemed even more determined than ever to push forward.
At the third marker, I tried to stand in a place where he could clearly see me as I yelled “Remember the song I gave you to sing”. We had planned for this. It was to focus him during this next leg of the race. He was entering an area of flat ground and I knew he would need more encouragement than ever. It was a particularly hostile part of the race…the sun was blistering hot during the day, but as the sun went down, it would turn to a bone chilling cold.
The sun beat down on him without mercy. At one point I poured water onto a handkerchief I’d brought, and as he ran by me at the fourth marker, I ran up beside him and told him to tie it over his head so he wouldn’t overheat. He took it, and even though he smiled at me … I could tell he longed to cross that finish line.
By the fifth marker, the sun had disappeared below the horizon and the temperature was starting to drop, I could see his labored breath in the frigid air, but as he passed me, I could faintly hear him singing our song. I joined in as loudly as I could….. I wanted him to know I was there with him. He raised both hands into the air to let me know he’d heard me and that he was ok.
As he approached the sixth marker, he could see the foothills ahead of him. It was the beginning of a long and steep climb up through a mountain pass. As he passed by the sixth marker I noticed he was struggling. I could clearly see the desperation in his eyes. His muscles had started to cramp up… at one point he threw up his hands as if to say “I can’t make it, it’s just too far, I can’t go on!” I ran up alongside him … handing him a bottle of water and telling him to drink a little at a time … I told him to focus on my pace, to not get ahead of me, but to follow my lead. We went up through the pass together. When we reached the top, I told him I’d meet him at the finish line. I’ll never forget the smile he thanked me with as he continued on.
Now, as I stood there by the finish line, he started his decent toward us. The muscles in his legs were giving out, his arms hung loosely at his sides. He was near collapse … and he knew it! I couldn’t hold back … I yelled out “focus on me, you’re almost done, just a little further!!”
As he crossed the finish line, I ran to him …. catching him as he collapsed into my arms. He leaned forward, throwing one arm around my neck, with the other on his knee, trying to catch his breath. “I made it because of you,” he whispered in my ear. “You made this race possible and I am so thankful for all that you have done for me!” he cried, as he wrapped both arms around me. “You did well”, I replied.
“Welcome home Ernie, now enter into the joy of your Lord and the place of rest I have prepared for you!”
“Runner coming in!” someone yelled.
A Tribute to Uncle Ernie Rich … he finished well!
Phillip Good (From the heart of an average MK)
Remnant's Edge 
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