Wisconsin and Grace

Last weekend two of my Wheaton friends, Beth and Elizabeth, were scheduled to take part in a triathlon in Devil's Lake, Wisconsin. Two friends and I had decided to join them and camp out at the park, in order to cheer them on and get the heck out of Wheaton. (ahem) I mean, to cheer them on and explore a new part of our beautiful country. Sadly, two hours before we were scheduled to leave for WI, Beth got a call telling her that her friend had gone into labor. Beth's training to be a doula (kindof like a childbirth coach/helper/person) and had agreed to go with her friend to the hospital. It was hard to watch Beth make the sacrifice- she'd been training all summer for the race- but I was proud of her selfless decision and especially her fantastic attitude.

The rest of us piled into two cars with our gear and trucked it north to the great state of Cheese and country, Wisconsin. Since it's September, and we're heading north, so we're anticipating cooler weather. What we hadn't expected were record-breaking low temperatures in that area our first night- it was 30 degrees inside our tent Friday night. Some of us (Sasha, from St. Croix, US Virgin Islands) had it worse than others. :)

Anyway, race day dawned bright and early for me. We went to bed about 1am; I got an update call from Beth about 2:30am; Elizabeth's alarm went off at 5:30am; and I finally forced myself out of my warm sleeping bag at 6:45. Those lumps of earth under my sleeping bag seemed to grow during the short night. After a breakfast of cold bagels and cream cheese, we headed out to watch the race.

Swimming was the first event, and after much wandering about in a sea of otherwise sane-looking men and women dressed in spandex and wetsuits, we finally located our favorite athlete. We got a couple minutes to chat with Elizabeth before her heat (willingly) jumped into that icy-cold water. [pause here for eye-rolling at the strange things people will do in the name of sports]

The excitement of the day was tempered by the sudden death of one of the participants. As my friends and I awaited Elizabeth's arrival at the end of the swimming section, we saw two lifeguards pulling a man out of the water. He was unconscious and I ended up calling 911 to get an ambulance. After 20 minutes or so of doing CPR, they finally loaded him onto a stretcher and drove him away in the ambulance. After we returned home we found out that the man had died from a heart attack. 55 years old, avid triathlon participant. It was a stark reminder of how fragile life is.

It's strange to think of someone dying in an event like this in the States. We've worked so hard to make everything so safe. Helmets, seat belts, water-less hand sanitizer. No kidding, at the restaurant on the way to the park there was "toilet seat sanitizer" in the bathroom- you put some on some TP and wipe the seat down before you sit!! When I compare that to the bathroom situations I've encountered overseas...I just have to laugh! We try so hard to stay safe, but when it comes down to it, nothing is certain but death and taxes (as my dad would say).

Anyway, Elizabeth did a fantastic job in the triathlon. We were all so proud to watch her cross the finish line! Afterward our star sat munching on her sub sandwich, shivering in my sweatshirt and told us about how preparing for and running the race reminder her so much of her spiritual walk with Christ. Hard work; discipline; incredible rewards. It was a joy to experience it with her.

Now I'm back home in the real world. Juggling papers and book reviews, house-cleaning and recess-monitoring, trying to eat enough fresh veggies and make sure I get a little exercise each day, getting up early to spend time with God. Sometimes doing well at everything. More often faltering in one way or another. Makes you thankful for grace, doesn't it? A Father who forgives and forgives and forgives. And then the next time I blow it, He forgives me again. Even for the same sin. Even when I didn't take it seriously. Even though.

God's been teaching me about grace. About how bad I am at it. In a devotional once I read the quote: You will never show anyone more grace than God has already shown you." I keep finding that whenever I'm struggling with an issue in someone else, it's a reflection of a similar problem in myself. Yuck. It's been a depressing and yet illuminating revelation. It's hard, but good for me. Like eating salad and working hard at a job I don't like. Not fun, but good for me.