The phone rang Thursday eveing as Aaron, Noah and I walked out the door to leave for sixth-grade football practice. Aaron grabbed it and hollered, "It's for you, Mom."
"Hello," I said taking the phone. On the other end, my eighth-grade son replied, "Mom, guess what?"
Isaac was calling from this season's fourth cross-country meet where he'd just finished the two-mile junior-high race. He said, "I took third!"
"Alright!" I cheered. "That's your best finish yet, right?"
"Right!" Isaac said.
Last year as a seventh grader running on this same course, Isaac finished in seventh place. He was thrilled then with his first-ever Top Ten placing. Later during that cross-country season, Isaac placed fourth in another meet for his best-ever finish during seventh grade.
This year – early in his second cross-country season – Isaac had a few tough starts: stepping onto a tree branch that jabbed into his leg and drew blood during the first meet and stumbling into a pothole and rolling his ankle at the second one. Isaac felt down and out with those less-than-his-best finishes.
On the morning before the team's third meet, dark clouds hung in the sky. Isaac started out the door on his way to catch the bus and shouted, "Pray for rain. No! Pray for thunder and lightning, so they cancel the meet!"
That's when I remembered: Hey! We forgot to PRAY – for help. As Isaac ran down the lane to the bus, I prayed for God's protection and guidance to see Isaac safely through the course to the finish without injury or stumble.
Later that evening, the team bus returned to school. Isaac phoned home for pick up. When he got in the car, I asked questions about how much homework he had and other "safe" subjects. I knew – from earlier instances – that my addressing the race could pull him down into the dumps for the rest of the night. When he was ready, Isaac would bring up the race.
After a few-minutes drive, we arrived home. Isaac unloaded his backpack, reached in his pants pocket, pulled out a ribbon and said, "Oh yeah. I took seventh."
I smiled, "Really? That's incredible! You must not have had any troubles on the course then, huh?"
Isaac said, "Nothing. It rained. Everybody else was complaining and saying how hard it was. I passed them right up. I love running in the rain! It helped me get a ribbon."
I asked, "You know what else helped? Today I prayed for you. I asked for God to send his angels to protect you along the course. And it worked. We forgot to pray before the first two meets."
A week later – before the fourth meet – Isaac was on his way out the door to school. From the stairwell, I hollered: "WAIT! Let me pray for you."
Isaac stopped in the lower entry and said, "What?"
"Remember last week?" I asked. "We need to pray. May God guide you safely along the course and give you wings on your shoes to do your best."
"Wings on my shoes?" Isaac scoffed. "That's for track – not cross-country."
I rolled my eyes, "Whatever! Wings are symbolic – for speed and angels. I pray that God will send both to help you along the way! You better get moving or you'll miss the bus."
Isaac bolted out the door. Hours later (on our way to Aaron's football practice) the phone rang and Isaac uttered the words: "I took third!"
When I met Isaac at school for pick up that night, he was wearing his third-place medal around his neck. I said, "You got a medal!"
He said, "It's just a track medal made into one for cross-country."
Looking at the image, I gasped. To me, this medal was a reflection of answered prayer for Wings on His Shoes.
