"Snails see the benefits, the beauty in every inch" ~The Format

[I am re-posting "Winking Sunflowers" (originally written in 2007) in honor of my "middlest" girl who is running her first race in over 3 years. This 5K, for her, is about so much more than the race. It's not about winning or being first, or even in being last. It's about finding value and joy in who we are. It's about survival, and perseverance in the face of difficulty, and it's about finding beauty in living. ~cn]

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"Winking Sunflowers"

I've been thinking about our sad little garden again. It's just so brown, and it's time to get the plots ready for next year. The weeks of 100 degree temps were just too much. But the sunflower "patch" we had was very interesting and the plants did most of their blooming before the worst of the hot spell came.

I had tons of dried seeds from last year's beautiful bounty, so this past spring we just scattered hundreds of those leftovers in a clear part of our pasture. I think every seed germinated and sprouted, and I was so excited! My thumb is only green when I'm using green paint, so this was just a wondrous surprise.

Well, the plants just never quite looked "normal" but grew tall nonetheless. Some of the plants began to show signs of blooming, however, the buds were located in the oddest places on the plant. Finally some flowers began to emerge, but these were no ordinary blooms. Some were half-flowers, some had only a few petals, some had oval shapes with tons of petals, some looked as if they were giant eyes winking, and many were what my daughter deemed "conjoined twin" blooms.

Somehow these unique flowers didn't seem to know that they were odd or misshapen. They bloomed with such abandon and reached heavenward just as proudly as if they'd been prize-winning roses. Funny how the Lord used those little oddball flowers to teach one of my girls a wonderful lesson. She suffered a really serious injury to her foot last fall, and was on crutches almost 6 months. It sidelined her from her passion of running cross country until recently when she started training again. Needless to say, it has been, and continues to be a painfully slow process, and discouragement has settled in at times. We were reminded of the joy in reaching heavenward, in spite of circumstances, or even because of them. The Lord isn't really concerned with what the offering "looks" like, but in the fact that we're giving Him what we have.

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Fast-forward to today:

I read this on my daughter's blog this morning:

“I was run-nin!” -Forrest Gump

This morning will be something of a milestone for me. For the first time in three years, I’m am attempting to run a 5k.

I remember the last race of my high school running career. I ran the two mile at an embarrassing crawl. My left foot which was “toast” (from what my lovely less-than-poetic doctor diagnosed) lit up with pain. Each step was like a sledgehammer smashing down on my broken nerves in the toes, ankle and up through my entire body. What’s worse, the sledgehammer smashed down harder and faster upon my pride and my resilience.

I had been a runner. I had been a good runner, too.

Today, I just want to finish a race without pain. Today, Time and I have decided to coexist and not bother one another. Today, I’m going to run, not for my coaches, not for my school; today I’m running 3.1 miles for my Best Friend. And for me.

I’m learning that Time, though I hate it, can sometimes be a good thing. Time is very often healing.