Today is Monday, September 17th, 2007; Karen's Korner #1151
We went to the Clay County Fair in Spencer, Iowa on Saturday. One of the things that Jim and I did was attend the chuckwagon races at the afternoon grandstand. There were eight chuckwagons, each with four horses, a driver, and three outriders.
The object of the race is to 'load up the chuckwagon after a meal and race to the next meal site', simulating the days when the west was young.
Four wagons at a time, race to see who can get to the finish line first. There are rules for the race with penalties applied for violations: the wagon beginning before the start signal is assessed two seconds; each outrider missing a barrel is assessed two seconds for each violation; a wagon knocking over a barrel at the beginning of the race adds five seconds, and so on.
Two heats were run, with the first two in each heat qualifying for the championship in the final event of the afternoon. Back onto the track came the preliminary winners: Orange team B; Gray team B; White team W; and Red team M. All the participants started the race tossing things into their chuckwagons, jumping on to their horses, manuvering around a couple of start barrels and then running for the finish line.
The first to cross the line was white team W!
Did that mean that they won?
After the individual judges rendered their violation decisions, the white team W was third!! The gray team was #1 and the orange team came in second!!
Made me think about our lives. Are we sometimes in such a hurry that we run fast and hard, trying to make it to the finish line quickly. But maybe we are picking up penalty points along the way and really aren't 'as far ahead' as we would think we are.
We need to run our race with God as our Guide. He tells us "that many who are first now will be last then, and some who are last now will be first then." (Matthew 19:30) He promises us sure victory when we keep our eyes on Him!!
God, thank You for Your Leadership in each of our lives. Guide us just for today! Help us to keep our eyes on You, as You guide us to the finish line and the victory You have in mind for each of us. Amen.
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