Second Chances At Second Miles

Addie Symonds is one of my favorite young people in the world. She was in my Gospels class last year as a junior and this year, her brother, Will, has the same class.. Addie has a heart of gold and when she told me about something that happened in the last week, I asked her to put it into a blog. This is her finished product. Sometimes I teach my students. More often, they teach me.

When I was in eleventh grade, I was the soccer manager for the WCS Lady Wildcats. As manager, my primary responsibilities were to set up and take down the equipment. In between the start and end of practice, I was free to do whatever I wanted which usually consisted of sitting on the bleachers doing my homework. Everyday before practice, Coach Patterson makes his players run laps around the field. One day Chloe Berglund had a late start and was running behind. The rest of the team had finished but she still had a couple of laps to go. Chloe asked me to run the rest of the laps with her but I wasn’t really dressed to run. As much as I like running, it was a lot more appealing to just sit on the bleachers. So, I said no and she had to finish the laps by herself. I didn’t really think much of it at the time but the next day in Coach Hawley’s class, we were reading the Sermon On The Mount. I came across a verse that made me rethink my actions on the previous day. In Matthew 5:41 Jesus says 
“And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” 
I hadn’t gone any miles. I felt bad about it and it made me think about my actions. I realized I had missed a valuable opportunity to do what Jesus tells us to do.

At one point during my senior year, I remembered that moment and still felt that same pang of regret at the opportunity I had squandered. It probably seems like a small thing but it really bothered me. Last Thursday, I came back to school early before the evening's choir concert. I was working on homework when Chloe called me. She'd left her choir shoes at her house, which is two blocks away, and asked if I could walk with her to go get them. I knew I didn’t have to go and I knew she could take care of it herself. But, it was getting dark and she wanted someone to walk to her house with her. How could I refuse? As soon as I had hung up the phone, I immediately remembered that day last year at soccer practice. I was so excited that God was giving me another chance that I told practically everyone that I saw at the choir concert about it. I even told Coach Hawley since it was in his class where I learned about the Sermon on the Mount. He asked me to write this blog which is what I am doing now. Last year in his class, I used to hope that Coach Hawley would write a blog about me- he never did. But now, I’m writing a blog about me which is sort of better in a way. Anyway, if you ever miss the opportunity to do something good, just be patient and pray about it- God might give you a second chance. He did me!

Applicable quote of the day: “Success begins at extra mile.”
― Yuikan Shirik 

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com