I had the blues because I had no shoes, until upon the street I met a man who had no feet. Denis Waitley

It was the first race of the day, and our daughter was running the first leg of the 4X100 relay. Her team had just come off of a very good showing at the Christian College Indoor Nationals so we were looking forward to big things in the outdoor season. We had missed the end of the season last year because Becca had pulled a hamstring, making this year’s outdoor season all the more anticipated.

Becca started off great, blazed around the corner, and headed for the acceleration box for the handoff.

Then she pulled her hamstring.

After seeing the trainer, we drove back to campus. Becca and her sister Cherise went up to her room to drop her stuff off, while Carolyn and I walked around campus to kill time before we went to dinner. The walk was, as you might imagine, rather quiet. I was feeling bad for Becca, bad for her teammates, and more than a little bad for myself: We had been looking forward to a big season, and now it appeared to be uncertain at best.

Then Carolyn and I came across a sweet young lady with a sweet expressionon her sweet young face coming towards us on the side walk… in a wheelchair!

And I got a much needed lesson in perspective, and an even more important lesson in gratitude. You see, just before Becca’s race, I had prayed for what I always pray for: That Becca would stay safe and healthy. And, while she may have had the minor inconvenience of a pulled hamstring, when her day was done she was safe and healthy.

And she had the prospect of walking normally again – in fact the prospect of running again, very soon, with blazing speed. But this sweet young lady– the one with the sweet expression – does not have that same hopeful prospect.

And I was humbled. And I was more grateful than I had been in a long, long time. And I was more than a little bit ashamed at my lack of perspective and at my lack of genuine gratitude for what God has done for me every day of my life. The good news is that stupidity and ingratitude are fully curable. The better news is that we are going to heaven someday if we will only be faithful.

And that sweet young girl in the wheel chair? She will be there, too, if she will be but faithful to God. And she has something to look forward to with great anticipation: A new body with new legs and the prospect of healthy walking – maybe even blazing speed running – for all of eternity, because God is good!

Do you have that prospect? Better make sure!

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. II Corinthians 4:16-17, NIV