This is a simple story with a big impact.
Yesterday I stumbled across beauty.
It wasn’t a rainbow or a sunset. It was a highschool cross-country team, sweaty after a long run.
They were gathered on the field, hours after the rest of the school had gone home.
I saw red balloons and a sharpie. Something was happening, I just didn’t know what. I watched from afar as the coach spoke.
They broke into small groups and were writing on the balloons. They were focused and serious. What were they writing?
Then their arms huddled around each other and they started praying. 
I had to catch my breath. It was a beautiful vision to see middle and high school students in such a humble state. I was thankful my daughter was part of this team. 
I stepped closer to read the writing on the balloons.
I’m not good enough.
I’m too big to run.
I am a disappointment to my teammates
Emotion shot through me. These written words were the lies they quietly believed.
They stayed in huddled prayer as they took turns surrendering these lies. 
Then the red balloons were symbolically released into the sky.
The kids watched quietly. I stood mute.
The next morning, they ran their meet with the confidence that their worth was not determined by a time on a clock, nor their identity defined by a race. They simply ran with joy and let the lies go.
And 22 of them had a breakthrough performance.
Wonderful
Wow! What an awesome teaching moment they will remember forever. Thanks so much for sharing!
I hope so Melissa. I think the exercise can mean something different at the various stages of life. I wish I had lessons like this as a teenager.
Love this, your daughter is lucky to have him as a coach!
Diana, I am thankful to be part of a school and athletics program that care not just about performance but the heart of each child. My daughter certainly is blessed.
Such a beautiful story! I’ll be sharing this with my daughter.
I hope she enjoys it Lisa. Thank you.
I ran cross country as a teenager and would have loved to do this exercise before a race. There is so much going on in your head as you run your three mile race and to be able to let it all go before the race is an amazing thing. Bravo!
So true! So much of running is mental, particularly in the second half of a race. What are the lies we tell ourselves when things start to get tough?
thank you :-). I do it sometimes as a mental exercise, but never actually thought of doing
it in real 🙂
Me too Viola. I think that is why this exercise impacted me so much. There’s a reference point in writing it out which seems powerful. Thanks for commenting.
So inspiring I am going to try it with a group of my mommy friends ;-). Thank you for sharing! God Bless!
Thanks Stephanie. What a great idea for women. I’d love to hear how it goes.
Beautifully written sister! God is good to our kids!
Thanks Amy! He is good!
Alli, you have captured that moment so well. I could not be there and I am so happy to ready about it on your blog. Thank you Jesus for bringing us a coach who loves you and shares you with our children. Thank you, Alli for your post