Going Your Own Pace, Reaching the Destination

Do you ever feel like the pace of life, is running faster than you are? I love to go cycling, both on the road and on the mountain bike. Last fall, I road to Saluda from Mountain View Elementary, a 40 mile ride most people call the Bakery Run. On reaching the halfway point, I was feeling strong, and itching to go faster than my buddies. So, on the return trip down the mountain I pedaled as hard as I could to get way out in front of everyone. Just as I began to boastfully pat myself on the back, and tell myself that “no one else rides this fast,” I was passed by a group of 10-15 riders, like a snail racing a cheetah in the 100m dash. Later I learned that I had been dusted off by George Hincapie and his friends, who were “out for a joy ride” to see the leaves changing colors.

This month marks the beginning of my journey with your students. To some of you, the life of a teenager may be a blur. They text, they chat, they Facebook and MySpace. Believe me; I know that I will never be able to keep up with any of them either. However, something I learned that day while returning to Mountain View with my head hanging in shame, is that we are all going to arrive at the same destination – that is, if we are each on the same road headed in the same direction, our destinations will be the same regardless of our speed. At the end of the day, George did the Bakery Run, but so did I – just at a slower pace.

It is my goal to help teenagers find that right road. I passionately want students to know the Way. I long for them to know the Truth. I want our students to intimately know the God of the Bible. “I am the Way the Truth and the Life, no man comes to the Father except through me.” – Jesus Christ