Competition....On Hold

Competition…on hold

This fall, we witnessed Alec compete on the football field with the football tucked away safely to his chest, while dragging 4-5 opposing team members (attached to his back, dragging from his legs…) driving towards the goal line, in order to score points for his team, and wondered in one game, how he continued to play 3 quarters of a game with a separated shoulder, taped ankle and wrist, and bleeding elbows while carrying the ball , being tackled play after play after play. Where did that insatiable drive - that competitive nature come from? You can’t teach kids this stuff. We say that he goes into “machine mode”. And it’s totally natural. Of course, a lot of it has to do with stubbornness, and he does come by that quite honestly…

Above is a picture of my Father with his family…minus 2 siblings! My father (Gabor - pictured 2nd from left -top row, tallest) is one of 14 children. Born in Budapest, Hungary, his mother and father escaped Hungary during the Revolution of ‘56 with 11 of their children. Oh, but that’s for a later blog…

Needless to say, we have a competitive heritage -it’s in the blood! Not only were they constantly competing for the affections of their parents, they competed for spots in line for food, (usually youngest to oldest), spots in the family station wagon, and so on. In order to “keep order” in the family and well, to keep them clean , my grandparents demanded that the entire family begin swimming competitively. I have many newspaper clippings: “World’s Swimmingest Family”(July 1962), “The Batizy’s - A Family of Swimmers” “The Batizy’s Stick Together, Especially in Swimming”. They were on many Sports Page Covers, and they were good. I recently met a man who competed against them, and he said that if he saw a Batizy on the program, anyone else’s chances of winning were gone! As grown-ups, they are all still competitive, and have raised competitive children; running triathlons, kayaking the Ocoee, bike racing…even I played tackle football with the boys growing up. Yes. Tackle.

So it was only natural to “pass the baton” of competition to my son.

But this week, we were faced with a challenge.

Alec has been told to “halt” all athletics, all physical therapy, all strenuous motion.

Wow. Didn’t see that coming.

Alec has an appointment at the hospital for a CT and Bone Scan Monday Morning to find out what is wrong with his back. Maybe a fracture in his vertebrae. From what? Pushing himself beyond his physical limits. He is not a machine after all. Upon hearing the news from the doctor, my immediate response was, “Can he still compete in the track meet Tuesday?” You see, you have to qualify to run in a meet event. He did. As a Freshman. Wow.

The doctor said, “No”.

Alec is relieved to have a break.

We have been faced with the challenge, that sometimes life has to be “put on hold” in order for God to allow healing to take place. The scripture “Be Still, and Know, That I am God” kept coming to me over and over again. Sometimes all things need to “halt”, to be still, in order for us to re-focus on what’s REALLY important.

I was reminded that as parents, we need to make sure our focus on our son, needs to be not WHAT defines him, but WHO defines him. It is easy to fall in the trap of performing, or expecting a performance. Our only performance needs to be for the King. Alec understands that his gifts come from God. We all need to reminded of that. In the movie “Chariots of Fire” Eric Lidell says “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast, and when I run I feel His Pleasure”. Our drive needs to be because we sense His pleasure when we are doing his will. My prayers for him are to be a lover of God and His ways, in every way. God knows what we need, when we need it, and He will deliver. We just need to “Be still”.

We are praying that they will find the source of his pain and healing will begin quickly, easily, and pain-free. Alec will be “up and running” soon. After all, God knew to which family He has placed us, and He did it with a purpose. And for now, we will take a break from competition, and focus on healing, and to Be still and know…