One Mile at a Time
The ruthless clang of the telephone shattered the wee
morning calm, dragging me from dreamland bliss and hurling
me into what was to become a living nightmare. The news
brought by the voice on the other end left me numb, void of
emotion and pain. I couldn’t cry. I was holding to tightly
to the hope that someone would pop up any moment and cry out
“April fools!” But it never happened. Little did I know that
I was about to learn one of the most important lessons of my
life!
My parents had been RVing across the United States at the
astounding rate of 10 miles per day. This “breath-taking”
speed was necessitated by the fact that my dad was crossing
the country, from San Diego, California to Jacksonville,
Florida, on foot!
Their odyssey, lovingly christened “Hoofin’ it Coast to
Coast at 65”, was the realization of a lifelong dream, and
my dad was well on the way to its completion. He had already
braved the desserts of California, Arizona, and New Mexico.
He had spent four dusty months putting Texas’ 892 long miles
behind him. He had whizzed through the whine of Louisiana’s
mosquitoes in just 33 days, and had traversed most of
Mississippi’s highway 90. He would have crossed into Alabama
on his very next run, but a killer heart attack cheated him
of his goal.
As I boarded the plane for Mississippi, the nightmare
intensified. It haunted me through the endless phone calls
to family and friends, tagging along as I went through the
motions of making the incessant, gloomy arrangements. There
were so many decisions! What funeral home to use; which
flowers to order; who would perform the ceremony; what would
be the order of service . . . Would it ever end? But when it
was finally finished, I found that the days had passed in
such a melancholic blur that even the memory of them was
stolen from me!
One event, however, does stand out in my mind. It was the
day my brother and I ran dad’s final 10 miles. It was easy
enough for him. He’s a marathon runner. But for some insane
reason, when he set out that Sunday morning, I was running
with him, and I was beaten before I started! The most I had
ever run was 6 miles, and that was 15 years earlier! The
idea of running 10 whole miles at one time just about made
me turn back after the first 50 feet. But in the distance I
could see the support vehicle—my parents’ pick-up—parked on
the side of the road at the first mile marker. I knew that
my mom would be behind the wheel, loaded down with water and
Gatorade, high-energy snacks, and plenty of encouragement.
This sight was enough to get me through the first mile, and
after a brief rest and a drink, I was a new person, ready to
attack mile #2!
I had often asked myself just what it was that had kept my
dad going all of those miles, but now I knew. It was sight
of that support vehicle at each mile marker. It was the
knowledge that refreshments, smiles, and encouraging words
were never more than a mile away.
As I pondered this, I realized that this was a pattern he
had followed throughout his life. He had accomplished many
impossibilities by breaking them down into manageable steps.
He had lived his life the same way he had covered the
distance from San Diego, California to Pascagoula,
Mississippi: One mile at a time!
I completed my dad’s final 10 miles that day, and more. When
our finish line left us just 8 ½ miles from the state line,
my brother and I decided to bring dad’s odyssey into
Alabama. Though I rode out 4 of those last miles, the sense
of accomplishment nearly drowned out my aching limbs. I had
done the impossible. I had run 14 ½ miles, and I had done it
one mile at a time!
Doesn’t Jesus encourage us to do the same? Matt 6:34 says:
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will
worry about itself.” The next time you feel overwhelmed by
the circumstances in your life, remember the lesson I
learned from my dad. Put your future in God’s hands and live
you life the way my dad did: One mile at a time!
Lyn Chaffart copyright 2004
Besides being a part-time Speech Pathologist, Lyn is a
homeschooling mom who writes devotionals and short stories
in her spare time. She also serves as the director of
mini-sermons for Answers2Prayer Ministries (
www.Answers2Prayer.org ) and is webmaster for Scriptural
Nuggets (
www.sermonillustrator.org/minisermons/ ). Besides
writing for Answers2Prayer, Lyn has also written devotionals
and stories for Eternal Ink, write2theheart, and the Sand
Dollar.