Day 223

     Katie is doing "so-so".  She is asking for help up and down the stairs again and she is looking a little pale to me.  She still gets tummy aches daily.  Overall though, she is strong and doing well.  I will not be posting on the blog for the rest of the week.  Katie, Conner and I are going to New Mexico for my mother's 86th birthday.  We are excited and glad to go see "G.G."

     I found this story last night and it struck a cord with me.  I want to finish the race and return with honor. 

     "In 1968 a marathon runner by the name of John Stephen Akhwari represented Tanzania in an international competition. 'A little over an hour after [the winner] had crossed the finish line, John Stephen Akhwari . . . approached the stadium, the last man to complete the journey. [Though suffering from fatigue, leg cramps, dehydration, and disorientation,] a voice called from within to go on, and so he went on. Afterwards, it was written, "Today we have seen a young African runner who symbolizes the finest in human spirit, a performance that gives meaning to the word courage." For some, the only reward is a personal one. [There are no medals, only] the knowledge that they finished what they set out to do' (The Last African Runner, Olympiad Series, written, directed, and produced by Bud Greenspan, Cappy Productions, 1976, videocassette). When asked why he would complete a race he could never win, Akhwari replied, 'My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race; my country sent me to finish the race.' "He knew who he was—an athlete representing the country of Tanzania. He knew his purpose—to finish the race. He knew that he had to endure to the finish, so that he could honorably return home to Tanzania. Our mission in life is much the same. We were not sent by Father in Heaven just to be born. We were sent to endure and return to Him with honor." (Robert D. Hales, "Behold, We Count Them Happy Which Endure," Ensign, May 1998, 76).