Georgia, Georgia Tech, Emory, Clemson, Wake Forest, Florida. Take your mark, beep!
Half, three-quarter, half, lengthen, full! My time spent on the crew team at Emory has left a profound impact on my life. My memories of those years in a boat have become even more precious as I’ve peeled back layers of symbolism revealed by the Holy Spirit about my roles on the World Race.
It all started back in Nicaragua (month 2) during an interview with Gray Media for the documentary project. Maureen asked me how I felt I was doing as a leader of my team in terms of a boat metaphor. I started verbally processing what it’s like being a Team Leader on the World Race. I told her my current position on the team was like being the stroke seat of a boat. I wasn’t necessarily the strongest, nor did I have the best technique, but as stroke seat all I had to do was set the rhythm of the boat. As long as I kept my ears tuned and my eyes locked on the coxswain, I knew we would be taken in the direction we needed to go. In fact, as a stroke, you cannot even see the oars of your teammates behind you. You can certainly feel when people aren’t pulling as hard as they could be or if they are arriving at the catch a half of a second too late, but this realization that I was not responsible for the individuals behind me released a lot of unnecessary pressure I was putting on myself. The health of my team was not dependent on me; all I could do was get us going at a good rate and let the coxswain do the rest of the leading.
Now for the past 6 months I have held the position of Field Producer for my teams. A Field Producer is probably best described as the bow seat of a boat. The bow seat is the last person in the boat, generally very sound technically and must row with finesse as that seat is often raised out of the water more than the other seats. In bow, as opposed to stroke, you can in fact see every oar going in and out of the water in front of you. As Field Producer, I had more of a big picture view. I could see where people were growing and track their stories via the camera. I am still just as much a part of the boat as every other rower on my team – I just have the unique position of getting to see everyone else’s progress as they power through the waters of the (world) race.
In these last few months, I’ve decided to set down the camera and be a regular racer. I want to give my last 2 months on the World Race all I’ve got. As a part of the “engine room” of the boat (seat 4 or 5) I am now stepping into a role of pushing myself and others around me to leave it all on the water. This is the final 500 meter sprint, where crews either fall apart in the pressure of the sprint or they tap into a supernatural energy reserve to fight until the bitter end. I want to push through the final challenges the Race has to offer. I want to press in to the pain, as exhaustion wills my body to stop but my mind and spirit egg me on to push through until the end.
The most beautiful part of my entire rowing metaphor is the confidence I have in my coxswain. There have been some coxswains in my rowing career that I didn’t trust; I didn’t have the confidence in them that they were giving me the right calls or steering us in the direction of victory. Confidence in my coxswain on the World Race is not even a question. In fact, I have banked my life on my coxswain. My coxswain is Jesus. He is leading me on the “path of life” (Ps. 16:11), has my absolute best in interest, even if it means dragging me through the muck and mire to make me look more like Him. I can say alongside the apostle Paul, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). So here’s to finishing out the rest of the Race (and the rest of my life) with eyes locked on my Hero, my Leader, my Coxswain, Jesus Christ.
Forever His,
Grace
