To see this live almost brought me to my knees in tears of thankfulness, then I quickly remembered we had 3 other amazing runners on the course. Justice and Grayson did as well and immediately went along the course to cheer in their teammates. For some of these boys they have never run before in their lives and they stay the course and push hard. It would be easy to say my teammates are better and write the story they are not good enough or cannot not do it, but they let God write their story that they are good enough and with every step He is with them. I tell them if they show up being who God created them to be, God will show up in the pounding of their feet and in their strength. To be the last person completing a race would cause some people to give up. On more than one occasion James has been that person and has made me so proud I would choose him to be on my team any day. He is the definition of preserverance! The girls are running just as amazing. Madeline was our lone wolf female runner yesterday Placing 6th and shaving a 1:10 off her time. It was awesome watching the boys rally around her cheering her on. They are not just strong, they are "Heritage Strong!" Wednesday's and Yesterday's performances from all the athletes was the epitome of what "Heritage Strong" means and looks like on the court of life. They are a very special team chosen by God for his glory whether they are winning or working hard to finish. Thank you all for all your support of these extraordinary students/ athletes. It takes a village.
Blessings from the sidelines,
Amy McCarthy
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I am sitting here in tears as well, having just looked at the pictures. This is unbelievable. What an incredible instantiation of the mission of Heritage and of the Christian life LIVED well - these boys just told the story better than any of us adults have ever done.
Thank you, Lara and Shannon, for raising boys that are after God's heart.
Thank you, Amy, for leading this XC team more like a discipleship group than an athletic team - your passion and Christ-imitating encouragement is getting into these kids' hearts!
And thank you, Julie, for your leadership in running an athletic program that truly shines in our conference. Time and again I have had other schools' coaches, players, and even refs comment to me on how our athletes stand out--not only because of their athletic ability, but especially because of their character.
Blessings,
Jason Faulkner
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I can be a little sappy sometimes but this just made me tear up. I want to see if we can make one of these pictures The Highlander Post letterhead because it truly emcompasses what Heritage Athletics are all about - These boys decided on their own to finish together... what better example of Christ's love than to put your friend above your own ambitions. I think we can all learn a lesson about being humble from these pictures. Thank you, sometimes the students teach me as much as I teach them.
Julie Haynie
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I just wanted to write you all and let you know that Julie just showed me the photo of Justice and Grayson finishing together.
It overwhelmed me for some reason and I had to leave the room to have a moment with God. The image brought tears to my eyes because it was such a rare picture of God's Love through the Holy Spirit. It encourages me that Heritage is so unique and such a phenomenal instrument in connecting our students to what is most important in life, God's Will through us.
My hope is that images like this become tools for sharing with many other like minded families why they should join us on the Spiritual path at Heritage and become part of our Family.
May God bless all of you today and know that Grayson and Justice showed us yesterday that we are fighting the good fight and surely we will finish the race with excellence for the Lord.
Peace be with you.
Nathan Jordan
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Now that all the tears of joy and gratitude have been shed, I think we can all agree that what Justice and Grayson demonstrated is a beautiful reflection of their re-created, renewed nature in Christ and the (character-forming) nurture received at home and further encouraged at school.
If was a proud day for sure for all of us. I can also envision Jesus cheering from heaven at this amazing act of unselfishness. Thank you John and Lara, thank you Tony and Shannon, and thank you Amy and Jason for working with these students, as their coaches, not only in their physical training, but also in training their Christian character!
Blessed to be part of this community. Enjoy the weekend.
Soo Chang
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We are all overwhelmed by what happened yesterday and share your feelings. What those boys did - on their own - blew us away.
Your coaches do such amazing things with these kids and their hearts. Whether they are in first or in last or having a good day or a bad day they try their hardest and they lift each other up. We are so blessed to have our children at Heritage.
Shannon Balloon
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