Imagine standing on the precipice of a very great adventure.
The jubilant excitement, the breathless anticipation.
Then imagine standing there at the tired and sagging age of 51.
What seemed thrilling at age 20 now looks daunting, maybe even exhausting-too much to ask.
But some of us are turtles and not hares in the race of life.
Some of us will come across the finish line a little later than most.
Yet it's always been the chubby, older marathon runner that struggled across the finish line, near last, in the dark of night, when everybody else had gone home and nobody was watching, that I loved the most.
It was their perseverance I admired-their stubborn refusal to give up, no matter how ridiculous they looked, because they weren't doing it for the crowds or the press coverage.
They were doing it for themselves.
For a fire that got started in their heart that they tended and protected for years and years, long after others gave up believing in them.
A "turtle" I've always looked up to is a dynamo woman faith healer you probably never heard of, or don't know much about.
Her name was Kathryn Kuhlman.
She started out as a backwoods 16-year old preacher who wasn't afraid of anyone or anything, despite her total ignorance of theology.
The only thing she feared was wasting the precious life she'd been given.
She was terribly afraid of that.
Regardless of your opinion of her claims that God healed through her, her unwavering dedication and passion was a marvel.
She slept in chicken coops and preached in condemned churches until a real church was willing to give her a shot.
Her unwavering declaration was, "I believe in miracles, because I believe in God.
" Back in the 1923 a girl preacher was unheard of and frowned upon, even shunned.
But young Kathryn had a message burning in her heart that kept her awake at night.
Simply, her secret sauce was that she believed in herself, and she believed what she had to say must be said.
Lots of press reporters laughed and mocked and pointed out the flaws in her preaching.
To Kathryn, it was just a conformation that she was on the right track when she got their attention and ire up; she preached that much harder.
She preached into her old age, packing out coliseum, full to the brim of thousands of desperate souls convinced of her authenticity.
Now you might be thinking: Look here-I don't go for that sort of thing.
I'm not saying I agree with it, either.
What I am pointing out is this preachers infectious enthusiasm, vision, and passion.
It made her famous-and maybe it even gave her the power to heal as some people claim.
But one thing is unarguable-that the joy of her dream carried her miles and miles from where she started.
She said this: "It is a fact that every one of us, down deep, has what it takes to meet whatever life brings.
" Even a poor nobody girl from Concordia, Missouri.
Towards the end of her life when her ministry was in full swing, she complained in one of her books that she would never understand why she wasn't allowed to speak to great crowds of people until she was old and almost too "give out" to pull it off.
That comment stuck with me.
It occurred to me at the time that maybe, just maybe, for some of us "turtles" who mature a little slower than the rest, the Universe saves the best opportunities for last.
Kind of like going out with a bang.
Or maybe it's that we don't have the wisdom and knowledge, patience and grace as young bucks that's necessary for the big jobs.
Just maybe.
If you're like me, you may be wondering why the Universe is taking so long.
I have wondered that a hundred thousand times.
Why the big answer you've been waiting on is so long in coming.
Perhaps you may have decided that your big break is never coming at all.
It got cancelled due to rain.
Well I'm here to tell you there's still time.
Us turtles may be slow, but we WILL cross the finish line (flashlights, please).
Because it hasn't shown up yet doesn't mean it's not up ahead, around the next corner.
So don't stop believing in yourself.
And no matter the hurdles you're faced with, or how hard the wind buffets you, if you keep the fire in your heart alive and don't let ANYONE blow it out, if you'll keep your chin up and look up instead of down, you're going to astound yourself, and all the people who said you couldn't, when you realize that Love's been following you all along.
I'll see you there, right there at the finish line.
I'll be the one holding the big that sign that says: You did It.
I Knew You Could! Smile.
The jubilant excitement, the breathless anticipation.
Then imagine standing there at the tired and sagging age of 51.
What seemed thrilling at age 20 now looks daunting, maybe even exhausting-too much to ask.
But some of us are turtles and not hares in the race of life.
Some of us will come across the finish line a little later than most.
Yet it's always been the chubby, older marathon runner that struggled across the finish line, near last, in the dark of night, when everybody else had gone home and nobody was watching, that I loved the most.
It was their perseverance I admired-their stubborn refusal to give up, no matter how ridiculous they looked, because they weren't doing it for the crowds or the press coverage.
They were doing it for themselves.
For a fire that got started in their heart that they tended and protected for years and years, long after others gave up believing in them.
A "turtle" I've always looked up to is a dynamo woman faith healer you probably never heard of, or don't know much about.
Her name was Kathryn Kuhlman.
She started out as a backwoods 16-year old preacher who wasn't afraid of anyone or anything, despite her total ignorance of theology.
The only thing she feared was wasting the precious life she'd been given.
She was terribly afraid of that.
Regardless of your opinion of her claims that God healed through her, her unwavering dedication and passion was a marvel.
She slept in chicken coops and preached in condemned churches until a real church was willing to give her a shot.
Her unwavering declaration was, "I believe in miracles, because I believe in God.
" Back in the 1923 a girl preacher was unheard of and frowned upon, even shunned.
But young Kathryn had a message burning in her heart that kept her awake at night.
Simply, her secret sauce was that she believed in herself, and she believed what she had to say must be said.
Lots of press reporters laughed and mocked and pointed out the flaws in her preaching.
To Kathryn, it was just a conformation that she was on the right track when she got their attention and ire up; she preached that much harder.
She preached into her old age, packing out coliseum, full to the brim of thousands of desperate souls convinced of her authenticity.
Now you might be thinking: Look here-I don't go for that sort of thing.
I'm not saying I agree with it, either.
What I am pointing out is this preachers infectious enthusiasm, vision, and passion.
It made her famous-and maybe it even gave her the power to heal as some people claim.
But one thing is unarguable-that the joy of her dream carried her miles and miles from where she started.
She said this: "It is a fact that every one of us, down deep, has what it takes to meet whatever life brings.
" Even a poor nobody girl from Concordia, Missouri.
Towards the end of her life when her ministry was in full swing, she complained in one of her books that she would never understand why she wasn't allowed to speak to great crowds of people until she was old and almost too "give out" to pull it off.
That comment stuck with me.
It occurred to me at the time that maybe, just maybe, for some of us "turtles" who mature a little slower than the rest, the Universe saves the best opportunities for last.
Kind of like going out with a bang.
Or maybe it's that we don't have the wisdom and knowledge, patience and grace as young bucks that's necessary for the big jobs.
Just maybe.
If you're like me, you may be wondering why the Universe is taking so long.
I have wondered that a hundred thousand times.
Why the big answer you've been waiting on is so long in coming.
Perhaps you may have decided that your big break is never coming at all.
It got cancelled due to rain.
Well I'm here to tell you there's still time.
Us turtles may be slow, but we WILL cross the finish line (flashlights, please).
Because it hasn't shown up yet doesn't mean it's not up ahead, around the next corner.
So don't stop believing in yourself.
And no matter the hurdles you're faced with, or how hard the wind buffets you, if you keep the fire in your heart alive and don't let ANYONE blow it out, if you'll keep your chin up and look up instead of down, you're going to astound yourself, and all the people who said you couldn't, when you realize that Love's been following you all along.
I'll see you there, right there at the finish line.
I'll be the one holding the big that sign that says: You did It.
I Knew You Could! Smile.