Tag Archives: race

Cardboard Boat

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Sailing on a cardboard boat is a soggy adventure.

Last weekend our teen group travelled to a campground for Fall Retreat. The sun beamed down on us, providing the perfect weather for trying a new team-building activity. Mounds of cardboard, wrapping paper, drinking straws, and duct tape littered the lawn. We divided by grade levels and began our assignment to make a boat for an upcoming race.

Armed with a pink foam pool noodle, a red marker, and a box knife, my team of 9th graders began to brainstorm construction plans. Only one person could sail on the boat, so our lightest member was selected. The teens fashioned a small canoe with the foam noodle as the base. They then covered the canoe with straws and duct tape. A wrapping paper paddle and cardboard shield completed our boat entry.

We joined the odd assortment of boats at the edge of the lake. Pirates on huge inflatable rafts were already in the water. They might have looked intimidating if the rafts weren’t shaped like a rubber duck, unicorn, swan, and flamingo. The pirates’ mission was to sabotage any team who was having too much success reaching the finish line.

The boats gradually absorbed water and began sinking or disintegrating. Pirates helped speed up the demolition. By the time our boat reached the goal, it was merely a pool noodle dragging a few soggy shreds of cardboard and straws.

As we cleaned up the boat remains, I couldn’t help but think about how my life is sometimes like that cardboard boat. I’m trying to stay afloat, but all of the stress and burdens of life start soaking in until I’m a soggy mess. Sometimes it’s all I can do to keep from falling apart. And just when I think I might just make it, there’s a pirate trying to cause more chaos until my journey is even more challenging.

I’ve got to keep my eyes on the finish line and keep paddling, trusting that my creator knew what He was doing when He made me. My goal is to help a few other disintegrating boats hold it together and complete the race with me.

No Wonder Patience is Hard

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Tortoise and hare

During my music teacher years, one of the musicals my students performed was called “Bebop with Aesop.” We sang about and enacted many of Aesop’s fables, but the story most people recognized was about the tortoise and the hare. The cocky hare challenges the tortoise to a race, but after a spurt of energy, falls asleep. In the end the constant plodding of the tortoise helps it cross the finish line first. Sound familiar?

The pace of our world keeps increasing. We seem to be forced into the harried hare role, racing against the clock and our competitors. We scramble and rush through our days, barely taking time to breathe, let alone notice or enjoy our surroundings. We are burdened with the pressure to do great things and advance our materialistic culture.

Instant gratification is our society’s selling point. We want high- speed internet. Fast food. Instant mashed potatoes.  Why spend days reading a book when we can watch the movie version in just over an hour? Drive? I would much rather fly. We get it, use it, and throw it away. It’s no wonder we have a hard time developing patience.

In Aesop’s story, the tortoise is the one who wins the race. He wasn’t fast or flashy. He just had patience. With patience and persistence you can achieve almost anything.

Being a hare for so long has worn me out. I want to try to experience life as a tortoise.

I will still have to meet the demands of life. I can’t ditch my job or toss out my responsibilities as a mom or wife. I still have goals to reach and dreams to fulfill. My phase of life will keep me constantly moving, but I want to go at a more natural pace. I want to be patient with myself and others, enjoying the journey.

Forgive me if I occasionally tell you “no”. I can’t do it all. Feel free to tell me “no” when needed in return. Be patient with me if I don’t complete a non-urgent request the very same day. I will be patient with your time table as well. Everything doesn’t have to be done instantly. If I write a little each day, that book will be completed. If I practice a bit as often as I can, that skill will be learned.

What good are we if we push so hard, we can’t finish the race? I’m giving myself permission to breathe and enjoy. Society can race by if it must, but as for me, there are times when I need to be the tortoise. You are welcome to join me on the (slightly slower) journey.