{"id":590,"date":"2011-05-31T04:21:20","date_gmt":"2011-05-31T08:21:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=590"},"modified":"2011-05-25T07:11:35","modified_gmt":"2011-05-25T11:11:35","slug":"the-marathon-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/05\/the-marathon-of-life.html","title":{"rendered":"The marathon of life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nSeveral times a year, the Volusia<\/span> County locals are treated to lots of tourist traffic because of the Daytona<\/span> speedway. <\/span>For more than five years, my full-time position with Special Gathering, a ministry within the intellectually disabled community, was in Volusia County.\u00a0 I worked primarily in Daytona<\/span> and DeLand<\/span>.\u00a0 These are racing cities.\u00a0 NASCAR rules the city of Daytona<\/span> because of the income it provides<\/span>.
\nEvery resident of Daytona<\/span> understands what it means to drive a marathon. <\/span>Driving 500 miles at top speeds of 150 to 170 miles per hour is not a sprint.\u00a0 It’s a gut-grueling marathon. \u00a0Paul tells us that our lives in Christ\u00a0are to be viewed as\u00a0a marathon, rather than a sprint.
\nI was reminded last week of how our life-long marathons should be run.\u00a0 During the time that my husband’s life was being gently pulled from us, our family gathered around the table waiting.\u00a0 Conversations about life and lives wove in and out.\u00a0 Carefully threading the warp and weft of dialogue, we found our family’s lives\u00a0being woven into the lives of\u00a0others.
\n\"\"<\/a>One life was South Carolina’s former Lt. Governor Andre Bau<\/span>er.\u00a0 Cheryl, my husband’s sister sat with us and started talking about our wedding.\u00a0 Slightly changing the subject, she asked, “What happened to Jill Westbury<\/span>?<\/span> She was really kind to me in your wedding.\u00a0 I always wondered what happened to her.”
\nThe Westbury<\/span> family<\/span> had been our next-door neighbors most of my childhood.\u00a0 Jill and I were playmates until high school.\u00a0 When Jill married, she\u00a0began using\u00a0her first name, Sandrea.\u00a0 She\u00a0became Sandrea Bauer.\u00a0 Relating what I thought was an interesting twist, I shared, “She and her husband moved to Columbia.\u00a0 And Jill’s son was best friends and college roommates with my neice’s<\/span> huband<\/span>.” <\/span>
\n“Her son’s name was Andre; and,of course, he became lieutenant governor of South Carolina,”\u00a0 I topped my story with what I thought was an interesting tidbit<\/span>.
\nMy husband’s family had lived in Columbia for many years; and I knew that Cheryl <\/span>would be interested in\u00a0this hometown trivia.\u00a0 My sister-in-law, Cheryl, laughed.\u00a0 “Oh, the story doesn’t stop there,” she chimed into the discussion. \u00a0“Remember the teenager who mowed my mother’s lawn?”\u00a0 she asked.
\nSure, I remembered.\u00a0 An extremely handsome young man had started mowing Mrs. Howard’s yard when he was a young teenager.\u00a0 She was a widow by then and this teen was very kind to her.\u00a0 She was disabled and found it hard to walk.\u00a0 The teenager began running her errands also.\u00a0 He did all her grocery shopping.\u00a0 By the time he was in college, the teen was driving a new sports car; but he continued to pop into her house to make sure that she was all right.\u00a0 Because none of the family lived in Columbia, we were extremely grateful but equally\u00a0leery of this college student who seemed to have\u00a0more than a passing interest in Mrs. Howard.
\nWas he taking her money?\u00a0 The daughters often checked her banking accounts to insure that nothing was wrong.\u00a0 Nope.\u00a0 The teen was paid for the lawn but not the errands he ran two or three times a week.\u00a0 He\u00a0seemed to be\u00a0genuinely interested in her well-being.\u00a0 For more than ten years, he took a caring. active\u00a0interest in my mother-in-law.
\nCheryl smiled with satisfaction, pressing both hands against her upper legs to give her statement more emphasis, she reported, “That young man was Andre Bauer.\u00a0 We found out that he did similar errands for all the elderly folks in the neighborhood.\u00a0 By the time, he was in college, he was doing their grocery shopping, without charge.
\n“Later, as lieutenant governor, Andre’s <\/span>signature issue was helping the elderly and\u00a0disabled\u00a0in the state of South Carolina,” she said.\u00a0 “He took what he learned from the neighbors he served as a teenager\u00a0and used it to benefit all of the state.”
\nHis is a true Good Samaritan story.\u00a0\u00a0This is the kind of marathon life\u00a0that Christ expects us to live.\u00a0 Andre Bauer has lived his life helping and nurturing others–not for political gain; but as a man who genuinely cares about his neighbors who need his help.\u00a0 Of course, he has made mistakes and verbal blunders but flat tires are expected in a marathon.
\nSitting that night with family and friends, everything\u00a0became a bit of a blur for me. Yet, the marathon race of Andre Bauer’s life\u00a0is notblurred at all.\u00a0 This is a man who understands the meaning of the marathon.\u00a0 After telling the story of the Good Samaritan, <\/span>Jesus asked the religious leaders, “Who was the good neighbor?”\u00a0 We must answer the woman or man who helped those in need.\u00a0 The one who ran\u00a0life’s marathon while stopping to reach out and touch\u00a0those in\u00a0need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Several times a year, the Volusia County locals are treated to lots of tourist traffic because of the Daytona speedway. For more than five years, my full-time position with Special Gathering, a ministry within the intellectually disabled community, was in Volusia County.\u00a0 I worked primarily in Daytona and DeLand.\u00a0 These are racing cities.\u00a0 NASCAR rules…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,40,10,12,4,41],"tags":[115,21,688,696,113,112,7,699,110,691,13,111,692,114,6],"class_list":["post-590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-church","category-faith","category-inspirational","category-religion","category-simple-truths","category-spirituality","tag-andre-bauer","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-church","tag-daytona","tag-daytona-speedway","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-faith","tag-good-samaritan","tag-inspirational","tag-intellectual-disabilities","tag-nascar","tag-religion","tag-sc-lt-governor-andre-bauer","tag-simple-scriptural-truths"],"yoast_head":"\nThe marathon of life - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/05\/the-marathon-of-life.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The marathon of life - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Several times a year, the Volusia County locals are treated to lots of tourist traffic because of the Daytona speedway. For more than five years, my full-time position with Special Gathering, a ministry within the intellectually disabled community, was in Volusia County.\u00a0 I worked primarily in Daytona and DeLand.\u00a0 These are racing cities.\u00a0 NASCAR rules…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/05\/the-marathon-of-life.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-05-31T08:21:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-05-25T11:11:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/05\/Daytona_Grass_Photo1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. 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For more than five years, my full-time position with Special Gathering, a ministry within the intellectually disabled community, was in Volusia County.\u00a0 I worked primarily in Daytona and DeLand.\u00a0 These are racing cities.\u00a0 NASCAR rules…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/05\/the-marathon-of-life.html","og_site_name":"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","article_published_time":"2011-05-31T08:21:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2011-05-25T11:11:35+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/files\/2011\/05\/Daytona_Grass_Photo1.jpg"}],"author":"Linda G. 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