Saturday, May 16, 2009

Happy Anniversary

She texted me last week to let me know it was the anniversary. Anniversary? What anniversary? Definitely not one of the romantic sort because we all know that there is nothing to celebrate in that area of life. What else should I be remembering on a yearly basis that holds some type of significance in my life, I wondered. And then, she told me. "It was exactly one year ago, when I came to Tucson when you were having your knee surgery. God is good!" She knew this because it was written in the margin of her one year Bible. And being the holiest upon holy friends a person could possibly have, she had stumbled across it again exactly one year later and wanted to remind me how blessed I truly am. One year later and I’m winning meets on different continents, and jumping better than probably ever before. Yes, I said, God is Good.

Bianca actually took the time to write about me on her blog a couple days ago, and it really touched my heart. She put into words the sadness, confusion, heartache, and uncertainty I was feeling at the time, but more importantly, where I’m at now. Here is an excerpt…

…But then Knee happened. Knee decided for all of us what dreams were going to be put on hold, if not taken away completely. Knee decided what we could cheer for or cry about. Knee decided what she could do and what she hoped to do. A year ago this week I was on a plane to Tucson, Arizona to tend to her and the surgery which would determine her fate. We sat for hours and watched two seasons of Prison Break (and Wentworth Miller), ate enchiladas (made from scratch, thankyouverymuch!), and laughed that we hadn't see the light of day (or showered) in 48 hours (TMI, I know!). At that time we didn't know if Knee would ever allow her to compete again, run again, jump again.

But my God is a good God, my God is a great God, my God is the God of the IMPOSSIBLE. He has caused blind to see, lame to walk, dead to live, and Brianna to run once again. One year ago to the week, Brianna is doing the IMPOSSIBLE. On the anniversary of her surgery she competed in Osaka, Japan and took first place in long jump. Why? Because we serve a God who is still in the business of doing the impossible. Today she is in Brazil competing in the long jump and my God will have His will done. Win or lose.

No matter what we are facing, there is a God who handles business. He is our advocate, our redeemer, and our salvation. Through Him and by Him we can stand before our Goliaths and claim, You come at me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty... (1 Samuel 17:45a)

May we walk with these words on our lips, Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37). Do we believe this? Then let's start acting like it!



Awesome, right?!

I will be the first to tell you that there is nothing unique or exceptional about my situation or that what I dealt with wasn’t something that many, many athletes deal with all the time. Injuries happen. Setbacks occur. Things don’t always pan out how we wish they would. That’s life. And that’s definitely the life of an athlete. My story doesn’t make me special, but I feel blessed to know that I’m here now because there were definite moments when I didn’t think I would be. For me, last year wasn’t so much about my injury, but more about feeling lost. The timing of it all got to me because it made me question what I was even supposed to do with my life, if I had been wasting time, and how I was going to move on.

But I’m still here. And right now it’s not about the next Olympics, or even the next year. It’s about enjoying the opportunity that is right in front of me and being thankful for it. Last year could have been my stopping point, but it wasn’t… and so I believe that it wasn’t supposed to be. Running fast and jumping in sand may not sound that important to some, but for me it reaffirms how good God really is. And that is important.

14 comments:

Lyra said...

I love this!

Bianca said...

Best Friend,

I love you. I am proud of you. I know you're exactly where you're suppose to be.

143,
B

brit brat said...

everything happens for a reason, even if that reason isn't apparent to us at that time. God shares it with us when we are meant to know. When the knowledge gained will be the biggest significance to us.
If nothing else you're making more memories that will stay with you a life time. I love you and admire your dedication and passion.

Brianna said...

lyra...BBM me!!

B...143 mas.

brit...are you sure you haven't been reading your bible on the sly?!

Diandra said...

Brianna,
I found your blog from Bianca's. I've heard about you from her, but when I read this I was moved. Just wanted to congratulate you. SO cool to get to see God do a TOTAL miracle!

Have an AWESOME day!
Diandra

Jon Lustig said...

A year ago I was part of a working group and decided that I could slack off on most of my daily reading for a while. Well it took about 4 minutes of my being home afterward to feel...there is no word for it. In fact I probably felt worse than most people when I found out, because I knew enough about the subject to be able to guess what the next few pages of the story might look like. But of course seeing something in your head doesn't make it any easier to watch it if it happens. The only thing that keeps me from feeling like I did that day when I read the above is knowing that, though God did not decide that I would be able to see again, he did what I wanted even more at that moment: he told you to go on, told you that this part of your story would not end that way. For this I thank him every day.

Brianna said...

@ diandra... thank you for such sweet words.

@ jon...i feel like i'm missing part of the story or something. but, from what i do get...thank you. i have always been able to tell that you truly care and that is a pretty big deal since i've never even met you.

Danny said...

Came across this and it's awesomely written by an awesome person. Step by step life is built, and certainly writing about it eases the pain when we're hurt. Nice personifications in it! All the best and God bless U!

t.v. said...

Inspirational...

Yes, God is good ALL the time, and ALL the time God is good.

I also believe in much prayer much power and little prayer little power.

So keep on praying and growing!

Dana said...

God is so AWESOME!!! ;-)

Jasmine said...

Dang, why she gotta go and make me look bad!?! ;)
love you!

brit brat said...

hey, you don't gotta read the book to know his word!!

J Buck said...

6.48!........6.48!.......6.48!......I told you already darn it! STOP Thinking About Me while you perform! My little sister could jump 6.48 with her eyes closed and blowing bubble gum while texting her BFF!

If you compare apples to apples and eliminate all the Olympians who finished behind you in Rio then that only leaves Maggi, Costa and Reese. But Costa stunk it up in the Olympics with a 6.43 so I'm giving you and she a tie for the Bronze in the Olympics baby!

Woo-Hoo! Thats my sugar momma!

p.s. Why did you skip your second jump? Its not like it takes that much energy out of you. My god, you train all your life to jump and now your sitting on that fabulous butt skipping jumps? (Oh I know, writing me a love poem)! How sweet! If only for the passion of the sport, jump, jump, jump all day long until mom calls you back inside for dinner. Or does an X mean you missed the board? Ooops, I'm bad! LOL Nevermind. LOL

E.M.H. said...

:-) Luv the post....nothing like experiencing life challenges and overcoming them to put "things" in perspective and help you appreciate the every moment and opportunity....