perfection

With my brother Tim after we'd both finished!
Caesar's Creek Triathlon, July 14, 2013.

I would love to offer you a motivational blog post about all of the obstacles I overcame during Sunday's triathlon. Or share an inspirational story about what I learned from my epic failure. I had actually anticipated embracing "last place" today.

Because those are the stories we love. Rooting for the underdog. Encouraged by positive attitudes in the midst of life's worst. Holding our breath for a photo finish. Hearts broken by adversity, yet simultaneously uplifted by the invitation to empathize and walk alongside others in their hurt.

But I don't have any of those stories. At least not from this race day. This day was perfect.

The air and water temperatures were both in the lower 70s. No one was wearing my outfit. I was well hydrated and breakfast stayed right where it was supposed to.

The people were wonderful. Helpful. Having fun. Cheering each other on.

During the swim I did not drown. Or get kicked by another swimmer. Or get E. coli.

Once on my bike I didn't get hit by a car. Or fall down when grabbing for my water bottle. Or get a flat tire. And no one made fun of my Mary Poppins bike (as my brother likes to call it), at least not to my face.

I ran the whole two miles, up a steady incline and back down it. I didn't get shin splints. My knees and ankles didn't complain once. And another woman ran the final stretch with me, giving me just enough motivation to finish hard and proud.

A medal was promptly placed around my neck as the announcer cheered my name. And I was there to cheer my brother on as he crossed the finish (he started 20 minutes later and did a longer race than me).

I didn't get first place (that would be embracing miracles!), nor did I get last. I finished right in the middle of the pack, and that was just perfect to me.

And the perfect day didn't end there. We went to church and had a picnic lunch. We went to the pool and watched my nieces swim without floats for the first time. We concluded the evening with family dinner night, all gathered around the table together in gratitude.

It really was a perfect day.

Yet almost anti-climactic somehow.

Isn't that true of life sometimes? We get so used to life being hard. We even expect things to go wrong. So that when it all does go right -- perfect even -- it almost doesn't feel real. We end up "waiting for the other shoe to drop" or we forget to be grateful.

I don't want to neglect gratitude. I want to EMBRACE PERFECTION. All of the tiny details that God orchestrated to make this day perfect. For me. Because I am His and He delights in me.

There is nothing anti-climactic about that!