Is This What Winning Looks Like?

It’s hard to believe I’ve been sharing our stories to encourage readers for two years. What a journey – one I clearly didn’t expect to evolve this way. Milestones are an ideal time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future.

In 2018, we kicked off the club track season fully expecting the girls to excel, culminating at the Junior Olympics, which were being held at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro that year. In addition to watching the girls and their teammates compete, I was looking forward to traveling to a new city and its historical sites, along with visiting family and friends in that region along the way.

I really enjoyed the experiences we had visiting each city when we traveled for the girls meets, but they were not relaxing trips where we could rest and rejuvenate from our busy lives. So that year our trip also included a week at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. This would be the first family vacation we had taken since Kennedi started running in 2012.

Back then, I just remember feeling so content about the direction our life as a family seemed to be heading in. I will never forget driving to track practice that day in June and discussing blog names with the girls. I wanted to start capturing all the challenges we were experiencing during their athletic endeavors.

My writing would be focused on victory, and I was going to invite the world into our joy of experiencing success with the girls’ sports.

We based the name on all the scriptures that I would declare over our family each week – whether it was for our finances, relationships, health, sports, or another concerning situation.

For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. 1 John 5:4 NLT

If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Romans 8:31b NLT

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57 NKJV

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ. 2 Corinthians 2: 14a NKJV

The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 1 John 4:4:b NIV

Those scriptures guaranteed our victory, right? God was going to win each and every battle, and I had nothing to worry about. Yes, I may face a bump or roadblock here or there, but I’d eventually get through it.

If you’ve been following our story since then, you’d know that we’ve had our share of difficulties, starting with Kennedi’s injury while competing less than a month later. The bumps were more like mountains, and the roadblocks turned out to be extended detours.

But when we received the miraculous report of Kennedi’s healing at the start of this year, I fully anticipated 2020 being full of powerful stories of the victories documenting her return to track.

So far, this year has not turned out the way any of us anticipated. I found myself reflecting on this blog, this ministry, and my life. Every week I was writing to encourage others, but I certainly didn’t always feel victorious.

Kennedi’s return was cancelled before she got a chance to run her first race. Then came Kassadi’s diagnosis and subsequent knee surgery, which brought some emotional struggles during her physical recovery. Our family was still dealing with the pain of my brother’s death from COVID-19, then the end of the summer brought destruction from a post-hurricane storm to our home. And now we were fighting with the insurance company to cover our loss.

I began questioning the very name of this ministry. Where was this Dub that I was destined for? In each situation I faced, I knew the Word, declared the Word, stood on the Word, but the outcomes were not what I was believing for God to do.

Maybe I had the wrong definition. I thought about Jesus’ very words:

I have told you all this this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. John 16:33 NLT

“Many trials and sorrows” – that sounded about right. Despite all these challenges in my life, I’ve realized the name still holds true, and this journey has left me with a powerful message, one that I had not considered when first starting out. Victory means something very different than what I thought it did two years ago in my car.

As we open Chapter 3, our name is taking on a new meaning. Because we are Destined 4 the Dub, that means:

• God gets the glory in every situation we encounter.
• God’s victory may look very different than my definition of victory.
• Victory does not mean all my prayers get answered the way I want, or the story ends the way I want it to.
• Victory means I have surrendered my situation totally over to God and have released my will to His.

I think back to when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He did not want to face the brutal death that the cross would bring. But He still submitted to God by responding, “Nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done.”  

A few days later, He woke up from His grave winning the greatest victory that mankind has ever seen.

May we all resolve to live confidently for our victory that lies ahead, that no matter what we are going through, what we are praying for, and what our situation currently looks like – we will still confidently and courageously end our prayer with, “nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done.”

CLOSING CHALLENGE:

Do you have a milestone approaching, a birthday or anniversary of a significant event in your life? During your time of reflection, determine what you thought victory would look like. Can you leave the situation in God’s hands and submit your will to His?

Feel free to respond in the comments section… and share this story with someone in your life that could use the encouragement. 

Follow Destined 4 the Dub for the Inspiration each week as we journey through the highs and lows of life!