EYES ON THE PRIZE

It was a beautiful morning with a little nip in the air. My two little girls, snug in their running suits and sneakers, waited patiently as I pinned their entry numbers to the back of their jackets. Their dad was warming up across the parking lot for the annual Heart Run sponsored by the police department where he worked.

The girls and I would start out on the "fun walk" in just a few moments. I must admit that I didn't exactly have fun on my mind as I waited and searched the crowd for someone or something that might settle my racing heart. My sweet little redhead obliged. She pulled me near and whispered, "Do you think he can see us, Mommy?"

"I know he can," I replied with a smile and hugged them both tight. I stood and bit back tears, but the spell had been broken and peace came over my racing heart.

That bittersweet combination of tears and smiles had become familiar to me. The smiles came from joy and gratitude for my two beautiful little girls, my husband and all the friends and family who loved and supported us and for the peace and comfort God had blessed me with. The tears came from the ache in my heart and my empty arms after the recent loss of my baby son, Ben.

We were there that day to remember Ben and his struggle with a rare heart defect and to say another thank you to the many police officers and their families who had helped us through his two-month battle for life and then, his death. It has been close to 20 years since that little race. The "prize" that day was the peace and comfort God had given me through the words and hugs of my little girls. It evolved into a celebration of life with its blessings all around me and the one I now held only in my heart.

— Judy Rudat

Courtesy of The Church of the Good Shepherd United Methodist