We sat at our neighborhood playground, the kids playing as I flipped through a local Nashville parenting magazine.  Hudson came and sat down next to me as I saw an add for a kids triathlon.  I told him about it and the rest is history.  He was in from the beginning.  Solomon wasn’t old enough and Harper wasn’t sure about all that biking.  The swim and run she’d have in the bag, but 3 miles of biking she questioned.  So Hudson was going solo.

Every week, multiple times a week for about 2 months Hudson would say to me, “Mom, did you forget about my marathon?”  I always told me I had not forgotten and it was a triathlon, not a marathon.  He was too excited.  It’s so funny thinking about what type of kid he is…his tendencies and quirks.  He likes to jump off things and mountain bike, but then he has this super cautious side that’s terrified of bugs.  He sensitive and kind.  He errs on the side of cautious, but lives on the edge.  Can these things coexist?!?!

I knew he would be fine on the bike and the run, but Josh and I were both nervous for him in the pool.  He can swim…he’s not going to drown.  He jumps in the deep end and paddles around like a golden retriever, but when it comes to strokes and looking all profesh, well, that’s just not Hudson yet.  And closer to triathlon day he started getting a little nervous.

Parents were not allowed anywhere except on the sidelines.  I couldn’t even walk him into the transition area on set up day.  He was on his own.  He was going to have to do this himself.  Find his spot, dry off, goggles and swim cap off, shirt, shoes and socks on, helmet on, bike out of the gate then drop the bike back off after the bike portion of the race before his run.  This is the sweet child who sometimes wears more than one pairs of underwear by accident.  Would he remember all the details?!?!  I was so nervous for him.

We kept pouring into his little heart how proud we were of him.  How brave and courageous he was for doing this.  How no matter what he was going to do awesome.  And he believed every word.  And we meant every word.

Turns out he was the second youngest kid out of the 700 who participated.  Race day his nerves rose a little: “Mom, I’m really excited and really nervous.”  When we realized how young he was in this big group of kids we got anxious for him.  We also became even more proud of him.  This was no easy task and he was choosing to take it head on with smiles and excitement.  Part of me wanted to scoop him up as I noticed his worried eyes as they were about to begin, but his brave is bigger than mine and I have a lot to learn from Hudson.  Courage and bravery.

And when he finished, he beamed.  This look on his face made me just want to sob.  He did it.  And he was awesome.

On Sunday our preacher said, “Fear and courage are contagious.”  Isn’t that the truth.  I want to build my kids up in courage.  I want them to know things are not always easy, but we have to be brave in the Lord…genuinely trust Him with our lives…they’re not really ours anyways.  I want them to revel in how He works when they choose to let go of fear and move forward with where God is leading them.  I want them to be brave!

Happy Tuesday!