The headline read:
“US Runner, 105, Sets New World Record for 100m Sprint—But Feels Disappointed She Wasn’t Faster.”

     Julia “Hurricane” Hawkins blew across the finish line in 62.95 seconds. (Her goal was to run the race in less than a minute.) The retired teacher began competing at the National Senior Games when she was eighty. She’s been running ever since.

     Hurricane Hawkins claims:
    “The older you get, the more passions you ought to have…I keep thinking, ‘Why am I left here? Why
    haven’t I been called by now?’”

This is a question I hear from time to time. The question is born from a need for purpose.

     All humans want to know that their lives matter. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews intimates that regardless as to where you are on the track, the goal is to keep moving toward the call of Jesus. Jesus’ call may not come audibly. Most often, Christ communicates to us through opportunities.

     Sometimes those opportunities come in the form of a prayer lifted on behalf of one who is struggling. Opportunities also may arise through a needed and timely word of encouragement or affirmation. Each morning before my feet hit the ground, I ask Jesus to reveal to me the possibilities before me to make a difference in someone’s life.

     My goal is to live like Julia “Hurricane” Hawkins. The moment may one day arrive that I don’t understand why Jesus hasn’t called me to cross the finish line. But every moment I follow his call brings me closer to him. That’s a goal worth aiming for.

     So, may the wind of God’s Spirit always be at your back, “Hurricane!” And yours, too.