Water is for camels.
Many years ago, my son started his freshman year of high school. He tried out for and made the freshman basketball team. During one of many practices, Coach O said to the team (paraphrasing) ‘You don’d need water. Water is for camels’. Many of the parents, myself included, saw our boys struggling to make it through the sprints. He would have them run at least half of the practice in the beginning. Anger erupted among us with the thought that he was pushing them too hard. That he wasn’t being fair to them. That he needed to give them a water break.
I was reminded of this just yesterday as my son and I arrived home after completing a 5k Breast Cancer walk. This phrase - Water is for Camels - has become a staple in our home. Why? Because it reminds us that we can fight the demons and survive. See, my thought after completing the race, and then walking the mile back to my car was that I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t going to make it with hurt feet and a swollen knee. I had given all I had. My demon was my doubt in my physical capabilities. Then my son’s lesson from those years ago sprung into action. He became my Coach O who told his team to push past the pain. Tell your mind what you are capable of. Don’t give in and tell yourself what you can’t do.
There are times in our lives when the storms seem that they will overtake us. But I’ve been reminded with these 4 words that I’m stronger than I think. I’m more than they say. I can do it. I can face the giant and beat it.
That freshman team faced the demon. They were undefeated and this included the pre-season scrimmages. They beat the team that was beating everyone else. The demon for them wasn’t any of the other teams but the naysayers. They had a coach that trained their minds from the beginning that they were winners. He put it in their heads during every practice. He conditioned them for the battles ahead. But his conditioning didn’t start the week before the game. His conditioning started from the very first practice.
We all have a coach like this. Someone in our corner who continually tells us that we are more than we say that we are. That we were built for these battles. We were built to win not just survive. We are chosen. We are a holy nation. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9 NIV. I am God’s chosen, His special possession. I have a David inside that can defeat any Goliath. Not my by migh but through the will of God, through His power.