It had been one of "those nights"; sport practices for almost every child, book reports due, children needed baths and that was only the TIP of the ol iceberg. We did what any SANE parents would do...told the kids we were heading out to the trail behind our house and would be back in 15 minutes. We grabbed our jackets and ran out the front door like two highschoolers....AT LAST, AT LAST...WE ARE FREE AT LAST! We were laughing at how excited we were just to get away for 15 min and then we saw them.....Jacoby's wheelchair tracks in the grass. We both stopped talking and stood in silence... almost in reverence of what these tracks symbolized. This "picture" of her well-trodden tracks was shouting her personality and her story. Jacoby is steady, reliable, and disciplined. The tracks showed she followed the same trail outline every day; it had been tested, and would lead her safely to the concrete walking trail.
Jason and I stood in respect of those precious trails because she taught us something that night. The foundation...the disciplines...the beliefs that made Jacoby who she was NEVER changed, even though her circumstances changed drastically. It evoked both Jason and I to ask ourselves.....do we leave trails? Would people know what we stood for by OUR well-beaten trails? Once again, God used our precious daughter's accident to sharpen us; always a student....the learning continues.
October 19th was the "1st Annual Jacoby Miles Classic" Gymnastics Meet at Roach Gymnastics; what an HONOR it was to come back and see you were supported and not forgotton. Jacoby was awarded "The Most Inspirational Gymnast" by USA Gymnastics. ( By this point it was hard not to make a scene.)
We cant even begin to express how THANKFUL we were/are to Melanie and Dan Roach, all of the people, parents, teams, gymnasts, coaches and judges that made it happen. The emotions ran high that day as Jacoby and I watched the gymnasts compete....just one short year ago she was competing herself. Ahhh...the sovereignty of God!
Life changes...people change...circumstances change, but God is ALWAYS the same! We THRIVE on the belief the best is yet to come.....
