Open, Emptied Hands

I hope to make this short but informative for all of my supporters.
As some of you know this weekend has been the Canadian National Championship regatta (NRC) for rowing in my hometown.  This regatta is the race that started this whole blog but one year later.  It is amazing to see how far I have come in just one year.  The Lord does great things for those who wait, and depend on Him (lessons I have learned along the way support this).  This year the NRC regatta as we call it, is even more important as it will be how the coaches and Rowing Canada decide who is invited to the Olympic camps which will further selection for the Olympic team which will be determined by the spring of 2012.  I am pushing for a chance to qualify some sort of sculling boat, but at this stage I need to show my speed as an individual to be considered for anything.
So, Friday I started the weekend off with the Heats.  Now it is important to note that in my race (W1x) there are not only experienced seniors like myself but also newbies as juniors and U23 athletes.  So it is not with any disrespect that I say I breezed through the heat to the quarter finals which happened this morning (Saturday).  Quarters this morning were a bit more challenging especially with increasing cross head winds, but I again was able to row comfortably across the line first.  What I knew would be challenging was the Semi final in which as it turned out, I raced the woman who has been the fastest single sculler in Canada for a while.  She is a great woman but I am determined to show my speed is faster.  With high blustery winds this afternoon I made a call early in the race to row to help protect my body and take control of the winds.  This put me in 2nd place, with a solid foot into the A Final on Sunday morning.

As it has hopefully been abundantly clear in my writing, everything I do is a gift from God, and my hope is that I can give Him even just a piece of what He has blessed me with.  By opening my hands to Him and letting His work take over I have seen great things happen for His kingdom, and I know there are greater things to come.
I have had so much wonderful support from family and friends, Christians and non believers.  God is good and I am so excited to see what tomorrow holds.  That said I am also a little scared.  Probably not something I should admit the night before a race, but my goal is to give it all up for God.  To push past the pain that I know He will be there to support me through.  I believe in what is possible and need to follow that up with courage when things get tough.  I may not go over the line first, or maybe I will (personally I think it would be a big statement if I did) but if I leave my hands open and empty them, God will do more than my mind can fathom. 

What I ask of you all, is to continue to pray, or start praying for courage, strength and that the Lord's will be done tomorrow at 8am.  I encourage you to pray fervently for the 8 mins I am racing (hopefully less), and see what God does.  Your strength in prayer will more certainly translate into my boat tomorrow, and when all is said and done God will have all the glory.