ann kiemel

there is a young man named antonio.
he was offered a full-scholarship to undergraduate
and graduate school ANYWHERE he wanted.
in medical school, he married and had a beautiful
daughter.

things went wrong. life just does that to all of us.
marriage is hard and there are gaping holes all around
us that we can tumble into almost without turning our
heads. and sometimes, it can take years for Jesus to
help us finally escape the latest canyon.

antonio and his wife got divorced. he dropped out of
medical school from the shattering of all of this, and
because he was not financially stable, he gave up
certain custody rights to his little daughter he adores.

he got a job. did alot of things with his small child.
but no one really knew he was living in his car. there
is much to this story i cannot go into, but this young
man sought out a couple that were like parents to him,
and they first sent him to a celebrate recovery meeting
where he lives. he went. and then, got into his car and
drove 11 hours straight through to this couple's house.

he turned his life over to the Lord. the purest, simplest
faith. lost, and then, found. he called 10 of his friends
and asked if he could stay with them while he looked,
and found an apartment. can you believe only ONE in
TEN friends embraced him. one. and it was a single
father with a young daughter like himself. the turn in the
road started with surrender to Jesus. complete. all-out.
since then, he has had a week of miracles.

a friend. a bed. a roof over his head.
he found an apartment. two-bedroom for
when his daughter comes. moments when
he nearly walked straight into his wife somewhere,
without seeing, and got extra visits with his daughter.
target and dishes. someone donated a good bed. a
television and sofa and chair. a really nice apartment
with only a $350 deposit/rent for rest of month. at his
new place, someone invited him to a men's Bible study.

and one, handsome, brilliant, very quiet young man,
completely broken, crawled off the road to nowhere and
without hope to the path you and i are on. he is a real
runner, and now he is running with us...and we are all
hanging on to each other...following Jesus. the Race of
the redeemed. washed in the Blood of the Lamb. we are
all broken. all have to hit dead-ends to keep our feet planted
in the right direction. the Light washes over us, and we
are flying along when our toes hit rocks, and we splash and
spill and are half on and half off this arduous path.

but miracles live.
and the Race is worth running.
surrender is the heart and soul of our freedom.
with strength as our password to survival.
God's power. streaming through our veins.
shining in our eyes.

run to win, warriors.
as i am.
running to win.


as promised, pics of my day with my grandbaby, colben