Clearing Hurdles

The 100-meter hurdle race is set up with 13 meters from starting line to first hurdle; each hurdle is set at a distance of 8.5 meters apart for a total of 10 hurdles. The home stretch from the last hurdle to the finish line is 10.5 meters long.

Steve Baron, Referee Big 12, shared with our crew that the football season is like a 100-meter hurdle race, and each week of the season is another hurdle. Officials/crews come out of the blocks and gain speed in the first third of the race or season. We establish a rhythm and hit our stride in the middle third and push hard to finish strong in the final third. In any race, the start is important. But, just as critical is how we handle each hurdle. For officials, our hurdles are a game, a call, our health, or any situation that could harm us from clearing the hurdle and heading to the next one. Most weeks, we clear these hurdles with no issues. But, when we stumble or even fall over a hurdle or two, do we keep moving or just give up?

At this point in the season, we are transitioning to the last third of our 100-meter race. So far, we have cleared several hurdles and are now heading to the last hurdles and the home stretch. This is the time to push hard, to lean in, and to finish strong! We can’t lose focus on the hurdles ahead, being careful to take one hurdle at a time and bringing all our momentum and all that we've learned from the previous weeks and applying it to our next assignment. Worry about next week, next week; the focus is this week’s game, or the imminent hurdle, right in front of us.

With your help I can advance against a troop, with my God I can scale a wall.  (Psalm 18:29)

 

In this verse, the psalmist recognizes that when facing “hurdles,” we need help. The key word in this verse is ‘my’ – it’s with my God. Our personal relationship with our Heavenly Father through Jesus helps to lead and guide our thoughts and decisions.  Extend this concept to our officiating crews.  We can clear hurdles and scale walls with “my crew.”  When crews lean on each other, they gain greater strength together as opposed to just relying on each one’s individual abilities.

“When you are prepared for the threats, challenges, obstacles, you become better equipped to handle the hurdles.”
― Carlos Wallace

Let’s clear our hurdles better than these athletes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXPBRw53CA8

Let’s be smooth like the winner of this race:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeKjh9wUzwY