I was fifteen when I had my first track meet, high in the Bolivian Andes, living just outside Cochabamba, where my parents were taking Spanish courses, following our move to Peru in 1969.

The air at 8500 feet is a lot rarer than it is in the jungle, but since I daily biked the two miles back and forth to school, my youthful frame had hardened, thinned out and my health had improved a great deal. The boy was no longer the chubby American kid.

The track coach at our little school encouraged me to try out for his tiny team, and after the older guys had their pick of races, the 440 fell to me, the shortest kid in our high school. Lest you think the entire affair was unjustified, stick with me.

I didn't have any shoes to run in, so I crafted a pair from cast off street togs, removing the heel, installing an inside cardboard sole and pushed through six carpet nails into each shoe to make up for the lack of spikes.

The starter's pistol went off and we began to sprint the first hundred yards. Never having trained in the kit I was now wearing, I felt the sharp pain of the nail heads against my feet! I kept on running though the local Bolician guys were gaining and the gap between the three of us widened quickly.

At the finish line, the timer perfunctorily clicked off the stop watch, announced my run and walked away. Well over 2 minutes and some change, I learned something about doing difficult tasks. DON"T GIVE UP. That memory and the confidence, though I finished a thorough last place, had told me two things: 1. come to a contest with the right gear, and 2. do your best!

Later in life I had very hard projects to accomplish, but through it all, God taught me that preparation breeds confidence! It's the same with the Lord. He provided a fool proof way for every person to have confidence at the throne of God, His own cleansing blood! His preparation gives us the absolute best! We only need keep on the path to finish the race! It's already won! Confidence in the Lord!