Three Wishes

Have you ever thought about what three wishes you would ask for if a Genie popped out of your golden lantern? From time to time I have.....and other than the standard wishes for health, peace, and eternally beautiful offspring--my wishes are rather simple.

1. I wish I could sing....like, really sing. Although I sing in the choir at our church, I can tell you with 100% certainty that I will never be asked to join praise team or sing a solo. And I love music so very much. That's the irony in this whole situation. I heart music. A lot. But I am cursed with having the vocal ability of the sad people they make fun of on American Idol (remember William Hung?). I am not tone deaf, and I can match the notes of the music--but I am terribly jealous of the girls who can really belt it out, some of whom are my very dear friends! So that's it. My first wish would be for the gift of song.

2. My second wish is that the world would be rid of cancer. I know that kind of falls under the "standard wish" category, but from my personal experience with the beast of cancer.....it's something I want to include in the "simple wish" category. I lost my mom to a malignant brain tumor almost five years ago, and it's a battle that too often ends in defeat. I hate it.

3. My final wish is for this:

I want to be able to run. Not run fast; just long. I want to be the girl wearing an ipod, running around Baylor campus wearing those cute Nike running shorts. I want my pony tail to flop around behind me, mile after mile after mile. I have never been able to run for long distances. And, I have tried ever since high school....without luck.

In fact, the past two weeks I have tried to implement a little running into my lifestyle. I got about as far as my neighbor's mailbox and my lungs started burning, so I quit. Then I tried the run/walk/run/walk approach, and that was moderately successful. Then I got a back injury. Then shin splints. So, once again, my running workout has been tossed in the trash.

But let me brag here for just a moment to say that Kellie-Laine is a fantastic runner, and she proved it yet again at this year's track meet. She participated in 6 events and here's how she did:

4x100 relay: first place

100 meter dash: first place

200 meter dash: first place

400 meter dash: second place

long jump: fifth place

softball throw: third place

Yea, Kellie-Laine! I wish I could run like you.

And what was her reaction to her victories? "I don't like track," she said. "It's too hard."

Now that's something to wish for.....to severely dislike something and still be tremendously successful at it. That's what I call talent.