The cost.

We just wrapped up our third FREEDOM challenge in as many years.

The FREEDOM event requires a massive amount of sacrifice on everyone's part.  First, it commences the two weeks prior to Memorial day which is also the last weeks of the school year. Everyone is already on a human hamster wheel going warp speed, so there is a real cost to one's personal schedule.  "Me time" for twelve days is a shelved.

Second, this is a different kind of physical exercise altogether.  An hour or two of trekking through hilly trails with equipment, carrying real bodies on stretchers and holding a flag high while lugging rocks and sandbags, brings to bear fatigue of different dimensions.  There is a real cost to the preferred way one might like to exercise.  "My personal workout" is not an option.

That said, these are the very things that press on us most as we move through the twelve days of the challenge together.

Freedom is not free.

Our well-meaning schedules can leave us breathless and parched.  What is free about a pinched and anxious woman arriving to her numerous daily obligations with no breath-of-life for the people she encounters?

There is a very real and personal cost to enjoying true freedom.

Might the practice of daily sacrifice (even just an hour) result in richer communion with humanity and nature?  Can you carry a body on a stretcher as the day breaks pink and still be worried about your triceps or your abs?

For twelve days, we were reminded that our bodies are useful, dependable and strong.  Eyes flew open each day at the rigors required of our soldiers, past and present.

Hearts frequently fell faint at the required tasks of the day.  An underwater swim with weight?  Free climb a 40-foot rock?  Carry a sweaty body twice my size?  Run in the dark by the light of the moon? But then hearts soared and swelled with unbelieving pride when each of those daunting tasks and fears were conquered.

Could the daily practice of personal sacrifice usher in a freedom that will keep us alert and ready to serve when called?  We hope for twelve days some of our athletes discovered the joy in that discovery.

Well done troops!  

We hope you join us next year!

May God continue to bless America.