The Hub, June 17, 2019
Annette Pfohl, a dear friend (who became family to Kristine and I over the years), had an aggressive form of breast cancer. It was a long, hard fight, and both her family of blood and large family connected through love alone wanted to support her. They became known as Team Annette.
Still young, her son, Kyle was an active part. At Riverbend High School, he and other students were challenged to do some sort of community service. Rather than give into anger, he remembered his mother’s words about how to battle cancer: “It means never giving up hope and supporting each other!”
His passion was running, and he had become incredibly good at it. Finally, that passion and promise intersected with holy purpose. That senior project became much more than he first imagined. After its eighth year this past Sunday, the Battling Cancer Race has raised approximately $120,000 to help cancer patients in the Fredericksburg region.
Annette died in 2016, but the love and hope she shared reflected the Christian love and hope she held on to. As I led the opening prayer this year for the event, it struck me that the hope that helped Annette remains alive and well through the runners and walkers assembled. Through their desire to love their neighbor or perhaps honor family or friends fighting cancer – while doing what they love – they are no longer just “runners” or “competitors.” They have become living signs of hope among us.
What is your passion? Where do your interests and skills lie? Most likely, these will cross with your holy purpose so that the faith, hope and love of God can be magnified. We each have a different race to run perhaps, but we share the same goal. So, “let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus…” (see Hebrews 12:1-3). It’s this kind of hope that will change us and the world one step at a time. It’s the kind of hope that has led Kyle to become a new member of Christ Lutheran and the faith which we share.
Originally published in The Hub, a weekly email of Christ Lutheran Church, Fredericksburg, VA.
© 2019 The Rev. Louis Florio. All content not held under another’s copyright may not be used without permission of the author.
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