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As Eli "ages-out" of the Kids Run it reminds us of how special the event has been for our family because there were years when we did not know if Eli would ever walk again. Eli was born perfectly healthy and developed normally until, at three-years-old, the unthinkable happened. He had a tragic, life-threatening accident in which he fell from a second-story window, head-first onto the asphalt driveway at our home. The accident left him with a severe brain injury.

After three weeks in a coma, he began the long road of re-learning every basic human function from thought, to speech, to mobility. As with all brain injuries, doctors could never provide a prognosis of how far he would recover. We were to simply treat him as intensively as possible and pray for good results. For the first three years, Tricia spent every waking moment trying to make our son well. It was her ONLY priority in life. She worked tirelessly with Eli administering 60+ hours per week of intensive home-based therapy. We had worked hard and we had faith that God would totally restore him.

After three long years, Eli had made significant progress. However, he was still very far from being completely healed. To this day, we continue to pray and provide the best treatment available. However, that year we made the very difficult decision to reduce his time in therapy so that the three of us could live life ... a new life with disability.

The three years of intensive therapy had taken a significant toll on all of us, especially Tricia. As she began to re-dedicate small amounts of time to herself, exercise became a part of her routine again. She signed up to train for her first Monument Avenue 10k. As she trained, she developed a vision that our son, despite his disability, would one day run that race. The following year, she took the first step toward that vision.

 

Long after all of the other kids had finished, Eli, Tricia and Diamond Duck approached the finish line with the police escort. The crowds enthusiastically cheered him, and the pressure mounted as everyone wondered if Eli would make it to the finish line before the 30-minute cutoff. His finish time? 28 minutes and 35 seconds!

Training for, and running, this race has become a highlight of Eli's life every year since that day. Over the years his times have improved and he's always finished under the 30-minute deadline! The crowds of spectators now know him and cheer for him by name. His interviews have become a staple of the local television station's live race coverage.

Before this experience, I didn't really know what Jesus meant when he said that in the Kingdom of God, "the last shall be first" (Matthew 20:16a NIV). Now, thanks to Eli ... I think I understand.

Question for you: What does the "last shall be first" mean to you?

NOTE: For pictures and stories of today's race, be sure to check out our blogsite at http://www.tillerfamily.org/ later this week!