My Little Girl and the Olympics

By Michael Griego on December 12, 2025 • ( 0 )

Children can bring us great highs and lows. Our daughter, my Little Girl, brought her whole family great joy this week by qualifying for the US Olympic Marathon Trials in 2028.

I’ve long noted that there is something special about a father / daughter relationship. As I always called my daughter “my little girl,” my two sons thought she was the favored child.

Not so.

I have two favored sons and one favored daughter. And now that they have 6 daughters between them, my two sons understand what I’ve often said:

“There is something special about a father and daughter relationship.”

As we ride the highs and lows of our children’s wins and losses, for a father, there is joy and pride that swells with the accomplishments of a young son. And there is always the heart-touching element of a young daughter’s smile, hug, and twirling pirouette performed for her father. Blessed are those fathers who receive this well; and blessed are the little girls, and young boys, who receive real validation and love from their father.

As the children mature and grow into adulthood, the pride, joy, and heart-felt tugs never go away; they simply stack up and leave one continuously counting blessings and in awe while seeing the cycle continue with the next generation through grandchildren.

Of course, better yet if we parents do what is our God-ordained directive to train our children to know and have reverence for God and His Word, the Bible.

An Olympic Accomplishment
That all being said, I will here indulge a bit about my daughter, Lisa. My daughter, mother of 3 of our grandchildren, is a runner who last weekend qualified for the 2028 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Los Angeles. At the California International Marathon here in Sacramento, she ran the 26.2 mile race in 2 hours, 36 minutes and 48 seconds, averaging a 5:59 pace per mile. Seconds count as the cutoff time to qualify for the Olympic Trials is 2:37. She beat her goal by 11 seconds – her actual goal set last April for this race was 2:36:59.

Her husband/coach, Dr. Jacob Goodin, is to be highlighted here as well as they both worked hard together to set and achieve this goal.

God Blessed
But life is not about making Olympic Trial goals or anything lauded in this world. It’s about finding our way to God and bringing glory to Him in all we do, whether we run races, dig ditches, teach math, manage companies, or govern nations.

God is at the center of all things, human and otherwise. The sooner we understand that, the better. Not a better life, just a purposeful life driven by serving and honoring the God of our creation.

Lisa’s life has been a bellwether for me at various significant junctures. God has used her to show me and reinforce for me what He can do at any time.

Lisa almost died when she was 9-years old and hit by an errant skier at Lake Tahoe during a family vacation. She suffered a brain injury and could not read or play sports for a year. This traumatic event changed our family, and a Godly commitment changed our daughter. Prayer became real for all of us and the fragility of life became evident as a wake-up call. God can and does have His way with us. Read the full story here: 22 Years Ago (Biblical Viewpoint, 3/9/18)

Twelve years later, Lisa, at 21-years old and a student at Westmont College, was ranked #2 in the US national ranking for the Marathon and was on her way to winning the NAII National Championship. In at humid St. Louis morning, she collapsed at mile 19 and was taken to the hospital. Her not-quite-boyfriend, Jacob, jumped in the ambulance front seat. Two years later they were married. Read the full story here: Dreams Shattered. What Do You Do? (Biblical Viewpoint, 8/29/14)

As a young wife, when Lisa was 27-years old, she shared with me a daily prayer she wrote from Scripture and prayed each day for her young husband, Jacob. Oh, that all men as husbands had wives that prayed for them like this! Read the prayer and full story here: A Wife’s Prayer for Her Husband (Biblical Viewpoint, 10-19-13)

When Lisa was 29-years old and by then the mother of 2 young children, she shared with me the daily prayer that she had written and was now praying for her own kids. This is a very powerful model of prayer for kids of all ages. Read the prayer and full story here: A Mother’s Prayer for Her Children ( Biblical Viewpoint, 4/10/15)

Still Blessed
Now at 39-years old, before her California International Marathon this past week, Lisa shared with me the following in her own race/training diary after her final warm-up training run:

God made me fast, and I will glorify Him by using what He’s given me to its max capacity. The beauty of it is, I’ll never know where it maxes out, so I’ll keep pursuing excellence until I can’t. It’s an absolute privilege to get to test my fitness tomorrow on a big stage. My heart and soul have gone into this prep; now all that’s left to do is execute. (Lisa Goodin,12/6/25)

Yes, wins and losses, seen in context of good goals and Godly purposes, can bring profound blessings throughout a lifetime.

What goals and purpose are you running toward?
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…and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God – Hebrews 12:1-2