Brother Helping Brother, and Celebrating Victory Together!

The story below was shared by a Stockade Mom. She saw God work in the life of her two Stockade sons in a way that needed to be shared. We recommend that you consider using this during a Stockade story circle especially if you are using the StocKar Derby Module. We’ve provided a few questions at the end of this article that you can ask boys after you read them the story.  Consider as you read this story the Psalmist’s encouraging declaration,

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!”-Psalm 133:1

We hope as you read you are blessed and encouraged.

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“To say that our son Seth was overjoyed with his 1st place win at both the local and regional StocKar Derby races this year is an understatement.  It was the first time in his 11 years that he’s won a trophy, for anything!  If you weren’t there to see the joy on his face, well, the pictures we took don’t really do it justice-it was so much bigger and better than what the photos reveal. It was a very special moment that was quite a time in the making, one that his older brother, Ethan, played a key part in making happen.

You see, Seth has quadriplegic cerebral palsy and has motor limitations that prevent him from participating in most activities like typical children.  So, as with anything, he can require more help to complete tasks.  When it comes to creating a race-worthy car for the StocKar Derby, it was Ethan, in his last year of Stockade, who had the truly competitive spirit and who wanted to make sure that his car had the best chance of winning (neither Ethan nor Seth had ever placed in the top 3 at our local church in order to move on to Regionals before). Ethan researched how to make a truly fast car, watching and learning from YouTube videos and reading about techniques for wheel & axle placement, car design, and where it’s best to put the weight.  He worked diligently on making his car differently than he ever had before, all the while making sure Seth had the help, as needed, to make his car the same way.  Both boys were creating and tweaking until they both had cars they were ready to race.

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Local StocKar Derby day came and both boys were hopeful about how they thought their cars would do. Since Seth is in a wheelchair, Ethan raced Seth’s car for him while Seth watched excitedly at the finish line to get the results of each heat.  Time and again both boys’ cars won first place in each heat they raced-except when they raced each other. It was in those races that Seth’s car beat Ethan’s.  The local Stockade results had Ethan winning 2nd place and Seth winning 1st.  I was so proud of Ethan’s attitude on this day.  He wanted to win, and by every standard while getting 2nd place is amazing, it’s still not 1st.  Ethan cheered his younger brother on, and Seth’s delight was apparent to all.  According to Seth that day, “This is my first trophy … ever!”

Regionals approached and Ethan knew that Seth’s car would have a slight edge on his car based on the local derby results.  But he was still hopeful about his chance to place at the top; Seth was just delighted to be racing again (he has the kind of spirit that he would be just as happy if Ethan won instead of him).  Heat after heat, Ethan placed both of their cars up to race while Seth watched both cars in delight, and just like the local competition, both cars did impressively well and got them both into the finals, Seth’s car doing just slightly better than Ethan’s.  If you were there in person to see Ethan win 4th and Seth to win 1st, you got to witness an older brother accepting his 4th place trophy with dignity and helping his little brother-who he helped all along the way-celebrate his 1st place win.  It was a great day!  God knew what he was doing when he put these brothers together.”

About the author: Sharon Hodges is a Stockade mother of two amazing Stockaders in Unit 7117 where her husband serves as a ranger.

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Questions to consider:

1. What did Ethan (the older brother) do that was good?
2. What was Ethan’s attitude toward winning and why should we model it?
3. Did both boys want to win? What was more important to them than winning?

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Interested in stories about helping boys serve those with disabilities? Take a look at this article in our Valor Parent Magazine

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