From the Mouth of Babes

Last night my son's soccer team had their first playoff game. About a month ago, I volunteered to be an assistant coach of sorts and I tried not to let the old Army PT (physical training) tics borne of years of pushups creep in and cause consternation amongst the kidlings. Anyway, the boy got us going with an early goal and I was feeling good about our prospects for victory. That was to be short lived - In the end, our team got smoked 9-1! By the middle of the second half I wanted to crawl into the cooler with the water and orange slices - I was thoroughly frustrated with how badly our team underachieved. We had a deep bench and fresh legs and our opponent cleaned our clock. Why was this such an issue for me? As the season started, I intended not to be a spastic, clipboard-throwing, meathead type of coach, but an encourager, exhorter, and leader they can look to. Looking back, I brought the built-up stresses of life outside of soccer onto the field, and they came out when I felt like there was nothing I could do to change the outcome of the game. After the game, Nicholas said to me, "Dad, I know we got beat really bad, but this was the most fun I've had all year!" That meant a great deal to me. I was moved by the simplicity of what God was trying to communicate and how much it meant that he used my own son to do it! Our next game is tomorrow, and no matter how it turns out, I'm going to have fun.