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12/17/2008 Victory is sure! The title is a borrowed line from the cantata that we sang on Sunday. It was incredible, and there were so many visitors. It is always such a blessing to be able to be part of worshiping God and sharing the awesome wonder of what He did for us! The cantata, however, is not the reason for my post. I have had that line running through my head for the last several days as we have seen our high school guys soccer team finish an undefeated regular season (9-0-1). AMAZING!!! They have done such a great job. We could give the credit to a hard working new head coach, or to the guys who have worked together since they were in middle school, or to the incredible (if I may say so) fans that supported them at all the games. The credit could go to each of the players that did so well at working together as a team this season, and who wanted the championship almost more than anything else. But just like everything else in this life, what does it matter if it is not done for the glory and praise of God? Yesterday we had a pep rally in the middle of the day to cheer on the team. It was great to see the school spirit, and how excited all of the students were. They understood the significance of this accomplishment. Only one other time has the Harvest soccer team made it to the finals and that was back in 2004 when we made it by pure "luck" and were then slaughtered by the other team. This year, however, the guys pulled their talent together and played their hearts out. They played against a high school that is ten times the size of ours; a school, who, for the last several years has held the number one spot many times. It was as our principal described it, "a David and Goliath match". Nobody expected Harvest, a small Christian school, who has had in the past, well let's just say a less-than-perfect record, to defeat the reigning all-island soccer champs.... But like I said before, why does it REALLY matter? Let's just go back to the the pep rally for a minute, or better yet, to the first day of practice with the guys. Coach Thompson had them think through what their goals for the season should be. Why would they be playing 10 plus games? Was it to have fun? Sure. Was it to improve the skills that they had already been building? Probably. But it was a little deeper than that too. The two goals that they came up with back in the early fall were the two goals that got them to the championship game, won them a 1st place trophy, and will earn them the first-ever championship banner to hang in our brand new gym. Goal #1: Play right! That means play well, play your best, play for God. No jeering the other team, not talking back to the refs, no blaming your teammates when something goes wrong.Goal #2: Win the Championship! (I don't think that needs any explanation....) 12/9/2008 It's almost here... Wow, I feel like I was just writing my first post of the new school year, and here it is just 9.5 days away from Christmas break! I can't believe it! This semester has flown by. Part of me is happy about it...the other part of me is sad. That means that in just over five months, I will be saying goodbye to my tropical home and will be heading back to the humid summer of the Midwest. I know, five months sounds like a long time...that is because you have never taught at HCA, and you don't realize that no matter how fast first semester goes, second semester flies about fifty times faster. I am not wishing my time away, but I know that in what seems like a matter of weeks, I will be wondering where this school year has gone. I can't help but think how strange it will seem to live in my small town once again, how weird it will be to drive down the once familiar streets and visit places that were common for most of my life. It just seems so unusual to me how we can become so familiar with one place, and then it is gone! I am 100% happy, yet 100% dreading the change that will come at the end of May. I have come to love this place as if I have lived here my whole life. My kids are so much part of my life that I don't know what I am going to do once I don't have 150 plus people to be responsible for. That just may be a relief...or I may be bored out of my mind! I am very thankful for how the Lord leads and the different opportunities that the He gives. I don't think that I will ever enjoy leaving people, I am however, thankful for the many people that He has used to encourage me, challenge me, and grow me...and for the many opportunities that He has given me to minister while I have been here. I know that over the next several months, He will continue to do so, and I am excited for that. I am also excited for the time that I will have as I prepare to go to Spain. I know that the Lord will use that time just as He has here, to grow me and make me more like Him. And for that, I am thankful! |
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