So, this past weekend I decided that it would be a splendid idea to try to prepare to run a 5k. I will be honest, the only reason I want to do this 5k is so that I can run through Lambeau Field, the Holy Grail of football! The Packers 5k may be the only one that I do because, well, I'm fat and running just doesn't agree with me.
Let me explain. I read a blog that said beginning runners (that would be me) should start out running 1 mile three times a week, so I tried running a mile on Monday. I could hear my shoes screaming and screeching in anguish, the pavement was making low pitched moans and my body was crying "What are you doing to me?"I was only able to run about half of it, but I made it without dying! That in itself is an accomplishment. I did go ahead and ride my bike a little bit after the run and then I wen't on a family bike ride on Tuesday. So, today after school, I tried day 2. What a disaster that was. Not only do I get rejected by family and friends because I'm fat, my own body is rejecting me. My shins felt like they were going to pop off my legs and made it very difficult to run and even if I tried to push through that my quads started tightening up and making it even more painful, so I walked most of it today. What was I ever thinking when I started this? That 5k distance seems lightyears away. I will take my meds to relieve the pain and try again tomorrow.
I want to do this! I want to run around the hallowed field in Lambeau! Maybe someone who reads this can give me pointers and I would be open to them. Just post comments here on my blog.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Sportsmanship
Sportsmanship. It is a word that we hear thrown around in the realm of professional sports and it trickles all the way down to PeeWee sports. Does anyone really understand what sportsmanship is? In tournaments, a sportsmanship trophy/plaque is usually awarded to a player from the team who lost the championship game because they lost without losing their cool or handled losing with class, but is that really what sportsmanship is about? On Monday, April 30, 2012, my wife and friends of ours got to witness something that was so wonderful, I will argue that it is what sportsmanship should be.
A girls softball game was being played in a little town called Titusville on Monday. The game was being played on Monday because an accident in the parking lot on Friday caused the game to be postponed. You see, on Friday, a 22 month-old boy was tragically killed when he was ran over by a vehicle that was trying to leave. Neither of the families involved were from Titusville, they both had players on the visiting team. Because of the accident, the game was postponed and the location moved. While the families are still trying to cope and deal with the loss, the game was played on Monday. I want you to get a glimpse of what Titusville did to show true sportsmanship.
The above picture shows a sign that greeted the guest who came back out for the game on Monday. The sign expressed the outpouring of love and kindness to the friends and families who were involved in the tragic incident from Friday. There were all kinds of signatures and verses and words of encouragement that were left for the team and the families. What a kind gesture this was! Titusville also did not charge anyone to get into the event, they were however, accepting donations that were to be given to the family in the name of their lost son. Someone from Titusville found out that the family was asking people to wear blue and green in honor of their son and they had many of their players wearing blue and green ribbons in their hair even though they were not their school colors (red and white). What a wonderful way to show that you are sharing in their grief to offer a gesture of support. That night, after the game was done and Titusville had lost, BOTH teams gathered together in the outfield and prayed. Now I argue that this is true sportsmanship!
I don't think sportsmanship is about losing gracefully or just about playing within the rules, I think it goes much deeper than that. I think it goes to the core of our being. I think it is a heart thing. I think true sportsmanship can only happen when one sees others as being so much more important than themselves that they don't let the issues of the game affect their reactions (whether winning or losing). I liken it to being a servant. If you are not humble enough to serve others because you are seeing them as God sees them, then you can never truly demonstrate sportsmanship. Sure, guys and girls alike put on a show for the public eye about it is just a game, but do they really believe that? Should it take an injury on the playing field to get your attention and make you realize that it is just a game? Should it take a lot of losing for you to finally come to grips with losing? God did not ask us to love others or treat them better than we would treat ourselves only when the going is good, he commanded it, period!
I for one am glad that the administration and team from Titusville demonstrated that the human beings that were involved were more important than the game itself. I'm glad they did not miss out on the opportunity to teach this very valuable lesson to those kids. Sure, it's easy to offer condolences, but could you actually think of those people as better than yourself? How would I have handled this situation? I hope with as much class as the Titusville Terriers!
You don't have to agree with me on this, but at least consider this. If we as parents teach our children that the games we play are not always about winning, are not always about being the best at something, but it is about learning how to deal with people, human beings, both in good times and in bad. It is about not losing your testimony when things don't go so well and not rubbing it in the face of another when things are going in your favor. You see, we need good sportsmanship when we are winning as much as when we are losing, if not more. Sportsmanship doesn't just happen on the field, it needs to happen in the stands where the adults are sometimes the worst at being poor sports during an athletic competition. We could all learn something from how Titusville handled themselves and I think they deserve to be recognized for how lovingly they reached out to their fellow man and said "YOU MATTER!"
What about you? Will you allow people to matter or will you only worry about yourself and whether things are going your way or not? I think if you think of J-esus, O-thers and then Y-ou, then not only will you have JOY in your heart, but you will have plenty of sportsmanship!
A girls softball game was being played in a little town called Titusville on Monday. The game was being played on Monday because an accident in the parking lot on Friday caused the game to be postponed. You see, on Friday, a 22 month-old boy was tragically killed when he was ran over by a vehicle that was trying to leave. Neither of the families involved were from Titusville, they both had players on the visiting team. Because of the accident, the game was postponed and the location moved. While the families are still trying to cope and deal with the loss, the game was played on Monday. I want you to get a glimpse of what Titusville did to show true sportsmanship.
I don't think sportsmanship is about losing gracefully or just about playing within the rules, I think it goes much deeper than that. I think it goes to the core of our being. I think it is a heart thing. I think true sportsmanship can only happen when one sees others as being so much more important than themselves that they don't let the issues of the game affect their reactions (whether winning or losing). I liken it to being a servant. If you are not humble enough to serve others because you are seeing them as God sees them, then you can never truly demonstrate sportsmanship. Sure, guys and girls alike put on a show for the public eye about it is just a game, but do they really believe that? Should it take an injury on the playing field to get your attention and make you realize that it is just a game? Should it take a lot of losing for you to finally come to grips with losing? God did not ask us to love others or treat them better than we would treat ourselves only when the going is good, he commanded it, period!
I for one am glad that the administration and team from Titusville demonstrated that the human beings that were involved were more important than the game itself. I'm glad they did not miss out on the opportunity to teach this very valuable lesson to those kids. Sure, it's easy to offer condolences, but could you actually think of those people as better than yourself? How would I have handled this situation? I hope with as much class as the Titusville Terriers!
You don't have to agree with me on this, but at least consider this. If we as parents teach our children that the games we play are not always about winning, are not always about being the best at something, but it is about learning how to deal with people, human beings, both in good times and in bad. It is about not losing your testimony when things don't go so well and not rubbing it in the face of another when things are going in your favor. You see, we need good sportsmanship when we are winning as much as when we are losing, if not more. Sportsmanship doesn't just happen on the field, it needs to happen in the stands where the adults are sometimes the worst at being poor sports during an athletic competition. We could all learn something from how Titusville handled themselves and I think they deserve to be recognized for how lovingly they reached out to their fellow man and said "YOU MATTER!"
What about you? Will you allow people to matter or will you only worry about yourself and whether things are going your way or not? I think if you think of J-esus, O-thers and then Y-ou, then not only will you have JOY in your heart, but you will have plenty of sportsmanship!
Sunday, April 29, 2012
God is God...We're Not!
Wow, this past week has sure been a trying one. We here in Central Florida have had our lives touched by several tragedies, two intentional and one accidental. While I know that tragedies are happening all around the country and the world, when they hit close to home it really makes you step back and think. God is giving us the opportunity to minister and I pray that I will not miss out on these opportunities.
Late Sunday evening, a former student of our was shot and killed by another young man. While the details have not been fully released nor do they matter, a neighboring community has lost a human being. While this young man was flawed and in need of a Savior, the events of that evening abruptly ended his life and therefore ended any possibility of him finding Christ (I don't know his spiritual condition). We now have family members and friends in our school and in the community who are grieving the loss of this young man. Please pray with me that God will give Tara and me a boldness to seize each opportunity that God brings our way. We also have a group of strong Christian teens that will have opportunities to minister. Pray that they will be able to be a strong godly witness during this time.
Another unrelated incident happened a couple days later when two Polk State College students were shot and killed by a co-worker and another was seriously injured. Again, the details are unimportant, but the pain that the families and friends are going through are very real and important to God. We have students in our own church who knew and were friends with these young men as well as students in our school. This is another opportunity for us to be a witness and a comfort.
In both of these cases, it becomes easy to judge and forget that there are people who need comfort, the comfort that only God can give. May I remember that God is God and I am not (Thanks Pastor Wingate) and be a channel for God's love, grace and mercy. May I have a compassion that is beyond me and may I be a light in our school and community.
The third and most recent tragedy was an accident that happened at a Girls Softball playoff game on Friday evening. A 22 month old boy was hit and killed by an automobile. Both families involved had players on the team and, as you can imagine, the grief, the anguish, the questioning and the pain are great. While I can't even begin to imagine what either of these families must be going through, I know God does. After all, he watched his Son die and he can relate to these families. It was a beautiful scene in church today as the teammates and their families were all present in our church service to offer support to the families during this difficult time. They were also present to hear and see God work. It was amazing! I could feel the spirit moving and to see the body of Christ reach out and wrap their arms around these kids and adults was a beautiful site. Again, this is a reminder that God is God and we're not. As we try to minister to these families, I ask that you would pray that God comfort both the family who lost the child and the family of there person who accidentally hit the child. Both need God's comfort and our support.
At this time, I am begging you, my friends to pray fervently for our little community as we try to be the hands and feet of Christ and offer the support that these many families need. While we don't fully understand why these things have happened, we know that we can trust the hands of God! We don't always see where we are headed, but we can trust the plans of God. Thank you for joining us in prayer and I trust that we can be the Body of Christ!
Late Sunday evening, a former student of our was shot and killed by another young man. While the details have not been fully released nor do they matter, a neighboring community has lost a human being. While this young man was flawed and in need of a Savior, the events of that evening abruptly ended his life and therefore ended any possibility of him finding Christ (I don't know his spiritual condition). We now have family members and friends in our school and in the community who are grieving the loss of this young man. Please pray with me that God will give Tara and me a boldness to seize each opportunity that God brings our way. We also have a group of strong Christian teens that will have opportunities to minister. Pray that they will be able to be a strong godly witness during this time.
Another unrelated incident happened a couple days later when two Polk State College students were shot and killed by a co-worker and another was seriously injured. Again, the details are unimportant, but the pain that the families and friends are going through are very real and important to God. We have students in our own church who knew and were friends with these young men as well as students in our school. This is another opportunity for us to be a witness and a comfort.
In both of these cases, it becomes easy to judge and forget that there are people who need comfort, the comfort that only God can give. May I remember that God is God and I am not (Thanks Pastor Wingate) and be a channel for God's love, grace and mercy. May I have a compassion that is beyond me and may I be a light in our school and community.
The third and most recent tragedy was an accident that happened at a Girls Softball playoff game on Friday evening. A 22 month old boy was hit and killed by an automobile. Both families involved had players on the team and, as you can imagine, the grief, the anguish, the questioning and the pain are great. While I can't even begin to imagine what either of these families must be going through, I know God does. After all, he watched his Son die and he can relate to these families. It was a beautiful scene in church today as the teammates and their families were all present in our church service to offer support to the families during this difficult time. They were also present to hear and see God work. It was amazing! I could feel the spirit moving and to see the body of Christ reach out and wrap their arms around these kids and adults was a beautiful site. Again, this is a reminder that God is God and we're not. As we try to minister to these families, I ask that you would pray that God comfort both the family who lost the child and the family of there person who accidentally hit the child. Both need God's comfort and our support.
At this time, I am begging you, my friends to pray fervently for our little community as we try to be the hands and feet of Christ and offer the support that these many families need. While we don't fully understand why these things have happened, we know that we can trust the hands of God! We don't always see where we are headed, but we can trust the plans of God. Thank you for joining us in prayer and I trust that we can be the Body of Christ!
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