How Good Do You Want to Be? Soccer Lessons

"Its not how good you are it's how good you want to be" (Paul Arden).

   The first quote I ever used as a season quote for my team was: "Its not how good you are it's how good you want to be" (Paul Arden). This quote is all about effort and growth. At first, my girls did not understand it but by the end of the season they heard it loud and clear.

   Sometimes it is hard to push yourself. You may have been doing the same thing for so long you don't feel like doing it anymore; or, doing it to the best of your ability. You may be feeling sick and not up to doing your best. Or, you could just be exhausted and not feel like doing anything.

   During our 2 month season the girls faced a lot of these things. It is taxing on the body to play soccer 5-6 days a week for 2 months. The girls got tired and sick. I told them that they just needed to do their best on that day to improve. If they gave anything less than their best they were not only hurting themselves but their team.

   The girls knew to work hard to become better every day. I have had some girls on my teams stay after practice to ask me what they can do to improve. Or, they would take it upon themselves to practice by themselves after practice. These girls were following the quote.

   In life, we have choices every day. We can choose to work hard to get better every day or we can stay stagnant. If your goal in life is to become CEO of a company but you don't put the work in to become smarter in the jobs in that company then you probably won't become a CEO. If your goal in life is to be the best parent you can be but you don't spend time with your own child you won't be the best parent you can be.

   We must take steps to become the best we can be. That means working hard no matter what. That means growing in knowledge of what we want to be the best in. That means caring about those around us because if we get better we can make others better.

   This quote also embodies what God calls us to do. In Colossians 3:23-24 it says: "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ." We are called to do our best, not just to improve ourselves and others, because God calls us to do our best for him. If you are folding laundry you aren't just doing it for yourself or you family, you are folding laundry for God. If you are working on a big project you aren't just doing that for yourself or you co-workers, you are doing that project for God. God wants our best. If we don't give it we won't grow in him.

   So, are you choosing to stay stagnant because you are not giving your best? How good do you want to be? Are you giving your best to God?

   Image from here.

Soccer Lessons Series

   In life you learn a lot of lessons. Those lessons come in different ways but they all help you grow if you let them. One way I learned many of my lessons in life was through sports. I particularly learned many lessons through the sport of soccer. Now, I am blessed to coach soccer and teach the lessons I learned to players as well.

   When I first started coaching I knew I learned lessons from soccer but I was still figuring out my coaching style. I was focused on teaching soccer skills. Some of you may be saying "isn't that what a soccer coach is to do? Aren't you supposed to teach your players how to play soccer? "The answer is yes, I am to teach my players how to play soccer. But, I would like you to think about how many players who play when they are young actually go on to play soccer in college or higher. There are not that many. What is the point of high school sports then? Some would say to have fun. Others would say for social skills. Both of those are true. As a coach I take it one step further. I believe sports teach valuable lessons.

   I knew that's what I believed but it wasn't until the head coach that I worked with said this that I truly put it together in my head: "high school soccer isn't necessarily about soccer. It's about the life lessons." The lessons players learn in high school sports go with them in life. I feel that those lessons are worth remembering. If you are still in High school, in college, or you've been out of school for a long time I feel that it is time for a reminder. That's why I am beginning a series on the lessons I've learned and that I teach to my players. Each lesson I teach in soccer applies to life. I ask you to come on this journey with me and maybe you'll learn, or relearn, some lessons along the way.

   2 Peter 3:18 and Hebrews 6:1

   Image from here. 

Would You Trust God?

 "Do you want to trust the Lord?

Would you trust him if he asked you to pick up a sword?"

 

"I would not, could not, trust the Lord 

if he asked me to pick up a sword.

I would not trust him to help me build a boat,

I'm not even sure it would float.

If he took all my possessions away?

There is no way I would trust him and stay.

If I he wanted me to spend time in jail?

I would run away faster than if I saw hail.

Asking me to go to the king to say, 'let my people go?'

I'd definitely have to say no.

Defeating a city by walking around its wall?

Why, there is no way I believe it will fall.

Using a sling to stop a giant?

I'd have to stay defiant.

Going against many prophets of Baal?

I know I would fail.

Going into a fiery furnace?

I'd run out of that place.

Being thrown into a den with lions?

You would find me running away crying...

What's that you say?

What would I do for my faith in God today?

I would go to church and stay in that safe place,

God knows that doing that is my comfortable space.

Why would a loving God ask me to do more?

I'm way better than I was before."

 

Are you spending too much time in your comfort zone when God is asking you to step out of it? How can you grow in God and have more faith in him? 

Psalm 9:10 and Joshua 1:9

A New Chapter

    I like reading books. It is bittersweet when you end a book because that story has ended. However, a new story can begin. Just like our lives have different chapters.

   If you know me, you know I love reading books. I have quite the library at home of many different genres. I love seeing where the author is going to take the characters. I like finding out how some people have grown in God. There is only one real problem I have found with books I enjoy reading: I want to find out what is going to happen, but I also don't want the book to end...

   Many of the authors whose books I read are very good writers. They are so good at keeping me in suspense till the very end. Yet, when the book ends it is bittersweet. I then know what happens to all the characters, but I am no longer in that story. That story has ended and with that story the connection to the characters in the story are gone too.

   Yet, even in the bitterness of that story ending, I realize a new story can begin. I can meet new characters, go to a new world, and find a new story must waiting for me.

   This is sometimes how our lives work. We open many new chapters in life: going to school for the first time, trying a new activity, our first job, what we do after we graduate, marriage, our first child, etc. We are creatures of habit though. We enjoy doing things we know. We enjoy our comfort zones. Sometimes we may not understand why God closes a door in our lives. We may even say "things were going so well Lord. Why did you take that away from me?" 

   Ecclesiastes 3:1 says: "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." God, in his infinite knowledge, knows what is best for us. He knows when it is time for us to stay and when it is time for us to go. We can either continue to look back as Lot's wife did, or we can press on as Paul implored us to do in Philippines 3:14. One chapter in life may be closing but we can choose our attitude about our new chapters in life. What will your attitude be about your new chapter in life?

Needing Water

   Have you ever been dehydrated in your life? I have been a few times. One time, when I was younger, I was at an event in our town. It was incredibly warm out. I began sweating profusely. Thinking it was normal to be sweating when it was hot out, I didn't say anything. Then my vision began to turn blue and green. I bumped into my mother and said I did not feel well. She got me in the shade and sat me down. 
I was too young to know what was happening to my body. My dad said I was probably dehydrated, and he went to get me some water. When the water came, it was the best water I had ever tasted. I drank most of it and my vision became clearer. After a bit, my family and I went home. 
   When I was older, I thought back to that day. I needed water but I didn't realize it. Many of us need water but don't realize it. I'm not talking physical water. I am talking about the water of life.
   John 4 is the passage where we find Jesus talking with a Samaritan woman. The woman is first shocked that Jesus even talks with her. Then he says in verse 10, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." She thinks he is talking about physical water. Jesus emphasizes that that isn't the case in verses 13-14
"Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
   The woman desperately wants this water, so she does not thirst again. She is like us when we are dehydrated. She would do anything to get that water. However, Jesus is talking about his water. He is talking about thirsting after him. If we have a relationship with Christ, then we are changed. We will not thirst after the things of this world because we know those things are temporary. Only Jesus can quench our thirst. 
   He gives us the only thing we really need. He gives us a relationship with him. Jesus died on the cross as a perfect sacrifice for us. We need to accept him, believe in him, and confess our sins to him. Then we will have living water with which quenches our thirst.
   So, is your thirst quenched? Do you have a relationship with Christ? If you do, what are you doing to grow in him each day?

Don't Itch

   One day I was minding my own business driving to soccer practice. It was a sunny day, and I was feeling good and excited to practice that day. Suddenly I had an itch on my leg. Since I was driving, I did not look down and just itched it. When I itched it, it felt good and alleviated the need to scratch, for a bit. 

   I continued to drive and then felt itchy again in the same place. Thus, I scratched again. When I finally reached my destination, I looked down. To my dismay and annoyance, I had been scratching a mosquito bite. The bit had gotten quite big because I was scratching it.

When I was at practice, I would feel the itch again. However, this time I would avoid itching it. If it was really itchy, I would end up slapping it. Eventually, after a few days, the bite mark went away. 

   More than likely, if you live in an area where mosquitoes are, you have had a similar experience. But you may be wondering why I am telling this story. Well, after that experience I got to thinking about how mosquito bites are similar to the Christian walk.

   Sin is like a mosquito bite. Once you sin once it is quite easy to sin again. It is like an itch. The sin is under your skin like a mosquito bite. You know it is there and you know you should not sin. Yet, the temptation is there and if you sin again the temptation goes away, for a little. But if you do sin again it gets easier and easier to do. You may not see the impact of that sin immediately on your life. Eventually the impact is clear though because of the consequences you are facing.

   James 1:14 says: "But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire." We are sinful beings who are tempted in different ways. As Christians we are called to be holy and follow Christ. That does not mean it is easy to do so. Sinning is much easier most of the time, Satan makes it that way. That does not mean that reason is an excuse for us. 

   Hebrews 2:18 says: "For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." When we are tempted, we are not alone. Jesus is with us. When temptation comes, instead of giving in, we can call on Jesus. He will help us through our temptations. In this metaphor, I guess you can say that Jesus is hydrocortisone cream. He helps alleviate the itch to sin. 

   Now, one last thing I want to say about this topic: if you have put hydrocortisone cream on a bite you know it only alleviates the itch for a bit. Then you need to put more on to help with the need to scratch. It is the same with temptation to sin. We cannot just call on Jesus once to ask for help with the temptation to sin. We must be in constant communication with him each day. We must get to know him. That is how we can flee temptation when it comes.

   So, are you being tempted right now? What can you do to avoid the itch of that temptation? Are you spending time with Christ each day?

 

What's the Worst Thing That Can Happen?

     Have you ever gone through something, and you keep worrying about it? Your mind drifts to all the things that could go wrong. You just keep thinking about the problem over and over again. You may try to use scripture to help you remember that God is in control, but the thoughts keep coming back. What are we to do in those times?
   Because I am a teacher, I need to take trainings to keep my certification. One training I took asked the questions: "what is the worst thing that could happen?" And "what is the best thing that could happen?" I thought about those questions. They were good questions to ask when going though problems.
   For example: if you are in danger of losing your job, what’s the worst thing that could happen? You lose your job, source of income, and possibly your possessions. However, even if you lose those things can that problem take away anything that matters in eternity? No, in fact any problem we have on earth can do one of two things. It can drag us away from God or draw us closer to him. We just have to choose which way we wish to go.
   If you are in danger of losing your job, what’s the best thing that can happen? You either keep your job or find a better job. You grow closer to the Lord and your family during this hard time. 
   I have found that by asking these two questions quickly when a problem comes up it helps stop the overthinking. I learn that technically nothing can touch me that will overcome me. I have already won every battle in my life that will come because the Lord is on my side. He may not do things the way I expect but he has a plan for my life. I want to fulfill the purpose he has for me in my life. To do that I need to trust him and stop worrying.
   So, when problems come up do you trust in the Lord? How can you trust God more today?
   Proverbs 3:5-6