Lessons from the Goalie

Have I mentioned we are that family.

The one’s that know nothing about Soccer. Uh,hmmmm that’s us.

Softball, Baseball, Football, Basketball… between the hubs and myself we’ve played and know a little something about each of those.

But as for Soccer, I don’t even think they offered it in Louisiana when we were kids. 

This is the first time the girls have shown interest and we are thrilled.  

But we have no idea the ins & outs of it.

Goalie…. for the first game of the season the coach put middle at Goalie.

We couldn’t believe it when we saw her put on the differentiating colored jersey and 

start to walk towards her position.

Her team had practiced together 3 times.

And each of those hour practices’ had mainly been taken up with the girls running to 

help build their endurance.

Right from the start the other team got the ball down to our end.

Middle tried to guard the goal by kicking the ball back to stop them from scoring a point. 

We didn't know if it was o.k. to touch the ball with your hands? 

Or if you were supposed to throw the ball back in, versus kick the ball as far from the goal as you could? 

Completely helpless is how I felt as I watched the look of panic and confusion rise on her face. I heard some of the parents yell directions to her as Jode stood on the sidelines trying his best to help. But the clock was ticking, the other team was playing ball and there was no time to talk…. She had to give up or play ball. 

And play is what Sister did!

She kicked, caught on to the fact that she could pick the ball up, and blocked shot after shot until the first half of the game was done. I watched as she got more and more aggressive. 

I watched as she fought harder to not let the other team get by her. I watched my daughter figure it out, do her job to the best of her ability, and not give in.

They lost the game 1-0.

Then yesterday we’re back in the car driving to practice when middle realizes her Soccer ball’s not to be found. Three things the coach demands they have at practice, her ball being one of them. 

She may have had a small meltdown on the way with tears and blaming and proclaiming of why that ball (the missing ball) was her favorite ever and how it was lost. So I told her she had 2 options  a. she could go to practice without her ball and receive the consequences from her coach or b. she could use her sister’s ball which is a size too small but at least she’ll have a ball present at practice.

She calmed down and told me how she didn’t want to use her sister’s ball.
Basically, she didn’t care if there were consequences for not bringing one. 
She would take them as they came and then what she said next hit me between the eyes. Through her tears she said “Well at least I’ll have shown up.”

I repeated it back out loud…. Yes Gab, at least you will have shown up. 

Sometimes that's what we have to do… 

show up even when we know we may face opposition and it'll be hard.

We have to hang in there and not give up.  

It really doesn’t need to be an option otherwise.  Sometimes I need to be reminded of this. And this weekend was one of those times.  It was more of a reminder to keep being consistent. And I was inspired by middles ability even as an 11 year old to know when life pushes on you, to keep your feet firmly planted in the ground (being consistent) and at all cost Never. Give. Up.

This is how I process. This is how I hear the Lord speak to me so many times.

This always humbles me and swells my heart.
heather.