Thankful

Last night marked the end of the Hinds Soccer team's 2009 season. It's been an uphill battle for the team all season long but as I sat with the team at Cracker Barrel after the game last night, I saw growth. Growth in 18 and 19 year old boys is sometimes hard to determine, but it was definitely there last night. Three months ago I saw 22 young, immature boys; and last night I saw 22 maturing men. There's no doubt in my mind that Doug has a lot to do with the growth they've experienced over the past 3 months. He has challenged them to grow as soccer players like they've never been challenged before. But, more importantly, he has challenged them to become men of character - Men of God.

As the team was huddled up after their loss last night, many of the boys' parents came up to me and expressed how thankful they were that their son had the opportunity to play on Doug's team. They weren't talking about how happy they were that their sons played on a good soccer team but, rather, how Doug had impacted the lives of their sons in such a positive way. One dad said, "My son came to me the other day and said, 'Dad, there are only 2 men in this world that I've met that aren't corrupt. You and Coach.'"

When Doug and I married, he became the Priest of our family. I often mistakenly connect the word "Priest" with someone who will verbally leads their flock in the ways of the Lord. But if a person teaches the Word and then lives a life outside of the Word, has he truly led his people to God? Leading by example is just as important as the spoken word.

So I write today to express my thankfulness to God for putting Doug as head over me. He lives every day trying to point those he influences toward Christ and the fullness that life as a disciple of Jesus brings. When I come home from school frustrated because I had to discipline students more than I taught music that day, he is quick to remind me that we are sowing seeds.

God constantly reminds Doug and me that we have the opportunity to influence over 650 students every single week. We stress about it. We talk about it just about every night. What are we doing that we should be doing differently? Should I have done that? We often feel like failures - like we should have said something more when given those one-on-one opportunities to shape and mold our students. Every now and then we feel like giving up. And that's where we realize our dependence on the Lord. He has to be our Strength to carry us through the daily frustrations and our Wisdom to help us deal with matters effectively.

My good friend, Anne Land, said something to me at the beginning of the school year that I now claim - "I want to be all used up for Jesus when I die." We pray that He's using us up!