Losing By One

There's quite bit of sickness going around Houston and it latched onto our preacher, David Yasko, this past week. So, at our Sunday PM service yesterday, Mike White filled the pulpit for David. Mike, our WCS Head of School, spoke of the value of trials and tribulations and what we learn from mistakes. He spent some time talking about the heartache that parents go through when they see their children struggle but Mike pointed out the blessing of overcoming adversity and learning from failures. He mentioned that some moms and dads try to basically run interference for their offspring but I believe the survival of the bumps in the road should carry with it at least three  hours of college credit.

My middle school team had a great week last week. I love this team as much as any I've ever coached and that's a bunch of squads on both the junior high and  high school level, including varsity baseball. I loved last year's team a lot, too, so much I told the 2018-2019 version of the Lady Wildcats that I would never compare them to last season. Now I'll have to say that again when school starts next August! We've been very successful on the floor, coming up short only once on the scoreboard. The loss was to another team in November, also undefeated in our conference. We had a sizable lead and they came back to beat us by one on a three pointer that banked in as the final buzzer sounded. The kids were shattered and Deb Watson, who coaches with me, and I took it hard, too. We were so close- the only time they led was when the clock ticked off its final second- and we had never beaten this school. But our kids regrouped as kids can do. We practiced a little smarter and harder and although we didn't mention it very often, the memory was there. We traveled to their school five days ago and although the scenario was similar- big lead for us that they whittled down- we came out with a six point win. I've never seen a bunch of junior high young ladies so happy! We are assured of no worse than a tie for first place and if we win tomorrow, the trophy is ours alone. No matter what, it's been an amazing year for these girls and their coaches.

As players and coaches met in a joyous huddle after the handshakes with our worthy opponents, I asked the girls a question:
"Knowing what you know now and you had to lose a game, aren't you glad it was the first one?"
Without hesitation, they unanimously and  loudly agreed:
"YES!"
These eight youngsters recognized what all of us as adults should recognize; that overcoming obstacles makes us stronger and the journey sweeter. It's not just in athletics. Education relies on the student learning from errors and making necessary adjustments in effort and process. The same is true in our spiritual walk as well. Every Christian was once a babe in Christ, no matter their age. What did Jesus tell Nicodemus? "We must be born again." And we fall down as infants and learn to move past the stumbling. We used to  sing that old hymn, One Step At A Time, Dear Savior. Not one marathon at a time or even one mile at a time- one step. Parents have to let go of their babies when they are learning to walk or they will never learn. It's painful but necessary. Just ask my players. I'm not sure we would have won last Thursday if we had won that contest two months ago. The sorrow in part led to the joy. That's the point, the one point that matters to our team.

Applicable quote of the day:
There are victories of the soul and spirit. Sometimes, even if you lose, you win.
Elie Wiesel

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com