What can I say?! We’ve been busy! The month of October has flown by at an alarming speed, and we are finishing up the first quarter of school. We also had a visit from my parents this month, survived “senior” night at school, played in the Championship game for soccer, entered 36 pieces of art in the regional fair, worked several weekends, and now Roger and I are headed away for a few days of rest and relaxation!
I’m going to work my way backwards through the month, so I’m going to start with the most recent event first! This afternoon, Roger and I are headed towards Miami with our friends, Laura and Justin. We booked a cruise for our 19th anniversary, and we are excited about a week away. Jen is supervising our children, and three of them will stay at her house over the week. Garett and Chandler will stay at home to watch the dog and keep an eye on the place. We had planned to leave around two this afternoon, but the CHAMPIONSHIP soccer game went into double overtime!!
Yes, for the first time in over two decades the team from our school went to play in the championship soccer game! This was huge for our team, and there were a lot of emotions going into the game today. Roger has poured heart and soul into these boys, and while its had its challenges, the team has come so far over the season. We played the game at noon, and at the end of 80 minutes the score was 1-1. That meant there would be 2 ten-minute halves and then it would go to 5 minute intervals with sudden death (first goal would win the game). We went through the first two ten-minute periods without anyone scoring. Then shortly into the 5 minute interval, the other team scored and the game was over. While it wasn’t the outcome that we would’ve picked, the team should hold their heads high as they played great! They worked together as a team, and they held their own against a team that has been in the championship game the last three years. My favorite highlight from the game was after the game was over and both teams gathered together and knelt on the grass. As the team knelt on the grass, the parents gathered around. It was just a really sweet moment to see two teams that worked so hard in 105 minutes of soccer come together to pray together. While I’m disappointed that we lost the game, the spirit was sweet today and the atmosphere was so much better than yesterdays game. At the awards ceremony, Garett was one of two players from our school team recognized for as an all-conference player. I’m happy that he was recognized as Garett has been a solid player on the team both in his leadership and ability. We will miss our seniors next year, and I”m especially going to miss watching that kid play. He was in tears today as he wasn’t able to play in the championship game- read on as to why.
Roger has been coaching the soccer team this year along with another young man from our church, Armando. They’ve made a good team, and while the team has certainly had some bumps in the road, the team played some of the best games of their lives this past week! Our team was the #5 seed in our tournament, and they made it to the championship game, which was played today at noon. It’s been a crazy week as we played our first play-off game on Tuesday. We won this game with a score of 1-0. This meant that we got to advance to the next round, and that game was played yesterday at four pm. We played a team that was not expecting to lose to us, but our team showed up to play and to win. And the team won that game 1-0. It was disappointing to me how ugly some of the comments from the other team were after the game. We are both supposed to be Christian schools, and yet the scene that unfolded after the game was not Christ-like at all. One of the parents from the opposing team was yelling at the referees, and then yelling at our players, and basically yelling at everyone. It was a very poor representation of that school, and we ended up telling our team to “walk away and get in the van. Just walk away”. I understand wanting to win- I like to win! However, at the same point in time, the game won’t matter in a month or a year, but people will remember the actions of someone. Yikes!
Two weeks ago, my parents drove down from Wisconsin for Garett’s senior night in soccer. They wanted to surprise us, but I figured it out. But I didn’t tell our kids, so they were surprised to see my parents. My parents were able to watch two soccer games, and it was a fast week with them. I didn’t get to spend much time with them, but I’m thankful for the moments that we did have together. The boys won the game that my parents attended on Tuesday night, and that was exciting as it was “senior night”, which was a night to recognize the three seniors on our team. I was able to get a picture of Garett with Nana and Papa, and I’m thankful that they were there for that game. The boys had another game on Thursday night (10/10) and at about 30 seconds into the game, Garett went down with a bang! He laid on the ground for a minute and then hobbled off the field. He was in so much pain for several days, and I took him in last Sunday.
I’m realizing that this blog post might be confusing to read, but if you’ve made it this far, I’m now writing about Sunday, October 13th. Garett was still in pain, so I decided to take him to the walk-in clinic. We went to the walk-in clinic and they sent us to Emerge Ortho. Thankfully it wasn’t too busy, and Garett was seen in about thirty minutes. The doctor asked what had happened, and then felt on the back of Garett’s hamstring. She said that it wasn’t torn, but he needed to rest it for a while. She said that since he’s 18 years old, he might bounce back quickly. But he needed to keep it wrapped, iced and on crutches for a while. Ugh. Garett was disappointed to hear her say that he couldn’t play for the rest of the season most likely, but I think he knew that was most likely going to be the case. Garett hobbled around on crutches for a few days, and he quickly figured out how to not use them. He’s healing, but not as quickly as he’d like. On Wednesday, he hopped out of the van when we got home. He turned back towards the van and said, “oh, that hurts.” The next thing I knew he had passed out right beside the van! He dropped like a rock from the intense pain! So yes, he is healing, but it’s slower going than he would like. He was disappointed to not play in the championship game today, but he sure did help the bench players stay engaged in the game and cheer on the team!
The western side of our state was hit hard by a hurricane at the end of September. The destruction and loss of property and lives has been incomprehensible. Roger flew out to Asheville a few days after the hurricane, and he came home a bit overwhelmed by the amount of destruction and debris everywhere. The clean-up will take longer than we can imagine, and we are praying and looking for opportunities to serve our neighbors in the western part of the state. It’s hard to imagine losing family members, property and earthly belongings in a flood that was a complete surprise. I had my art students write letters of encouragement to those in the western part of our state. It’s easy to feel disconnected when it’s not your personal struggle, but I want my students to sympathize and show love towards others. Our church has been busy with gathering supplies and to supply some relief in those areas.
In my art classes, we’ve been busying studying the 7 elements of art, as well as the names of God. The students know about six names of God inducing, Elohim, Adonai, Jehovah, Jehovah- Jireh, Jehovah Tsaba, and Jehovah Shalom. We took 36 pieces of art to the fair, and we came home with a wide assortment of blue, red, and white ribbons.
I am so thankful for my art assistant, Kaycee, as she will be filling in for me this week. It is a lot of work to be gone, and I’ve tried to cover everything I can think of as much as possible. I’m sure I missed something, but I’m confident that they will figure something out if I messed up. It’s a lot of work to miss school as a teacher, but we really, really need some time away together. Roger has been busy coaching soccer, and I’ve been trying to keep up with meals, laundry, lesson plans, kids playing soccer (even Emma), cheerleading tryouts, and working a few Saturdays here and there to help pay for Garett’s upcoming senior trip- whew! I’m excited for a few days away! I’m thankful that Jen is willing to make sure the kids get fed, and that Garett is able to help with transportation.
It’s been a month with a lot of activity, to be sure. But God has been good, and He’ show Himself strong and faithful. I’m excited to have a few days of rest and relaxation, and to unwind from business to spend time with the man I love and the God I serve. God is good- all the time.