Losing Stinks and thats ok.

                          

This season, Logan finished out his basketball season without winning a single game. All season long I would tell my sweet kiddo, "you learn so much more from losing than you ever do from winning." This is something I truly believe but frankly, losing stinks. Like makes your heart ache game after game when you have played your heart out and still go home without that big W.  Last night the boys were trying to win their first play-in game, just to make it to the fun tournament that was going to be happening at the Jr high today.  After playing so hard and Logan falling on his already hurt elbow half a dozen times, the game ended in another loss and my  5'8, 11 year old boy was in tears. He was devastated. For a few hours after  I was like...."
come on buddy, toughen up....keep those tears in. Don't forget, you learn so much more from losing than winning...blah blah blah......" Never once last night  did that boy complain about not winning. By the time we got home his tears were dried and he grabbed an icepack to place on his swollen and purple elbow. Then he started asking what time the first game of the tournament was in the morning. He didn't want to miss any of it.  Makes me tear up just thinking about it. You see, my boy just wanted to go and be apart of it and cheer his buddies on. He was happy for all of them. He was gonna go to that tournament not as a player but as a fan and supporter for his people.
  He was at my bedside at 7:35 am dressed and telling me he was  finishing up his chores so that he could head over for that first game. He gave me a big hug and smiled with pure and true joy beaming from those pretty blue eyes of his.
  What a wonderful lesson for his mama. What wonderful preparation for life for my kiddo.
 Frankly, there will be so many times when we lose at every single thing we do. Times when we spill water all over table with some new buddies that we are just getting to know.(Oh yea...there I am ;) ) There will be occasions when we are not pick first, over and over again whether it is in work, in friendships, ministry opportunities, and in other situations.  Its ok to shed those tears and then pull ourselves up again and go and cheer our people on from the sidelines.  Being behind the scenes use to be a humbling position for me as well. But I am learning to love it, to appreciate it, and to grow from it. Because, after all, you do learn more from losing than you EVER will from winning:)

  

Above is Logan sitting by his friend Sam(who beat us last night.) Sam told Logan he was sorry they beat them last night. What a sweet kid:)  Bottom pic is Logan shooting hoops with his people ❤️

When we all think we are right...where do we go from here?

  The biggest problem that I have in my life is the fact that naturally, I think that I am right.  Something that has really gotten me into trouble off and on my whole life. It is the way arguments start with my precious hubby, its how my brain can go places when I'm not considered first for something, and its how my heart can be hurt when someone disagrees with me.
  I think basically the whole human race struggles with this. It causes divorces among couples that once adored each other, makes friendships end in ugly bitterness of the  heart, and right now, here in America and even in the heart of my sweet home town of Tillamook, it has divided us . We are born this way. The pride of being 'right' starts as soon as we start to breath. 
  Volleyball my Senior year of high school was a very difficult time for me. I had a really really harsh coach who convicted me of doing somethings that I didn't do and who was able to turn a lot of my team against me. I had taken a stand with a previous coach from the year prior and this new coach was not happy with me for it. It even came to the point where the coach asked me to quit. For most  of my life, I had never had any issues with authority nor had I had any adult not like me, let alone turn a bunch of my peers against me. Really was hard and hurtful at the time.  I loved volleyball so much but I was so miserable, I was seriously going to quit over something I didn't even do because I was so miserable!! I'm thankful for such awesome parents and their guidance in my life. Their advice was not to quit, but to humbly go to the coach, apologize for any problem that I had caused. I was unaware of what I had done but I was sorry for anything that may have been caused by me. That was the hardest thing in my life. I knew that I was right. I knew that I had done nothing wrong, but I also knew that I needed to make peace with this lady. Right or wrong. Even though the  things she said about me were really hurtful . I played out the rest of the season. I wish I could say that things softened between her and I. Really, they never did. It was hard for me to even be in the same room as her for a while, but I knew I did the right thing.
 We all are faced with these areas in our life that we know we are right. I knew I had not intentionally done anything wrong to this coach, but I also knew that my pride can sometimes keep me from seeing the big picture. Sometimes it is good to step back, not talk, and truly listen to what people have to say. As well as reevaluating my own heart and actions to make sure I was actually in the right.
  In a society that is full of people that all think they are right, where do we go from here? How do we stay in peace with people who think or act differently than us? And how do we react and treat others that may accuse us of untruths in our lives?!?
I can't get this verse out of my mind "He has shown me, O man, what is good: and what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8b.  As a young girl, my dad took me along with him to camp Id-Ra-Ha-Je and we learned this verse in a song. The Lord often brings it to my mind in lifes ups and downs. When arguments arise among some of my people, when things don't turn out how my heart so fiercely wanted them to,  when others don't stand with me or disagree with me in my choices or things that I believe and stand for.  I think this is the answer to keeping us from being so divided.  Act Justly, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly with thy God.   This verse answers what God ask us to live by  and calls us to do. We "Act Justly"  by taking action to make things right. We "Love Mercy" by being rich in our loving kindness and sparing someone of what they may deserve and showing compassion instead. We "Walk Humbly with thy God" by not thinking of yourself as better than an other person and having a deep relationship with the Lord. 
  So as we face over and over again the issue of us all thinking we are right and the question of where we go from here, these 3 commands are a great place to start.
                               "Act Justly-Love Mercy-Walk Humbly"

 "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."   2 Corinthians 10:5