November 2 – “Mr. Intimidation and The Scrappy One”

We got to go to not one but two grandson soccer games yesterday.  Not the same grandson each time, either.  The first one was Josiah, the younger of the two brothers.  Now you have to understand up front that it was cold.  And even though this was in Texas, (north of Galveston, so we kind of expected it to be colder than the Island), it was South Texas.  The Weatherbug on my computer put the temperature way down in the low fifties.  That’s the dead of winter in Galveston.  We made sure to wear a coat with a hood, and Chris took along a blanket just in case that wasn’t enough. 

Josiah is the youngest on the team, but he has proven himself enough to be trusted as the team goalie.  And the young whippersnapper is pretty good at it, too.  That is, when there is actually action taking place around him.  But once the ball gets into the other team’s end of the field, he gets a little bit bored.  Yep, he’s the kid who picks wildflowers and leans his head against the post like Charlie Brown.  There wasn’t any of that particular activity yesterday, though.  Did I mention that it was cold?  This time his favorite position was flat on the ground on his stomach, face to the dirt, arms warmly nestled under his body.  And here’s the funny thing.  The hoodie he was wearing had an image of a skull right on the top of it.  So when he assumed his position, he appeared to be taunting the opponents, laughing at their meager attempts to score against him.  They may have snuck one goal past him, but I’m pretty sure I saw his teammates score two or three goals at least.  Hey, it’s easy to focus on offense when you have a frighteningly effective master goalie like that.  Nice job, Mr. Intmidation.

Micah had the next game.  Well, not the next game in terms of time.  Josiah’s started at 9:30 a.m.  Micah didn’t start until 5:30 p.m.  It was still a bit chilly, and it got worse as the sun set, but it wasn’t as bad as the early morning had been.  Now Micah is older, but this is his first year to play, so it has been a learning experience for him all season.  He has some amazing naturally athletic instincts, though, and when he entered the game as forward, he began to show some that ability.  He was aggressive when the ball came near him and showed some really good footwork.  The biggest surprise of the day, however, came when he was put in at goalie.  I’m not sure if he has worked there before or not, but talk about impressive.  He made at least five or six great saves, either knocking the ball wide of the goal or diving and grabbing control of the ball.  He even made one attempt at a punt.  That one didn’t go very far, but he immediately regained control and passed it to a teammate.  Many kudos to him for giving it a try.  That’s the only way to learn it.  I think his team ended up losing by just one goal.  I guarantee you, though, it would have been much worse without The Scrappy One in goal.  I’m proud of you, Micah. 

Luke 18:16-17 says, “But Jesus called the children to him and said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’”

Father, thank you for the little children you have placed in my life, both as grandkids and otherwise.  Nothing quite like them.  Amen.