d.

i wrote this a while back.  october 11th, actually.  but, am just now posting it.  enjoy...

at practice monday, i started out playing keeper for the U11 girls team.  after a week of simply observing practices, i decided i wanted to actually "do."  it makes more since this week than last as i have learned a lot of the kids names by now, and most of them know me no longer as the random person watching their practice, but as "coach sara."  #winning.  ha.  anyways, i jumped in the goal with the U11 girls as there were only six girls at practice and they were shooting on an open goal.  why not, eh?  it was fun.  after the drill was over, i meandered my way across the field.  remember this whole time i am observing the different coaching styles, player personalities and behaviors, level of soccer, and looking at it from a lens of how can i bring northstar soccer to the next level.  i walk over to watch a boys team.  and, as i was watching these boys dribble aimlessly around the penalty box, i saw one tackle another boy.  then i saw them both get up, and the same boy knee the other kid in the back.  time to jump in.

so, i pulled him aside and asked him what was up with that.  what just happened?  why did you kick him in the back?  what are you supposed to be doing right now?  the natural questions, you know.  we chatted for a minute and i told him those behaviors aren't appropriate here at northstar.  we are going to treat our teammates with respect and be nice to them.  to which d. asked, "why?"  it seemed to me he was asking an honest question.  now, granted, i don't know d. very well, but i imagined he was genuinely wanting to know why we should be nice to others.  when he asked that question, i was a little bit blown away.  blown away that he would genuinely ask that question, and how much it left the door open for a conversation.  i replied, "you know, honestly because jesus told us to be nice."  we kept chatting about why we should be nice, and d. then told me, "god told us to be perfect."  he went on to say, "god told us to be perfect because he is perfect.  i am perfect."  i thought in my head, whoa whoa whoa.  so, i pulled a jay and took him through the law.

"have you ever lied?" 
"no."
"not even a teeny tiny lie?  maybe about who started the fight with your sister?"
"no."
"okay, have you ever wished you could have as good of soccer skills as your friend, or wish you could have their family, or wish you could have good grades in school."
"yeah."
"well then god says that is sin.  you aren't perfect.  you just said it."
"but i am perfect.  and, god says we have to be perfect to get into heaven.  everybody's perfect."
"wait.  you just said you have sinned.  then you aren't perfect."
"no, i'm perfect."
"i'm confused.  how can you be perfect, but you just said you have sinned?"
"because i'm perfect."
"well, god says that if you have committed one sin, even if it is teeny tiny, you have done the same thing as a super big sin.  it doesn't matter in god's eyes.  and, if you have done one sin, then you are a sinner.  and, are separated from god."  and, while i am saying this, his coach starts getting everyone together to start another drill.  great timing. ha.  so, i tell him super quick, "well, the good news is the jesus came and died for your sins."
"but jesus wasn't perfect."
"yes he was.  the bible tells us so.  jesus was perfect, and because he was perfect and died for our sins, we can now know god and go to heaven, if we believe in jesus."  and, he heads back to his team.

after practice, while we are packing everything into the soccer van, i ask val and tina (old northstar coach who was back this week to help) about d.  both said he can be a difficult kid.  but val also said, "god has definitely put northstar soccer into d's life.  the lord is definitely at work in his life."  amen.  may he keep working.

caa celebration video 2012.

many fun times had here.  definitely wouldn't be in birmingham right now without my time at caa.  indeed a so different person, in such a good way, due to my five summers.  the place to be.  at least for then.  in a new place to be these days.  fun to reminisce though...

losing our joy in nature...

http://wonderofcreation.org/2012/10/15/losing-our-joy-in-nature-2/

Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;

You will raise up the age-old foundations;
And you will be called the repairer of the breach,
The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.

Isaiah 58:12.  NASB.

You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,
restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
make the community livable again.

Isaiah 58:12.  Message.

Amen.  

tsosg #2.

October 1, 2012.  The start of something good.  First day at NorthStar Youth Ministries.  Carson asked me tonight at dinner, “So, how was your first day?”  I replied, “You know, getting in at 3 o’clock.  Picking up some kids at school for Art Club.  Going to see tutoring in the flesh at the library.  And, playing basketball with a kid who had no shot.  I mean, no shot at all.”  To which I thought, I always feel bad when I beat kids at sports.  For two reasons.  #1.  I hate beating up on people when it’s not fair, and I also hate “letting them win.”  #2.  I hate beating boys when I am a girl.  If I have more athletic ability than them, something doesn’t feel right.  But, that happened tonight.  Dog.  Felt bad for the kid.  But, I guess most of us go pro in something other than sports.  NCAA commercials, anyone?  But, yes, back to the conversation at the dinner table.  Val then replied, “Yep, nothing too eventful.”  I must agree.  I’ll take it though for a first day on the job.

I had a lovely brunch with little Paige at Highland Bakery in Atl.  Definitely recommend it.  Their French toast is killer.  Good call Paige.  Good to see her, and cool how we have become better friends this past year or so.  Probs due to the fact that we are both in similar stages of life.  Both transitioning, trying to figure out what we wanna do with our lives, but more so where we are headed.  She leaves for Guatemala later this fall to work with IJM.  Pray for her, cuz she is worried (with reason) for her safety as she heads down south.  Kinda surprising honestly it is to me that she is worried, but as we chatted more, I understood why.  Anyways, she was filling me in on her past week and a half.  Mainly this conference in Chicago.  I think it was called “Story Conference” or something like that.  So, I lightheartedly asked her on Friday if it changed her life, and she sarcastically said yes.  Naturally, I asked her to explain as we sat down to our coffee, awaiting my fantastic French toast and her eggs and grits at Highland Bakery.  She said she heard some things that she had never heard before, or that were explained in such a new way that she had never heard before, even though she grew up in church, in a Bible-believing church, actually.  The basic premise of the conference and the speakers is that as the creation of God, we are called to be creators.  And, when we create, and make things that are beautiful, that is when God is most honored in our lives, and when folks see the gospel.  Regardless of if others see it or know about it, it makes tons of money, or even it is something we aren’t good at.  God has made us to create, and each of us in very different ways.  Little Paige mentioned how making beautiful things for me and her looks very different, due to how God has created us.  For me, that probably involves sweat, for her it probably involves music.  That God isn’t most honored in us when we produce, or meet quotas, or even convert so many numbers of lost people.  He is most glorified and honored in our lives when we use the God-given talents to create.  Only then can we be fully alive, once again as he has created us to be.  Interesting premise, eh? 

It got me thinking though for sure.  Specifically, what can I do to create beautiful things?  Does it involve sweat and sport, or time and relationships, or lyrics and music, or smiles and encouragement, or nature and experiences?  I just don’t know.  But, I am sure that I would like to discover it.  Or, the more than one “it’s”.  We started talking music.  How she so enjoys this one artist who isn’t supremely well-known, is awkward on stage, even awkward in person, and barely makes ends meet for his family.  But, when he makes music, it is B-E-A-utiful.  According to Paige, of course.  But, he is making music for the sake of making music and creating something that is beautiful.  Not for the sake of selling records, or getting famous.  But, for the sake of using what God has given him to create something that others can find beautiful and in turn find Jesus.  Paige said some of his songs have meant much to her personal walk with the Lord.  And, they leave her with questions, pushing her to run to Jesus with them.  And, I mentioned to her the quote I once heard Bethany Dillon reference:  “Good music makes you homesick for a place you have never been.”  - Anonymous.  I think I might have actually written about that quote before (all things new and recap sgraceking style).  But, it still rings true.  Seriously.  So, go little Paige go.  Make and create some sweet jams, only if you and God know about them…

And, with that, I start off this new journey, saying I want to create beautiful things.  I don’t quite know what that looks like, but that is where I want to go.  Whether that is on a soccer field, or in a school, or in a coffee house, or on a dance floor (that one was just for kicks, people). Let’s do this.  Be the Sara Samchok God created me to be.  Happy October 1^st.