I am Like a Pumpkin
God picked me like a pumpkin
and brushed off all the dirt.
He carried me and washed me
while He listened to my hurt.

He scooped from me the yucky things
Like greed, and sin, and hate.
He carved in me a new life
and a new look on my face.

But that is not the end of it,
God’s love is great to me.
He put His light right inside
for all the world to see.

Tim found my senior college yearbook today and asked me to show him the pages where I was pictured. Then he would look for me and make a guess as to which young college student was his mom. He mostly got it right. But then he asked, “Mom, do you have any more of these old-fashioned books?” Old-fashioned???

Acronyzation

Don’t we all love acronyms? Remember the monogram sweater craze of the early eighties? All three of the initials of your name in swirly script smack on the front of your chest, ready for acronyzation. Okay, remember that bossy girl? Yes, with the initials BAC? Bossy And Crazy, Biased About Control, Basic Attack Clone….you get the idea…
While negative acronyzation occurs everywhere from names for the CIA, FBI, positive acronyzation also happens. Did you ever get a birthday card with an attribute for every letter of your name? SAM. Sweet, Amazing, Marvelous…
I admit I am a huge fan of acronyzation. There aren’t monogram sweaters anymore, but there are license plates…My email includes MAD, Make A Difference. My son’s name is TIM. Not only is that Terrific, Intelligent, and Merry, but switch that to MIT, and you have a Man In Training.

I recently heard a great acronym for Sunday afternoons. It’s CPR. It stands for Chill, Play(and Plan) and Relax. Wait a minute…aren’t Chill and Relax the same thing? Exactly. Sunday is God’s plan for rest. So, LOL, CPR, and have fun with your POSITIVE acronyzation.

No Crying in Soccer

Soccer. That great sport that teaches teamwork in competition. Or so it goes in theory…Did you ever see “A League of Their Own”? Tom Hanks coaches a women’s baseball team during WWII years. At one point, he emphatically states, “There’s no CRYING in BASEBALL!” I have told my boys, “there’s no crying in soccer.” Or so it goes in theory…

Watching Marcus and Lucas do soccer this year has been not only challenging, but also entertaining. Picture the six four year olds on our team, trying their best to listen to the great “Coach Dan”, but not quite getting the drills. They sit on their balls, lie on the grass, try to take turns, and not use their hands. They pick up the cones and shout through them. Lucas keeps using his hands to line up the ball before he kicks it. Each player has his own practice ball, but some drills require setting half the balls aside and attempting to pass. Not every four-year-old wants to willingly give up his ball. There’s no crying in soccer.

After some practice, they have a “game.” Marcus and Lucas were so excited about their jerseys with numbers. They kept turning in circles, asking, “What number am I?” Two players on each team rotate out, so it’s four on four, with no goalie. The two players who are out are not supposed to cry, but sometimes they do. Sometimes they have to run to the potty. Sometimes they have to talk to everyone on the sidelines. Lucas, watch the game, say "Go Sharks!!" Don't cry. There's no crying in soccer.

The first game, Marc seemed to think it was football, and if you can land on the ball, then you win. You can also pull down any person in your way by yanking on their jersey until they fall down, even if they are on the same team. Lucas was convinced he could just pick up the ball. I think after a few fingers got kicked, he seemed to do better. When the coach says, “don’t use your hands,” you don’t need to cry. There’s no crying in soccer.

The next week went better. During practice, we lost Lucas to the next team over, and after some convincing, he joined our team again. The game went a little better. Marcus stopped pulling most kids down. However, our little gaggle of guys kicking at the ball moved onto the wrong field and got into the next game. A little bit of sorting and we were fine. Lots of crying when it was Marcus’s turn to sit out. Marc, there’ s no crying in soccer. And Lucas left the game, ran up to me, placed his hands on my cheeks and said, “Mom, you have to say, “GO SHARKS!”
Week Three went okay. There was a boy on the other team who laid down during the game and had to be coaxed to play. I was glad to see that other boys do that too. We were in charge of snack that week, and several times during practice and the game, Marcus and Lucas asked if it was time to pass out snack yet. No, not yet, don’t cry, there’s no crying in soccer. Listen to Coach Dan.
We have two sets of twins on our team. Yes, Austin and Owen are coach’s sons and they are twins, too. Interestingly, all four twins have the same practice ball, blue and gold. This has been a little confusing, but sharpie markers are great things. When Tim mentioned they should be called, “Double Trouble”, Sarah added, “No, it needs to be double double trouble.” Two more weeks to go this fall and then we will be done until the spring. Maybe in the spring, there will be “no crying in soccer”, or so it goes in theory…