A Great and Sad Day!

Last Friday November 13th was a momentous day for me. My high school football team the Northwest Christian Crusaders made school history as we won our first State playoff game ever. It was the first one we had ever played in, and this just in our third year of football.  In 2013, we played a varsity schedule and took our lumps. With 80% of the team having no football experience at any level we relied on a young skinny sophomore at quarterback named David Olds and a couple of great athletes to win one game in our first season. After improving to three wins last year the team came into this season with a goal to win a State Championship. That skinny quarterback is still leading us but has numerous weapons around him and an offensive line that has gained experience, tenacity and size.

David Olds and Myself

Defensively we went from a team that would rather run out of bounds than get in front of a big running back to a team that physically attacks offenses and has developed a physicality that is needed in this game. But with these changes we have maintained an attitude of playing with sportsmanship and love. We stress that our guys help other players up after they hit them and that we tell the other team when they have made a great play. We want to play this game with honor and respect for the other team as we all have spent numerous hours training and practicing so that we can try to make ourselves better players each day.

The honor, camaraderie, and character development is what makes this game so wonderful.  It teaches so many things and is a living classroom. So when we were able to go to Warden, Washington to play the Cougars it was an exciting night. Our kids played well and were able to come away with a 34-18 victory to move on to the next round of the State tournament. We celebrated and as we left Warden for the two hour journey home it seemed to be a magical evening. As I was calling in our score to the local television stations and newspapers I happened to see notices about attacks in Paris. Immediately, my past was alive in my present. My joy and excitement turned to concern and dismay.

Seeing the photos from familiar sites in Paris which had been turned into killing fields by terrorists was shocking.  It soured the happiness of our victory as I worried about friends and wondered if they were safe. The last couple of days have been strange as I hear from friends who are safe and from those who lost loved ones and friends in the attacks. Reading and listening to the news and opinions concerning the attacks brought back my life in Paris and the wonderful experiences I had there. While the pain and fears of my friends is palatable, I remember the wonderful times I had in the city.

In fact I lived and worked in an area which had the highest Muslim and immigrant population in France. We loved going to the local kebab shop and found the people there so friendly. It was a gathering place for Syrian immigrants and many would frequent it to watch soccer matches or the news from home. And yet they became our friends. The guys who worked there learned our names and what we liked to order and when we would enter the shop they welcomed us warmly. They would usher us to a table and give us a fantastic sweet tea and make sure we were comfortable while we waited for our food~which by the way was wonderful and makes me salivate thinking about it! These immigrants worked hard and battled discrimination and yet were some of the friendliest people I met in France. It saddens me to know that because of the acts of cowardly people perverting Islam they will face more pain and questioning. Many of my former players also are fearful of the future they face there and are hoping that rather than a response of hatred and fear that these attacks will bring people together. They hope for a response which will be based out of a sense of love and compassion for victims, and that governments will honor their memory and not denigrate it with indiscriminate violence.

As I prepare my team for the quarterfinal game this week against Asotin, we will face a similar challenge. To live out our football lives with honor and play for a love of the game and one another. Not taking cheap shots on other players or letting our anger get the best of us but harnessing our feelings and tempering them with love and respect for the game and others. We try to honor Christ in all we do and part of that is to model his compassion. The tragedy of last week and the attacks in Paris will continue to be on my mind and heart as I hate to see that beautiful city and its people under siege, but just as Parisians will move forward and defeat the cowardly Daesh with their joy for life, I will challenge my players to learn through this game how to overcome adversity and unexpected loss and humbly love those around them. Peace! Je Suis Paris!