To the Mat

Today I am very proud of my son. 

His very first time on the mat was in November.  

12.5 hours a week (practice when school is closed)

...and rec. ball on top of it. 

His second match broke his heart (and mine).  

Wrestling can leave you vulnerable.

You get pinned in front of an audience

alone.

And we were unprepared for the hurt.

He dealt with much in the beginning....

 failure

a bully 

school work

etc.

He worked hard 

(even when he asked me if he could skip practice).

I would always say-  

Do you want to be a starter?

Yes.

I don't really care if you wrestle 

but I know what you have to do 

if you want to get there-

Work for It.

In my head I kind of hated this sport.

Seeing my students get tossed and turned, 

hitting the mat,  

kids crying out...

picking my child up with a black eye 

and goose egg 

(that still hasn't went away)...

not great for this empath. 

We would pray.

Thank God for our successes 

and ask him to see us through our learned failures.

Father- help me to let go.

Sometimes before a match,

C. looked pale, scared, 

and so, so, so nervous, 

refusing to even glance my way.

I thought, 'why do humans do this?'

Pray, hurt, learn, grow.

With each match, he got better.

Then he became a starter.

Three matches later, 

he completed his first pin.

Today he won third place (JV) in the tournament.

He wrestled all four matches to get there today.

I want our young people,

who are struggling with so much in this world, 

to wrestle for what they want

in the way that Jacob wrestled God.

Stay the course

during 

the hard times, 

the sad times, 

the good times, 

and the scary times.....

keep wrestling with God.

He will never let 

go.

Suddenly you find yourself in a place 

of change

of blessings

of accomplishments, 

but it doesn't happen overnight.

Keep wrestling young people.

It has been a long season.

Today I am very proud of my son

and it has little to do 

with the medal.

C and his wrestling partner and friend.
Great job guys!