25 Prayers of Christmas, Day 18

Del Oro won the state championship high school football game! We are so proud of our local team. While receiving the championship plaque, Coach Casey was asked, "When your team was 2-8, did you ever think you would find yourself winning the state?"

"Absolutely," he said. "I told the boys we could still win state if we just went out and won, one week at a time."

Del Oro overcame 8 elimination games and tonight claimed the state title. An incredible testimony of perseverance.

My prayer this Christmas is for all the people out there who feel like giving up, who feel like they have made too many mistakes, who feel like a 2-8 record means they have already lost, who feel like their marriage is too far gone or they will never get the job or the child they are praying for, who feel like being sick is simply who they are, who think they will always be alone or sad or angry. I pray that this Christmas God will restore their faith, that they will choose to see that they can still win, that their prayers can still be answered, one week at a time, and that they will come out on the other side as champions!

25 Prayers of Christmas, Day 17

Who knew we would still be watching high school football this late in the year! Our local high school football team, the Del Oro Golden Eagles, is headed to the State Championship playoff game tomorrow afternoon. We'll be at Sacramento State to watch them play, but Randy wanted to do something special for the team. So he made them all dinner last night after practice -- steak and pasta and mashed potatoes for 75 boys. It was a treat to watch!

Randy made plenty of food, and insisted that the coaches take home the leftovers to their families. Coach Casey said, you just get in a rhythm of practicing every night and playing every week and you don't even realize how much time has gone by. "I wrote a check the other day and I had no idea we were halfway through December!"

Today my prayer is for the wives and kids of those coaches. The sacrifice they make during the regular season is great, but for those teams who do well the sacrifice is even greater. And for the dedicated parents who were all sitting in their minivans in the parking lot last night waiting to take their kids home at 7 pm. May God continue to give you the strength to love and support your kids and coaches during these long days, may you find moments of quality time even in the midst of your chaotic schedules, and may your Christmas be especially blessed this year.

Reading the Bible with Kids

A memory from my last trip to Ohio...

Kaylee flipped through the pages of her Bible, settling on a story that, based on the pictures, would be a retelling of Rapunzel. It was, in fact, Michal, David's wife, who was letting her hair down outside an upper window of the castle, helping her husband flee to safety. Michal's dad, King Saul, was plotting to kill David but, like a good wife, Michal wasn't going to let that happen. David later found Saul sleeping in a cave, and could have killed him, but did the right thing and spared his life. I told Kaylee that David had always been brave, even killing a giant named Goliath, because God was with him.

"That's not possible," Kaylee said (a line she stole from her brother).
"Why not?" I asked.
"Because God is in heaven with Buck and Mimi."
Hmmm. How to handle this one. Yes, God was in heaven with her great-grandparents, but how to explain that God was also everywhere... "Maybe when they say God was with him they mean God was in his heart telling him what to do," I settled for.
"You mean like when I'm supposed to do something, and I don't want to do it, but I know I'm supposed to so I do it anyway?" she said innocently.
"Exactly," I said, amazed at her insight. And she is only 6!

We went on to read the story of Samson and Delilah. The next day Tysen wanted to read her Bible, and she too chose the story of Samson. Kaylee immediately sat down with us and began telling Tysen the story. How Samson was so strong. But how Delilah tricked him and cut his hair while he was sleeping so that he wouldn't be strong anymore. And then the men took him prisoner and poked out his eyes (she was very animated about that part!). "But what happens when we cut our hair?" Kaylee asked, imitating me. "It grows back!" Tysen said. "Yes!" Kaylee proceeded to tell Tysen that after his hair started to grow back he became strong one more time and knocked down the castle, killing everyone in it including himself.

I absolutely treasure these moments. Sharing these Bible stories with my nieces and nephew. Watching them cringe at the gory moments and cheer at the victories. Helping put God in their hearts, so that they can always draw from that.

At church lately we've been talking about the importance of introducing our children to Jesus. Over 7,000 kids have gone through our summer camp. Amazing! And why is this so important? Because life is hard and we can't always be there for our kids. I read a true story recently about a boy whose grandfather told him he could always count on him. But the grandfather passed away unexpectedly and the boy didn't know who to turn to so he committed suicide. This is an extreme case, but a reminder of the importance of giving our children something higher to look to. For the 5-year-old who is a natural caregiver, but grows up and is unable to have children. For the 10-year-old star athlete, whose knee injury in college ruins any hope of a professional career. For all the hardships and hurts, the joys and blessings that are ahead, it behooves us to present the option of living water to our kids.

Families on Camino

Day 12 of walking: Portomarin to Palas de Rei, 24.8 km

Today was a fairly ordinary day. You would think that they would all be filled with excitement and new adventures and stories to tell. But the truth is, just like "real life", much of our days are repetitive -- walk, eat, walk eat, walk, eat, sleep, repeat -- forcing us to find for ourselves the extraordinary in the ordinary.

There were many families on the Way today. It was fun to see young children and teenagers, parents and grandparents, in various couplings, on foot and on bicycle.

We wanted to help a young girl on a bike go up a steep hill, but she didn't appear to speak English and I think we made her more nervous than we would have been helpful.

We laughed when teenagers passed by, trying to be "cool" with their backpacks slung over one shoulder or trying to walk with pants low on their hips.

We're still getting used to all the perfume and small backpacks and white tennis shoes.

We met one family though who we really connected with. "Our family", as we've nicknamed them, is a group of 3 generations. At first we followed them, laughing at the kids who held out "selfie sticks" to take group photos. But during one of their photo shoots we passed them and they noticed Rand's tattoo. After which Grandpa, with his "old fashioned" DSLR camera with an extensive zoom lens, asked Rand if it was okay if he took a picture. Then showing us his own tattoo, a cross which we think represents one of the other pilgrimage routes. They speak very rapid Spanish, but we were able to communicate that this is our second Camino and that we got the tattoos last year after walking from St. Jean to Leon together.

They walk faster than us, with their new hiking boots, matching outfits, small backpacks, and blister-free feet. But we bumped into them several times along the Way and they seemed just as excited to see us as we were to see them. Definitely a bright spot in our ordinary day.

I can already imagine us celebrating together in Santiago!

Super Bowl in the Sanctuary

When we arrived at church last night, rather than entering the sanctuary to the sound of Christian music we were surprised to see the "big game" on both screens.

It was the last two minutes of the Super Bowl. The New England Patriots were up by four, but Seattle had the ball with plenty of time to score.

"That's pretty cool," we said. A church so up with the times they would recognize that folks attending the 7 p.m. service were all probably watching the game on their phones anyway.

Seattle drove the ball toward the end zone. It looked hopeless for New England. But then, on the 2, with time still on the clock, Seattle threw an interception.

It was precisely 7 p.m.

And at precisely 7 p.m. our worship pastor Lincoln Brewster took center stage. "Who wants to watch the last few minutes of the game?" he asked and was rewarded with lots of applause. And then he asked, "Who wants to worship God?"

You could feel the energy in the room shift as hundreds of us recognized what he was asking.

"We're here to worship God!" he shouted and the screens immediately went from football players fighting in the end zone to the words of our worship song.

I knew immediately that Lincoln was telling us there is nothing more important than serving God.

Not even Seattle down by 4 with the ball on the 2. Not even finding out whether or not the guy playing "hot potato" with the ball had actually caught it or not. Not even waiting to see what the refs were going to do about the end zone brawl.

We weren't here to see who got the trophy. We were here to worship God. And if turning off the TVs made one angry or had us immediately pulling out our phones instead of raising our hands in praise, then maybe it was time to ask, Where are our hearts? What has our attention? Who are we here to serve?