What Can 2 Brothers Playing Tennis Teach Us About Victory? Part 1 by [email protected] on NOVEMBER 5, 2013 “Sometimes the prize is not worth the costs. The means by which we achieve victory are as important as the victory itself.” ~Brandon Sanderson I had no plans to write a follow up post about my boys and their fight into the Washington State Tennis championships. If you haven’t yet read my previous post, go back first (click here) to understand the magnitude of today’s. I still can’t quite believe they actually accomplished this feat even though I had full confidence that the brothers could play well enough to make it into the State playoffs. Wasn’t I the one who wrote, “What God brings together no man can separate”? But talk is cheap.Words are cheap without the full weight of confident belief behind them. Sure, I spoke this belief to my boys and The Teacher believes that my fierce, motherly assurance in the possibility of victory catapulted our boys to the next level of play as much as his countless years of court time did. But all weekend…all the way up until the final point…I played my own back and forth tennis match between doubt and belief that God would answer our prayers for an unlikely triumph.Now that we sit on the other side of victory, I struggle with an emotional problem. What about the players who lost?What about those who prayed and believed as much as I did without the same result?Victory, in all areas of life, often feels like it only comes to a few.The last thing I want to do is write a post about how God chose to bless the Galgano family. Something big in me finds that disgusting, not because I don’t want God to be glorified but because I know the sin of misplaced praise. I loath what “celebrity status” does to people (not that this even comes close but let’s not fool ourselves about the hype that can come over brawny athletic students in a small town community, especially when they reach sports success). I am always floored by the buzz popular athletes or anyone “famous” gets and refuse to get star struck by any one individual. Therefore, this post is written, not to esteem two brothers who played their hearts out. It is written to bring praise to our Father and how He chose to work through His servants. I also write to cheer you on if you are praying for victory at any level.For those of us who may not hold a trophy today, I want to address our lack of faith in a God who can feel distant. I don’t want a story of victory to mislead someone if they currently sit within the hiddenness of God. Our temptation might be to see God as an enemy to us and a friend only to those who win. I am a proud mother who couldn’t be happier for my boys, but I am also a fatigued writer who checks her inbox every day to see if God might bring my own kind of victory through a book publication or donations to help with the demands of a growing grassroots effort.If you are one who questions His presence…If you are one who feels as if God answers everyone else’s prayers but your own…If you are one who hasn’t experienced the thrill of victory…Please, let me beg: Keep your eye on the target! Press on! Set your face toward the unknown and know that the Lord is already at the end of each and every long road! We love stories of victory and I am not here to take away from what the brothers have accomplished, but the danger of focusing on a victory itself is that we forget what it took to get there.(to continue reading go to chickswithchoices/blog )
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 14:37:51 +0000
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