Day 2: 02 Oct 2010

"If you're not making mistakes, you're not doing anything.  I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes."
-John Wooden

You better believe there will be times in your life
When you'll be feeling like a stumbling fool
So take it from me you'll learn more from your accidents
Than anything that you could ever learn at school
-Billy Joel, You're Only Human (Second Wind)

But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
James 1:25, NLT

Grace,

I am so proud of you!  I've watched you play soccer for the past three seasons and you have grown so much from somebody who knew nothing about the game to a true player.  I am so grateful for Coach Andy who has shown you and your teammates how to play well, and play honorably.  But what I'm most proud of is your perserverance.  You keep on trying.  You don't let bad plays get you down.  You learn from your mistakes.  But most of all, you're out there, on the field, living out your faith.  And today, God blessed you with your first goal!  (Yes, that was me on the sidelines doing my best Andres Cantor impersonation, "Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllllllllllll!")  I will remember that moment for the rest of my life.  Thank you for that memory.

That reminds me of my first (and only) soccer goal.  Full disclosure:  your dad is no natural athelete.  I wasn't very fast growing up, so I always played defender.  In practice, defenders would pass the ball back to the keeper so he could then pass the ball to an open player.  However, during one game, your dad put a little too much on the pass back to the keeper and it went past him, into the net!  Scoring a goal for the other team, I was humiliated.  I desperately wanted my coach to pull me from the game, but she kept me in.  Now, I can't remember whether we won or lost that match, but I do remember playing with much more intensity and vowing never to make that mistake again.

The point is, don't ever stop trying.  Don't be afraid to make mistakes.  Mommy and I don't expect perfection.  God doesn't expect perfection.  As Billy Joel sang, "We're only human, we're supposed to make mistakes...[because] they're the only the only thing you can truly call your own."  Just promise me you'll always try. 

Love always,
Daddy