Recognize. Remember. Bless. Pray.

Over the past two years, I've wanted to develop a solid, consistent spiritual base for this tennis team. So we started last summer at tennis camp focusing on 4 verbs. Recognizing what God is doing for us in the present, remembering the ways that God has been with us in the past, blessing others in the same ways that God has blessed us, and bringing everyone and everything under prayer in conversation with God.

Perhaps I have been a bit lax this year about in the face of the team with these themes, it has been a difficult year. And yet, God has been active in many ways. God has blessed us in many ways. And I think it is worth asking the question of ourselves: Have we noticed? Have we remembered our God? Have we cared for others? Have we been in prayer?

I know that the answer for me is "no" for some of those questions. And as much as it has been "no," I have been distant from God. We have gone through many trials this tennis season, and I, like a fool, have tried to take a lot of it on my own back. I can't handle it all. But the whole time I've been prideful in my own efforts, decisions, and accomplishments, God has been at work too. I believe it's about time to slow my efforts, humble myself, and recognize how God has been present.

Recognize
- God has blessed our goals, we have worked hard and we have improved. The tournament this weekend was testament to that.
- We have been given the opportunity to become a united team. Everyone that is/and has been giving, encouraging, helpful to others and worked toward the team goal of improvement has a community of friends around them supporting them.
- We have been given the opportunity to share in the success of others. Seth's undefeated run this weekend gave us one opportunity. Ben's lone victory against Fairfield gave us another. Kyle and Austin's comeback win against Westview was another chance to celebrate with others. Their have been moments of God's beauty that have come through.
- And as this season starts to draw to a close, and the blessings above begin to be seen, I feel that their really is a peace about this team. An assurance and a confidence is growing. We have matured and are still maturing at the same time. It is a peaceful journey, and we all have been a part of that peace.

Remember
- God has certainly given us memories this tennis season, from tennis camp through the first 9 weeks. I am thankful for those memories.
- I remember from further back though, I remember how I poured prayer over last year's team, and how God responded specifically to my prayers... for Jeremy Thomas to play his best tennis, for Daniel to keep his cool under calm and be blessed for his hard work, for Jared's ability to have confidence in his dominance, for Johnny to believe that he and Jeremy could compete with anyone. And God answered those and more...

Bless
- We still have the opportunity to thank God for the blessings by passing the blessing forward to others. How we do that is a question for all of us to think about.
- Can we bring unity to other situations we are a part of? School, family, church, etc.?
- Can we bring peace to situations in which we are causing conflict? With friends, teachers, family, others?
- Can we lift up the less fortunate in any way? Donating time, giving what we can, paying attention to how our actions affect them?
- How will we pass the blessing on?

Pray
I encourage us all to think about bring the recognition, remembrance, blessing all together in prayer. Communicate with God about all that is going on, and bring others before him as well.
- Pray for the other teams that we will play in Sectional. Pray for health, pray for good things to be happening in their lives, pray for them to play well.
- Pray for your teammates, especially those whose season is ending tonight or tomorrow. The younger guys need the blessing of having older guys come along side them.
- Pray for yourself, honestly. Bring burdens and stresses and joys before God. Let God hear you, loud and clear.
- Pray for others. Whoever they may be. The soccer team, your next door neighbor, Andrew Lanctot, whoever. Let yourself be a person of prayer.

These are my thoughts as we enter the last weeks of the season. I have been proud of this team, every one who has been a part of it at any point. We have grown on the courts, and I think we are growing as people. Let's keep both tennis and personal growth going strong.