Words of Life

Photo by: Bobby Ewing

Ramsey and I started our first house sitting job since we've moved! Our friends are traveling and they asked us to watch their pup. Not only do we get to act like pet owners for a few days, the ocean views from this place are absolutely stunning! It's amazing to see things from up high, it totally gives you a new perspective of life at ground level. I could sit here all day just watching the surf and the rest of the world go by! 

I took Duke (our dog for the weekend) for a run this morning. I'm not sure if it was more work for him, or for me. To start things off, Duke was thrilled to see me when I walked through the door. He ran over, wagged his little stub tail, but after a few sniffs, the dancing and prancing stopped.

"You're not my mom! What are you doing here? My parents left me?! What's the big idea?!" 

So, to win back his affections I thought it'd be a great idea to go for a jog."That will cheer him up!" His ears perked up as I grabbed his leash. He jumped off the couch and made a mad dash for the door. "Yesssss... this is working!!"  Down the elevator we go, the doors open, and we're off. As soon as I start to pick up the pace, Duke bolts into a full sprint. I manage to slow him down as we make it to the crosswalk and wait for the light. Now he's marking his territory on everything.... the curb. the sidewalk, the bushes, the trees ...thankfully not the people we were standing next to. The light turns green and we make it to the park. We start heading down the sidewalk and Duke decides we should alternate. Either he's in front going mach 20 or I'm in front dragging him as he digs his claws into the sidewalk because his nose has taken a detour. We get tangled up in the leash, have several stand-offs with other dogs and make countless pit stops for Duke to pee. After about 10 minutes, Duke is slowing down. His pace has gone from sprint, to jog, to walk. We managed to make it back home and he's been knocked out on the couch ever since. 
​...maybe we'll take a rest day tomorrow.

This past week has been full of ups and a few downs, lots of laughs, but a few tears too.

Ramsey is in an exciting season in just about every area of his life. Like the phrase, turning over a new leaf... but it's not just one, it's a hundred new leaves. Work, church, ministry, family and even hula! It's all changing. Some things that have been in the works for a while are all starting to come together. There's nothing more wonderful than to see the one you love so much becoming more and more who God has created them to be. 

Marriage is always a challenging adventure. Some may think that we're the luckiest couple on earth, living the Hawai'i dream, completely problem free, surfing and adventuring together! Yes, that would be the highlight reel, but not the reality show. This week we've worked through a lot. I came to the realization that I'm not too fond of sharing Ramsey. (LOL) I love living with his family, it's just different than when it was just the two of us. It's been an adjustment to go from only us, together, all the time, to a house-full of family. Which is also why we are both grateful when we get house-sitting jobs. It's like a special little stay-cation where we can just be us.

Coaching basketball has been a ton of fun, but yesterday was rough. It was the last day of tryouts so the other coach and I had to finalize our team... and make our cuts. We cut four. Four little 6th grade girls. I'd been struggling a lot with this because these girls are so young. How do you know who to cut and who to keep? Some have never even picked up a basketball and just want to play with their friends. But if you, as the coach, were to take the time and work with a player and invest in them, they could become an amazing athlete! They just need a chance. Some of the girls made huge improvements over the course of tryouts. "Do I keep her on the team? Am I crushing her dreams if I don't? Will it destroy her self esteem and self worth if she's cut? What if she never tries out for a sport again?"  

The amazing thing is that in situations like this, God shows up.

Proverbs 18:21 says,"DEATH and LIFE are in the power of the tongue." The words you say can be life or death to people. That's so powerful! And what a perfect opportunity to see this verse in action on the last day of basketball tryouts:

We've called you over, sat you down and just finished saying (in the gentlest way possible) that you didn't make the team. The girl's eyes fill with tears, she bites her lip, tries to keep it together, and be tough. Maybe she's thinking "I'm never gonna be good at basketball. I suck. I'm a terrible player. Why did I even tryout? I should've practiced more. I got cut because I'm not good enough."  Words of death.

And then as a coach, you're presented with an opportunity: to speak life, or to leave it. To let her walk away believing all the things her mind is telling her, or to take a few, precious, life-changing moments to breathe life underneath her shattered wings."You're a great player. We loved seeing your smile on the court. Thanks for encouraging your teammates. We want you to keep working hard and come back for tryouts next year. You didn't get cut because you're not good enough."  Words of life.
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She wipes away her tears, composes herself, lifts her chin just enough for you to see the sparkle back in her eyes, there's maybe even a small smile on her face as she stands up and says, "Thanks coach, I'm gonna work really hard on the things I need to get better at. I'll see you next year."  Words of life. 

There was lots of tears at yesterday's cuts... even the coach was a little teary eyed on the way home. Thank you Jesus for the opportunity to speak life.