Coach James

     Howdy, it's been a while since I posted and I don't have too much to update now but I am currently helping coach the Ware County Boys teams, mostly Varsity but JV has been pretty much mixed in these past few days. I think these guys will do really well this season, they need some coaching up and some of them need to show some more maturity and commitment but they will do well. There is a new goalie that showed up this year, I believe he moved down here from SC but don't quote me on that, he is very athletic and I can see a huge promise in his future as long as he gets the right coaching and puts for the extra effort. He is a natural keeper though. Seth Starling and Ali'i Mitchell are in really good shape and will be extremely hard for other teams to deal with in the midfield this year. It's kind of funny to me that I played with those two in my junior year when they were just freshmen and Seth and I were captains together. Time really flies.
     Slightly off topic now, my game plan that I am going to work towards now is that I am going to take a year off (not from working out and all of that though) and try for a four year school next spring. I haven't looked too much into the schools I'll try out for but I want to go somewhere that stretches me to become better.

Today is my B-day. :)

     Today I am 19. God has blessed me with so much through the years and I know He will continue because He is wonderful. I write these blogs and try and do my best at filling people in on what I'm doing or thinking or wishing I could do, but the majority of the time I have no clue. I just want to live a life that pleases God I don't really care where He places me or what He wants me to do because I know that if it is God's plan for me then I will find joy in doing it. Whether I go pro in soccer or I never get to play again, I will serve the Lord. That much you can count on.

I'm struggling...

     I'm facing a rough part in my walk with God. I think it is just the devil trying to get me down and tempt me away from what I am supposed to be doing right now. ... I am working, taking two classes, working out, and soon going to be helping coach the high school boys here in Ware County whenever they start actually practicing. That all sounds so great, and it seems like it should be such a good opportunity for me to grow and learn new things. But so far I think that I have been in the midst of a strong spiritual battle and this hasn't allowed me to fully accept these tasks. I've been struggling every night to sit down and read my Bible like I normally do, and I have been tempted to do so many more sinful things that normally aren't a problem for me. ... I am going to keep praying to the Lord to get me through all of this. I am also asking for any prayer support I can get from the people who read this. ... Lately I have been feeling more and more like I need to be getting ready for something new in soccer but I don't know what. So what I am going to do is step up my work outs and get fit, and see what happens.

I understand weakness.

     Today was my second day at my new job. (For those of you who don't know, I got a job helping to take care of kids in the YMCA's after school program here in Waycross.) It was a great day. I am not a mean person by nature and I have never been mean towards kids, I have always been the uncle who sort of just let's the kids do whatever they want to do without thinking about it, so this job is really stretching me and teaching me. I am so used to people my age where I expect them to do things a certain way and if they don't then we have an issue, and that is just not the way you can be with kids. Anyway, I am not going to go into teaching about kids right now haha. The whole reason that I am bringing any of this up is because today I actually helped a kid. Not like opening a door for them, but actually taught this kid something that I watched him put into practice and change his attitude about life.
     This kids name is Mason. He is 6 years old and joined my group today which are all 8 and 9 year old boys so he was slightly out of place. We took two groups of kids outside to play kickball and Mason decided he wanted to try pitching (or rolling) the ball. He didn't always roll it exactly straight and all the older kids yelled at him a bunch. Finally he got mad and started walking over towards where I was watching from next to third base and I asked him, "Are you mad at them?" And he said yes and started talking about how he couldn't do anything right, and how he doesn't know anything, and how he isn't fast, or smart, or anything. And I stopped him and started telling him that he could do stuff. I told him that he shouldn't let those guys tell him that he can't do something, I told him that if he decides to he can do anything. I used the example that I have played high school and college soccer and if I had listened to all of the people telling me that I couldn't do something, well to be honest I would not have tried out in the 9th grade. I told him that the best thing for him to do is to laugh and smile at the people picking at him and telling him that he cannot do something. I told him how people hate that more than anything. And on our way in a kid made fun of him for something and he said, "Hey, you're funny!" and kept on walking. And numerous other times that I was around him the rest of the day he kept either telling people that they were being funny or just laughing things off. I was very proud of him and I could tell that, that really meant a lot to him. He started opening doors for me everywhere I went and if I asked him to do something he made sure he did it.
     If I had always been the superstar sports guy, I probably would not have known how to help this kid today. I probably wouldn't even be in this position today. But the fact is, I was never the fastest, or the strongest, or the most talented. And everything that I have achieved I owe to God and hard work. I have had people point blank tell me, "James you need to quit soccer." or "James do you really think you are going to go anywhere in soccer? You are not!" But I laughed things off or tried too. I don't care what that little kid saying, "sticks and stones can break my bones bu words can never hurt me." means, that is not true. Words do hurt. But it is how you deal with them that matters. Madea says, "It's not what people call you, it's what you answer to."....... Often times being weak is the best thing for a person because it allows them to truly understand the measure of power, when power is achieved. My new favorite thing to say to adversity comes from Tim Tebow... 'ppreciate that.

     And I tried extremely hard to find a video clip for this but obviously I'm the only one who thought that this part of the Captain America movie was worth putting on the internet.... Anyway this is from when Dr. Erskine is talking with Steve Rogers (Captain America) the night before the procedure which turns Rogers into a super soldier...

     Dr. Abraham Erskine: Schmidt must become that superior man.
Steve Rogers: Did it make him stronger?
Dr. Abraham Erskine: Yeah. But, there were other effects. The serum was not ready. But more important, the man. The serum amplifies everything that is inside. So, good becomes great. Bad becomes worse. This is why you were chosen. Because a strong man, who has known power all his life, will lose respect for that power. But a weak man knows the value of strength. And knows compassion.
Steve Rogers: Thanks. I think.

Dr. Abraham Erskine: Whatever

 happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing. That you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good man. 
     

One door closes another door opens...

     Hey everyone! I am sorry I have not posted in a while but I have been going through a lot lately. First before I begin, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and ya'll really honored the Lord this Christ-mas season.
     Well where do I begin? I guess I will just put it out here straight forward and honest and I will try and make sense of everything that has been going on sound good? ... I decided to quit playing soccer for South Georgia College. I am going to take two classes this next semester and I already have a job at the YMCA in Waycross. And as weird as it may sound... I am completely happy and at peace.
     The reasons, without going into tons of in depth detail of every thought that I had, are simple. I got extremely stressed out this semester because I was trying to do my very best in everything and I wasn't receiving much reward at all. (Now that sounds like a spoiled brat attitude, but trust me that's not all.) I couldn't stop thinking about what I was doing, I was completely not at peace in my mind or heart at all. I have always felt that if I can look around and feel at peace with my life because God is happy with what I am doing then I need to keep on doing it. But this was not peaceful at all. I was prepared to go back and do this next semester at South Georgia but I just did not feel at peace about it. I felt like I needed to take a step back for right now. I dreamed about it at night, and thought about it all day long. But since I decided to do what I am doing, I have slept wonderfully, and everything has been going good.
     I think God threw me a huge curve ball. And I sort of feel bad about posting that I felt God wanted me to be at SGC for another year. But maybe that was a good thing because it can show everyone who has not swung at a curve ball before kind of what they are really like.
     I don't know for certain whether or not I will play college soccer ever again, I don't know if this curve ball is still curving or if it's already in the catchers glove. But I am working out and keeping in shape and enjoying everything now. And if or when I get another opportunity to play, I am going to blow the roof off.
     So the title for this blog is still very much the same. And I still am going to post and continue this. I'm going through a lot and I would really appreciate all of the prayer support I can get. I just trying to please God that is all. But I am going to end with this quote which is my personal favorite.....

     "Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm." - Sir Winston Churchill

Merry Christmas Everyone!

     Merry Christmas! I hope the holidays have been going great for everyone so far! My whole family is home for the holidays and we are happy about that but we aren't so happy for the circumstances. My mother got blood clots in her right leg just after having traveled home to the states for some different meetings. So now my parents will be here for a while. She is recovering slowly, but please be praying for her.
     Make sure to thank God for everything you have and everything you receive this Christmas. We are all so blessed in ways that may not stand out to us at the moment but if we think about it they will. I know that if nothing else (which there are tons more blessings) I have been truly blessed to be an American. There are people all over the world that spend their whole lives trying to get into America but they never do. This is a truly blessed country and we can't forget that. We should all thank God every day for blessing our country as much as He has and we should continue to pray for her future because if we forget God, then nothing good will come from that.

     Btw, I have eaten so much lately I feel like I may never run again. Haha. Jk. But I have eaten a lot.

Why settle for average?

     I am trying to change myself in huge ways and one of the biggest things that I am facing is that for so long I was accepting average results on things that I was doing in my life. Too many times the thought went through my head this semester, "You know, doing just enough studying to pass is actually alright." Thinking back, that was a sad, sad way to be. I also was settling for average in my workouts. For instance I would only go to the gym three times in a week and instead of going ham like I used to, I would just do a little bit and kind of lazy my way on out after 45 mins. .. I also got average or actually less than average in my spiritual life. As sad as it is for me to admit it.. I used to try and read my Bible every night but I fell into a every other night routine or even every third or fourth night. The Lord finally got through to me one day when I was watching something about Tim Tebow. I started thinking about what an awesome guy Tim is and how I would like to be that way. I have always prayed that if I am not going to use soccer to honor the Lord then I don't want to do it anymore. Then I realized something, maybe the reason that I had not been performing at my normal "trying to do my best" way was because I was giving in too much to temptation. And I thought about Tim and how much temptation he must have every day because definitely if the devil could get anybody to fall right now he would probably choose him. This made me realize that the higher I climb and the more things I achieve and the more influence I have, the more temptation I am going to face as well. I can't let my guard down and I can't quit learning about God and trying to become closer to Him. Things have really been looking up for me and things are looking like they are going to continue to get so much better! Lord willing. .. I get so tired of seeing these guys who get on such a high platform and are honoring the Lord so much and then they get caught doing something that just tears their reputation apart and people really start to doubt the Lord and his goodness. One of my favorite quotes and I don't know who it's by goes something like this, "I want to be the type of man that when I wake up in the morning the devil says, oh crap not him again." ... I'm not saying that this is easy, and I am not saying that I can do it, but... Luke 1:37 says, "Nothing is impossible with God."