Sydney

Yesterday Sydney's volleyball team played their final regular season game. There were many games this season that were over in 30 minutes because the other teams beat us pretty soundly. Normally, each "game" is 2 games, or matches, to 21 points. Before yesterday, Sydney's team won only one match. We yelled and cheered so loud when that happened that the other team's parents thought we were crazy and were slightly offended for their children.

Our game yesterday went to five games because we won two matches! We were all excited for our girls to have come so far this season. Again, we cheered louder than the other team's parents. In the fifth game, Sydney bumped a ball over the net, and it went un-returned. The game was tied 10-10 when the referees decided that the game would end at the next point. Maybe that is the way it always goes, but they told the teams as Sydney walked to the serving line.

Sydney had a good game yesterday, but she hadn't made any serves over. Sorry to say, I wasn't expecting this one to go over, either. It is important to remember that in normal volleyball, you only score a point when you are serving. If you aren't serving, the ball changes possession. In this league, teams get a point whenever the other team doesn't get the ball back over the net, regardless of who is serving. Sydney didn't get the serve over the net, so the other team won.

Poor Sydney had tears in her eyes as she walked away from the serving line to shake hands with the other team. When they were done I gave her a big hug, wiped her tears, and tried to comfort her broken heart. I was overwhelmed by the support and words of kindness from Sydney's teammates and from her parents. The girls that weren't as good friends with Sydney even came over to cheer her up. (There were times at practice when some girls would change places in line to avoid having Syd as their partner. It was painful to watch and worse to watch Sydney's face as she realized what they were doing.)

Sydney tried to explain how much pressure she felt to win the game for her team. Performing successfully under such intense pressure is the hallmark of a champion. It is a skill that will serve her well as she navigates the road to success in school: the first year that Sydney took the TAKS test, she had to take Tums each morning and night to settle her stomach. Some kids had to take ulcer medicine. It seems unfortunate to me as I didn't feel any test anxiety until I took the SAT for the second time, and our kids have to deal with it starting in third grade. (Note: I did worse the second time around on the SAT-maybe it was the pressure I wasn't used to dealing with.)

The sun finally came out yesterday, so we spent the entire afternoon in the yard. The kids put on helmets and climbed to the top of the magnolia tree-it's as high as our two-story house. I figured that, in the event that they actually fell, the helmets couldn't hurt. I raked leaves and pine needles until dark and I'm not done-that's how hard it rained all week and how many trees I have.

I used to wonder why my grandfather didn't clear the land around his house, plant grass, and leave a few trees up. Now I know. I remember how long it took to have both driveways swept and I can't imagine having to rake up leaves from all those trees on his property.

Neil posted a TV news link on his blog that is the story of one of his church friends in Afghanistan who made it home for R&R on Veteran's Day. It served as a great reminder to me of how mindful the Lord is of us. www.neilonthemoon.blogspot.com