The best!!

I have learned the best lesson over the past year. Want to hear it? It's kind of a long story but if you got the time I've got the words.

Here it is... I learned to get over myself. I learned that I do not have to be "top dog" around here in order for things to work. I learned that being part of a great team is often times far better than being the best player. I learned to let go and enjoy myself even when I thought it was going to be a big old pain to do... (insert whatever fits for you here).

Let me tell you a story.

Once upon a time there was a young lady. Now this young lady wasn't all that young. She was out of college and trying to make it in the world. She had found many things in her life so far. Like she had found that she needed a Savior so she devoted her life to Him and became an active member of her church. She was blessed to be granted a job teaching first graders in an elementary school. Things were looking good everywhere except for one area in her life. She was lonely. She needed a companion. Someone to travel life's path with her. She prayed hard that God would bring along just the right person. She longed to be in love.

One day she went to church a little early to prepare the Sunday School lesson she was supposed to teach for the kids that morning. As she entered the church there was a young man standing in the foyer.

He was the kind of handsome that made her not want to look directly into his eyes because perhaps he would be able to see that she was thinking that he was good looking and after all this was church and she wasn't supposed to be thinking these things, right? So she mumbled, "Hello", and kept on walking.

Much to her dismay he followed her. Shoot! Now she would really have to speak to him. She found out that they had attended the same high school. Small world, huh? And she had known his sisters. They were triplets but she had never known that. The girls had never spoken of him. So she had believed that the girls were twins not triplets.

Our lonely young lady and this new young man started to get to know each other slowly. After several months they started dating and after a year they were engaged. A year after that they were married.

Now here's the thing... and by now you know that I'm talking of Todd and myself, right? (Please tell me that you saw that coming.) When we were married I always saw myself as the superior one or at least the leader in our relationship. I had been in our church for years before Todd happened along. I had a job teaching and supported him as he finished school and worked to get his teaching certificate. I was older. (OK only 1 1/2 years but still!) All these things gave me a bit of a superiority complex. I totally would have denied it but it's true. That's how I was.

Till this year.

Let me back up a little.

Last February there was a day that I broke down. I was at my end. Todd and I were just getting to the end of yet another season of him coaching basketball and I HATED it.

Yes I did.

I hated how tired he was all the time. I hated how late he got home every single day. And most of all I hated how he seemed to give his best to the team and work and all I got was his stinkin' left-overs.

So like I said this was February, the end of the season, and I finally started praying about it. I realized that the Lord was telling me that I was despising a blessing. It was a blessing that Todd had this 2nd job as a coach. This was not something that Todd was "doing to us" but rather it was something that Todd was "doing FOR us". This job was not a nuisance but a blessing. It gave us a wonderful extra income that some people would do anything for AND Todd loved to do it. How many people get to do what they truly love to do? Todd did!! And instead of being supportive I was being his biggest heckler.

I realized that if this was something that was important to Daddy then it needed to be important to his family. I vowed then that the next year the kids and I would be Todd's biggest supporters. We would go to as many games as we possibly could. I wanted to teach the kids what it was that their Daddy actually did and give them a first hand experience of what his games were like.

Then spring came. The principal called Todd in for a meeting and told him that his job was on the line. After the first winning season that this girl's team had in several years Todd had to fight for his job.

I remember praying and crying out to God. "Please, please let him keep it! Give me a chance to get it right. Give me a chance to be the supportive wife I have always wanted to be. Please don't let it end before I get the chance to show the kids the right way for a family to support their Daddy!"

God heard my prayer. Todd got to keep his job as the head coach of the Seneca Valley Girls Varsity Basketball team.

Flash forward to this past fall.

The kids and I went to the first game. Parents came up to us and introduced themselves to us. I prayed that the kids would behave. I fed them lots of treats. We cheered! I tried to figure out what the girl's names were. The girls won!! That was fun. Can't wait for the next game!

Keep flashing forward to a game this past January. I think it was the game against Damascus. All of a sudden I noticed that the crowd was huge. People were starting to notice that the girls team was undefeated. I remember things in flashes. The crowd cheering (there really has never been a crowd before). The kids pestering me for candy. Having to get up to find a private place to change Jake's poopie diaper (thanks Jake!). AND... look at my husband... he's in his element... he takes my breath away. This is a part of his life that I have never seen before. That's my fault, I know it. He really knows what he is doing. Not only that. He is good at what he is doing. Wow! All of a sudden it was like I was watching him being elevated right before my eyes. My perspective changed and I really started looking up to him in a way that I never had before.

The team won. Again.

Still undefeated.

They finished their season as the only undefeated team in the state of Maryland and went on to win the state title. In the state final they were down by 19 points in the 3rd quarter and Todd coached his very talented girls to one of the greatest comebacks ever witnessed. They won 62-60! No one there will ever forget what they saw that night.

I will never forget.

I will never forget that I almost missed it. If I hadn't prayed to God. If I hadn't heard His instructions to me... I could have wasted this year like all the past years. I could have sat at home and hated it.

But instead I got over myself. I learned that it is OK for things to not be all about me. I learned that it is OK to be a part of the team. I learned how enjoyable it is to witness something so great happen to someone you love. To be so proud of them that your heart aches and wants to burst. To stand back and be nobody so that you can bask in the glory of the somebodies and truly be happy for their accomplishments.

I have a lot of "Thank yous" to pass out here:

First of all I want to thank my God. Thank you for waking me up to what you were doing and allowing me to be a part of it. Thank you for having a hand in all of this and not just granting us a winning season but an UNDEFEATED winning season. Thank you for granting Todd and the girls the talent to get them as far as they did. Let them never think for a second that they did this independent of You! Rather let them always know that You graciously had Your hand in this and blessed them huge... just because You are great and because You could!!

Thank you Seneca Valley Girls Basketball team for having the best UNDEFEATED season. Thank you for playing your hearts out at each and every game. Thank you for not giving up and staying in the fight when you were down by 19(!!!) points in the 3rd quarter of the state final game.

Thank you Julianna, Drew, Kyle, and Jake for letting me take you to so many games. You were so good and (most of the time) made it so easy for Mommy to enjoy herself. You stayed up well past your bedtimes many nights and enjoyed cheering, " UN-DE-FEATED, clap, clap... clap, clap, clap!!!" more times than I can count.

Thank you Nintendo for making the DS game boy thus rendering my children "video game zombies". Any chance you will be making an edition for 2 yr. olds in time for next year's season?

Thank you fans and parents of players who had the chance to sit near me and my children during the games. Thank you for telling me how well behaved they were. At times I did not believe you but it sure was nice to hear. Thank you ladies who Jakey flirted with. Thank you for smiling at him and being sweet when I know you really wanted him to stop bothering you so that you could watch the game too!

Thank you makers of lollipops and Skittles for making small bits of candy that could be portioned out slowly and if I was smart and paying attention could last a whole basketball game!

Thank you Ann and Al for coming to as many games as you did. Ann you are such an amazing example of a Mom who never tires of cheering her kids on. May I be as supportive of my boys (and my Julianna) as you are of Todd when they are adults. Al, thank you for letting Jake maul your hat during one of the games. May I buy you a new one?

Mom and Dad thanks for both watching the kids so I could go to a few games alone and also coming to some of the games. Your support means so much to Todd and I. I'm so glad we actually got Mom to enjoy a sports game!!

Mindy, you are a babysitting goddess! 6 boys under the age of 7 all by yourself??? Girl you are my hero!!! Thank you for supporting us with your help. I love you!

Family and friends who came to games, kept your fingers crossed, hearts open, or just plain prayed for the team... THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Your loud cheering gave the girls the boost they needed on more than one occasion. Thank you for letting them know that they were not alone out there on the court.

Jim, thank you for assisting Todd this season. You helped to make a great season "priceless" just by being there for him. When can your family come to dinner?

Charlie, thank you for not yelling at the refs. too badly during the state final. Getting ejected from across the court from me is one thing but sitting next to me you gotta behave. As the coach's wife I have an image to uphold.

Jen and Jeff thank you for letting me call you after each game to rejoice about yet another win. You never once acted like I was bothering you.

Dear Todd,

Thank you for keeping your head during the game and bringing the girls back from a 19 point deficit. No one who was at the game will ever forget that comeback!! Thank you for showing us all that we must never give up. No matter how against us things look, if we persevere, turnarounds can (and WILL) happen! After all if God is for us who can be against us?

Thank you for being a man worthy of respect and a husband that I still want to be married to for the rest of my life. You have given me 11 wonderfully sweet years and you still take my breath away after all this time. I love you more now than I ever thought possible 11 years ago.

Happy Anniversary!

All my love,

Michelle