Bobcat Cheerleaders and Basketball

We've never been to so many games in one week that we can remember. Almost every night we were either attending a boys or girls game. And well, all we can say is sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. The girls were beaten out of district on Thursday night up at Canyon Ridge in Twin Falls. ( it's a new high school because Twin is growing like crazy so now there is two high schools) Now the varsity girls were coached by a member of our ward and so my lips are sealed about that unless you are Julie Ann.
Now the boys varsity team have a good all around group of boys but they seem to struggle with getting the ball into the hoop. Now you can have the best blocker, the best dribbler and even the best intention to win but if you cannot end some plays with a bucket, you will lose most of the time. Which is what they do. Now I resent "armchair experts" in any field. Even some of you right now are yelling at a player or coach of a unnamed football team during an unnamed bowl because he could not see the field from your perspective. And of course, what were they thinking when so and so threw the thing-a-ma-gig to whats his face without considering the alternative of running with the dew-hickey around all those yay-hoos in for a score.
But enough of that. The culmination of this bitter-sweet week was a cheerleader competition in Twin Falls for our district that propels the winners to the state competition later this year. This was held on Sat, the 5Th of February (Brady's Birthday! He is 6 now) . Chelsae is a senior cheerleader and has cheered for 5 years. So this is routine for her. We believe that she struggles with cheering at a home game more than any competition because of the peer pressure involved. But never the less their group did a superb job and well you will have to watch the video to hear the end of the story. We are proud of Chelsae . And as we look back on all our kid's achievements we are no less proud of theirs. All of our children have had their own difficulties that they struggled with. And we as parents were tempted at times to jump into theirs and clean it up. Just as you would like to jump into that un-named bowl game and show them what winning is all about. But we don't. We mustn't. It would be against the laws of our Father who knows all. "Train up a child in the way he (she) should go; and when he (she) is old, he (she) will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6 . This does not mean that they will do good continually for we "all sin and fall short". But rather this means that when we step on to selfish paths, our memories of a mother's prayer to a living God or father's blessing will cause us to reflect upon our actions and the consequences of them. And with humble prayers on our behalf from parents, friends, and church leaders, the Lord will reach out to the wayward one and with a tender voice and supportive arm of a good shepherd guide the lamb back to the fold. Also remember the line " and when they are old". Sometimes it is years before we finally "get it".
Our ward choir has been practicing for ward conference a hymn entitled "Be Still,My Soul"
I've sang this hymn dozens of times but today the words were re -written for my heart to feel them. Tears flowed into my eyes and my voice failed me as the truthfulness of these words swept me away. Even as I write this, the words still impress me with their soberness. As we leave the Lord to "order and provide" after all we can do on our own, the necessary parts will be provided. And then we will have " loves purest joys restored". This is just one example of the strength this gospel gives us when we feel overwhelmed. We posted this song on the church portion of music.
While the video is uploading I better let you know that Julie caught a cold bug and has been sleeping all day. Chelsae is over at a friends house working on a assignment for school. Please keep Julie in your prayers. The house is quiet now and the only sound is the video recorder. We are going through the family videos and labeling them. As we play them, we run across family outings that reminds us of experiences that we've forgotten. They are heart warming and we will share them with you as we can. One is on this blog and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did. This is at the Craters of the Moon. Chris, was that a "growl" from Shawnae? You decide. And Chelsae do you remember those poor little"wormy" ants?