Makes Me Wonder

It's sad when there are so many bad things that happen that take up so much of the media time and public thought. Of course, all you have to see is Philip's post to see that there are just as many bad things that nobody cares about as much as who gets Anna Nicole Smith's baby. I mean, seriously people. But then I guess this is the point of our society today. How sad.

In addition to the events around the world, a man from our church passed away this past week due to cancer. He was probably one of the first "old" guys around the congregation that I got to know well. I worked out on his farm about 4 years ago for a summer helping him paint his farm-house, clearing out the woods that surrounded it, and generally keeping everything in order and clean around the place. It was a beautiful tract of land out in the country, and you could tell how much he loved being out there. He was always talking about it and riding around on his tractor out there. He was one of the kindest men that I knew at our church, and he will be missed.

In some happier news, my middle school B team one their first game yesterday. They fell behind to an early goal (inside the first 3 minutes), and then had a PK blocked in the last minute of the first half. This happened because the kid that I wanted to have take it apparently misunderstood my yelling, and told someone else to take it, who promptly shot it right at the goalie. At halftime we made some adjustments and got a goal within the first 5 minutes. Then we scored again just a few minutes later. The other team had this girl that was throwing elbows and fouling all over the place, so I got yelled at by the ref to keep it quiet since I was pretty furious that she injured one of our players and got nothing for it. They eventually scored a second, so we were tied 2-2 with about 5 minutes remaining. In what was essentially the last play of the game, we got a quick break, came down 4 on 3, got a good cross in to the box, and eventually one of our players got a foot on it and put it in to the goal. They were all pretty excited, and you could see it in their faces about how happy they were to have won a game. i have to say, I was pretty pumped myself.

This weekend is looking to be pretty good. Tomorrow Mandi and I are going to follow my parents to the place where they're having the Highland View Spring Retreat which is what we used to call the Family Retreat way back when. It's essentially a weekend at a state park where there's hiking, games, fun and fellowship. Mandi and I will go out there for the day and enjoy the outdoors and fun to be had hanging out with some of the members from Highland View. Sunday looks like a day for some disc golf since I don't have any soccer game that day, so we'll have to wait and see.

One of my poignant moments from tonight at the funeral? Seeing the family. They weren't bitter or angry. They weren't even sad. I guess I mean that they weren't the kind of sad that you have when you think you've lost something forever. The overwhelming feeling of the entire family was that they were happy for Harold. They were happy because they knew that he had gone on to be with God, and this was a testament to them and Harold and their belief in God. For us as Christians, funerals, while they are times of grief and mourning, are also in a way a time of celebration. We celebrate their being with God. We celebrate the fact that we know when Christ comes we will all be reunited. We know that it's not really goodbye. We will see them again.