It is finished

All good things, they say, must come to an end (heaven excepted, of course). It would seem that soccer is no exception to this rule.

Following tonight’s sectional game versus their archrival, the Teutopolis Wooden Shoes, the St. Anthony Bulldogs’ season has come to an end. The Bulldog’s played an exceptionally good game, giving the Wooden Shoes a hard fight for their 1-0 victory. I’m very proud of how the boys played tonight and I am grateful to them for the many good laughs we’ve had during the season.

My new capello Romano (Roman hat) made its first public appearance at the game, though I regret to say I forgot to get a picture.

It is very safe to say that I will miss the soccer season, both the practices and the games. I will, of course, still see the players in the high school and I even teach a few of them. Nevertheless, I will miss the time spent with them at practice, on the bus and on the field. They were, and are, always good for a laugh and for entertainment.

I will also miss the very good distraction they’ve provided me these past couple of months. I’ve blogged before how my involvement with the team seems to have come quite providentially; reflecting back on the past several weeks I still believe this to be true, and I’m grateful to our athletic director for proposing the situation in the first place.

The ways of the Lord are wondrous indeed; just two years ago (or even three months ago), who would have considered the possibility of my being an assistant soccer coach, or any kind of coach for that matter? Whenever I told those friends who know me best, I was met with the same reaction: laughter, followed by the question (or something very close to it), “What?” I never would have imagined it myself, but then again, the Lord knows what will make us happy more than we do. The trick is to accept his will, as odd or foreign as it might seem to us and then sit back and marvel at what he does.

I never played sports growing up (with the exception of a bit of soccer at home waiting for the school bus) and I never really liked them; for that matter, soccer is the only sport I like, though volleyball is growing on me (I rather dread the coming basketball season). I’ve always been very much at home, comfortable and content with a good book, lying on a couch under an afghan (the one I currently have and use – and am under right now - was a gift on my college graduation [and there’s a book within arm’s reach]). I suppose what the Lord has given me is something of what Saint Paul meant when he said that he has “become all things to all, to save at least some. All this I do for the sake of the gospel, so that I too may have a share in it” (I Corinthians 9:22-23).

I have been blessed in many ways through my involvement with the soccer team, in many ways that I cannot quite put into words. It is my hope and my prayer that at least some of the players were blessed by my presence.

Congratulations, boys, on a game well played, and many thanks!