Am I On An Island?
Do you ever feel like you are the only one, and yet come to find out there are many just like you, but would never have discovered it unless you stepped out and said yes to something a little crazy?
For many years, the constant rub of balancing youth sports with family and faith commitments was wearing on our family! I can’t count how many times the household discussion (argument) was around how to honor the commitment to the team we said ‘Yes’ to, and yet still get to church as a family, or make youth group a priority… or even try to honor the two sports we said ‘yes’ to at the same time. and in all of that, it felt really lonely. Certainly, there are more whose family schedule might be getting rubbed raw with the commitments, right? Well, it didn’t feel like it. It felt like we were on an island!
what i’ve learned in the very short time of starting a volleyball club, and getting the first season off the ground is two-fold:
First, where your passion and fire are, there your ministry lies. The Lord has made clear that, if my issues with the cultural norm of youth sports aligned with his, then probably he was asking for my ‘Yes’ more than any other commitment we had on our calendar. and, this particular ‘yes’ meant creating an alternative to the way things were done. But, would anyone say ‘yes’ to us?
Well, that is the second thing i’ve learned: if you dare to step out and feel called to something that looks a little impossible, don’t be surprised to learn that there are many just waiting for the exact thing you are stepping in to! Turns out there is a need for youth sports that look a little more like “a” priority, but not “THE” priority. And, to my shock, there are at least 70 of you who might agree- a whole seven teams worth!
It’s a little bit of a dramatic comparison, but reminds me of the prophet elijah complaining to the lord that he was the only one left, but turns out the lord had reserved 7,000 just like him. Not one or two, but 7,000! How small our perspective is sometimes, and how fruitful our ‘yes’ can be when we dare to give it.
“Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”
- i kings 19: 13-18