August 8, 2023

Dear friends,

There is a very famous preacher story where the minister was telling a group of preschoolers the story of Easter. When the pastor got to the part about Jesus dying and rising again, one of the kids yelled out, “Again?! He just did this LAST year!” There are so many times when I am surprised by parenthood, like the words I have to put together and say to another person, but the panic and surprise of the things we have to do EVERY year always amazes me. I know it is coming yet am always caught off guard.

As we are getting back into the routine, and surprised it’s happening again, there is opportunity. There is an opportunity to set our intentions in a new way. I think of the old proverb that says, you can never step in the same river twice. While our actions stepping into the river might be the same, the river is not. It has been flowing and moving and changing. This is one of those situations where I need to manage my expectations, because if I expect everything to be the same as before, when I have changed, and the world has changed, then there is no way all the things will be the same.

I am once again coaching the Middle School Girls Ultimate Frisbee team. I’m excited about it. I’ve taken some courses and observed other coaches. I have some new ideas, will have some new players, and the players I had have developed. Last year’s experience was wonderful, but I know that there is an opportunity in starting again. We will stumble out of the gate if we just try to recapture what happened last year.

I continue to be in prayer for all of you, as I hope you are for me. I pray that even in our surprise that it is all happening again, we continue to pay attention to the Spirit’s dancing around.

Peace,

Jordan