1 Corinthians 2:1-2

At times I wonder what the boys and girl will think of their childhood. What memories will they have? What will they think of my parenting of them? What do they see as my highest priorities? I know that there is plenty of hypocrisy in my life. That's why I need Christ. Hopefully, they will see that I did not rely upon my age or experience in parenting them but that I wanted most of all for them to know Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:1-2

And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. ² For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

1 Timothy 4:12

I hope that the boys and girl are judged by others for their actions and their speech, especially their love for others, and not their age.

1 Timothy 4:12
¹² Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.

John 3:36

It's interesting how much the Bible connects belief with obedience. If you believe in Christ, you will obey Him. But no one can obey Him perfectly. Thus, our sins should cause our belief in Christ's imputed righteousness to grow all the more as we cast ourselves on Him for our forgiveness. This should only inspire us to obey all the more. Instead of a vicious cycle, God gives us a gracious one.

John 3:36
³⁶ He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Romans 14:7-9

Happy New Year! May 2017 be a year where the boys and girl live for the Lord all the more!

Romans 14:7-9
⁷ For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; ⁸ for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹ For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

Band

Matt had his first concert as part of the percussion section of the Norse Band here at Benicia Middle School. He practices all instruments in the percussion section including the snare drum, the bass drum, and the mallets. But for the concert, he was on the xylophone.

Usually, you can't hear an individual instrument in the band, but with the xylophone, you can clearly hear him!

Matt is having a ton of fun. Nice job Matt!

Emery's Soccer

Emery played soccer for the first time this year, playing in the U12 division.

She did quite well despite being one of the youngest girls out there.

She mostly played midfield because of her speed and quickness. She was also responsible for throw-ins.

Here's a nice sequence where she makes a move to the outside.

Then cuts it back inside.

And now she's right by her defender, heading to the goal!

She had a pretty mediocre coach this year, but she did very well! Great job Emery!

She loved half time or should I say snack time.

I think our team, Tsunami Rush, definitely had the coolest banner.

Emery's team definitely had a lot of fun together and were very supportive of one another. It was a really good group of girls. And we also made a lot of improvement in our soccer playing too.

At the end of the year, I got to coach Emery's team for the Coach's Invitational. It was fun to play under the lights and win too!

Matt's Soccer

Matt played in his second season of soccer this fall and had a very nice year.

He practiced all year long and developed quite a few moves. I was impressed that he used most of those moves to pass very well. This one didn't end up in a goal, but he gave up his own shot to put the ball in the perfect place so someone else could score.

Matt got the "hockey" assist for this one. He got the pass before the pass that led to the goal. It was a fun to play with his buddy Joseph who got the goal and Richie who was a very good player.

I wish I got some more of his fancy footwork on film, but he's developed a lot of good moves.

 

Matt ended up scoring almost 10 goals during the season and guess who never got one on film! I know, I'm a bad dad or at least a bad camera man. While I missed the actual shot, at least I got proof that Matt's shot went into the goal. Does that count for something?

In the first game of the year, Matt was chosen as the player of the game with a goal, a sweet assist, and some nice hustle.

Unfortunately during the season, Matt had some heel pain and had to miss a couple of games. But his team, the Glow Sticks, ended up in 2nd place.

But the season ended well with Matt being chosen to play in the Coach's Invitational. He scored the lone goal for his team that night. Great job and great season Matt!