of the thrill of victory!

I'm a soccer dad and I'm OK with it.  (I grew up playing basketball and still hold out hope that one of my children will have an interest in learning how to play basketball.)  Tonight was a beautiful night for soccer.  Slight breeze, perfect temp.  Simon falls asleep in the car on the way to the game because he missed his nap, oh wait...that's not all that fun, because Wendy's at work so I'm flying solo. 

Molly has seen her fair share of the "agony of defeat" in her young soccer career.  She's grown so frustrated with it at times that she's wanted to quit.  This year she's moved up from YMCA Spirit soccer to a more competitive (i.e. expensive) league.  Some things have changed...more time in the car driving across town to practice, some things have stayed the same...continuing to lose on a consistent basis.

The season did not start out very good.  The team was few in numbers.  They have a core of 9 players, which meant they had 1 sub.  The first few games were not pretty, but they were encouraging.  There were moments where the girls were playing good soccer, nice passes, good communication, but they'd get tired and things were start to break down at that point.  Thankfully they were able to get a couple secondary players to come play with them and provide some extra relief. 

One thing their coach has stressed from the very beginning was that they would be working on "technical" first and then "tactical."  They have been building to this point all season.  The games were becoming more and more competitive.  They even had a sizable lead one game only to lose it as they broke down due to fatigue.  That game ended in a tie.  The next game they won.  And tonight they shut the other team out, and were fairly dominate on both sides of the ball.  They continued to communicate.  They passed the ball.  They received AND followed their coaching.  Molly even scored the first goal!

The girls receiving some halftime instruction from coach.

Sure winning isn't everything, but it sure does make the ride home from the game more enjoyable!  I am happy for the girls.  They have worked hard all season and put it all together for their last game of the season.  It is a beautiful thing to see your child doing well and enjoying themselves competing.  

What Made Your Day Beautiful?

of another beautiful sunrise!

One of my goals is to be grateful for the beauty around me by taking a moment, it may be brief, to fully appreciate beauty.  And also to share that beauty with those around me.

On the way to work this morning I had one of those moments. I headed into work a little earlier than usual and was rewarded with a vibrant sunrise.  So I pull over, get out of the car & call home to share the experience with Wendy!

What Made Your Day Beautiful?

Life is hard sometimes.

Today was one of those days.  Woke up feeling a little under the weather.  Busy day at work, made worse by not feeling 100%.  Rough night being and doing parental things.  Tough to find beauty in the day when you are constantly wiping your nose, have those itchy, tired sick eyes and have to have a tough, but crucial conversation with your teenage daughter.

But life isn't always supposed to be easy.  It's not continuous fun and games.  There will be hard times.  There will be times when we are required to do things we don't want to do.  There will be times when we have to do the hard thing.  Strength is not achieved on the easy path.  Character is forged in the cauldron of adversity and affliction.

As I reflect on what was beautiful about today, I take heart in one of my favorite quotes.

"Often the deep valleys of our present will be understood only by looking back on them from the mountains of our future experience. Often we can’t see the Lord’s hand in our lives until long after trials have passed. Often the most difficult times of our lives are essential building blocks that form the foundation of our character and pave the way to future opportunity, understanding, and happiness." - Dieter F. Uchtdorf

What Made Your Day Beautiful?

of good friends!

I am blessed to have great friends!  They love me.  They inspire me.  They support me.  I believe that much of the direction, success and happiness in our life is a result of who we choose to surround ourselves with.  Do our friends, uplift, challenge and encourage us to BE and DO better?  As I think of this, I ask myself, "Am I that type of friend?"  It is hard, not impossible, to be happy and positive around unhappy and negative people.  So, Thank you to all of my friends, you make by days beautiful!

What Made Your Day Beautiful?

of a daughter growing up!

Today was Molly's 6th grade parent teacher conference.  Her teacher's had a student lead conference.  She took us thru all of her classes and the progress she is making in the classes.  We went thru her writing journals, some quizzes and assignments.  It is impressive to me how she is applying herself in her classes.  Rarely do we need to encourage her to do her homework.  (She doesn't get that trait from me, I can assure you!)  It is a beautiful thing to see your child maturing right before your eyes!

What Made Your Day Beautiful?

of the power of a scripture!

For the last few weeks this scripture, found in The Book of Mormon, has been going thru my head. Ether 12:27.

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

Weakness is part of the human/mortal condition, but it does not have to be a permanent part.  This scripture can be applied on many different levels.  Our weakness may be physical, perhaps we have some type of aliment, sickness, inability, etc...  Our weakness may be emotional, we might struggle with our temper, patience, ability to love/be loved, etc... Our weakness may be spiritual, we may stumble over some aspect of doctrine, wrestle with a repeated temptation, have an area of our testimony that has been shaken, etc..  The beautiful thing is the Lord promises to enable us to overcome our weakness if we but come unto Him.  By coming unto Christ and applying the power of His atonement in our life, He will make us strong!  What a beautiful thing that is; to be strong in Christ!

What Made Your Day Beautiful? 

of a chance to exercise a talent!

Out of the blue Molly asked me to draw her a picture.  Ok, so it's not completely out of the blue because I was doodling at church and she saw my doodles.  (She, Maddie and my sister Tiffanie were also laughing at me while I was drawing because of what I do while I draw.  Well, I do it whenever I concentrate.  My tongue comes out and I lick my lips.  Not the best habit to have, especially when you are trying to learn how to dance, but that's another story for another day!)  I grew up loving to draw.  It's in my blood, my dad went to UNL on an art scholarship.  It has been passed on to my daughter Whitney!  She spends hours at the table drawing!

I remember my dad getting rolls of butcher paper, I'd roll it out, listen to the Husker basketball games on the radio and draw basketball players.  I recently came across a high school art project and the desire to develop my artistic talents started to grow.  Then on Sunday during Sunday School the lesson was on "Developing Our Talents."

So rather than putting the request of and not ever getting around to it, I did it.  It was sometimes frustrating, but very enjoyable.  It was beautiful to get swept away in the creation of something.  It is definitely not a masterpiece, but hey, it has be years since I've done any serious drawing, so I think it's not half bad. 

Maddie as requested a similar picture, but she wants a stadium in the background too...that one I may be putting off for a while:)  We all have things that we've been wanting to do, but putting off.  I challenge you to take just a few minutes and do something you want to do, for yourself, to make your day beautiful!

What Made Your Day Beautiful?

Of quality time with my daughter.

Children grow up too fast.  I blinked and my baby is 13, soon to be 14.  So this afternoon when she wanted to go work on her soccer skills and her younger sister didn't want to walk with her to the local pitch (that's soccer vernacular for field), I said I'd go and surprisingly, she didn't protest.

Rather than walk to the school, I choose to take her down to campus an we played on one of the campus rec fields.  It was a beautiful hour.  We spent the time passing, working on shots on goal and corner kicks.  Afterward she wanted to get a smoothie from Juice Stop...so that's what we did.

She probably didn't notice but I loved every minute of it.  I know these moments are fleeting, the time she will want to spend with me is rapidly being replaced by the time she wants to spend with her friends.   This is a lesson that I wish I would have learned earlier.  Time with your little ones is very precious!

What Made Your Day Beautiful?

of a swish!

I love basketball!  I still remember my first basket on a 10' hoop.  It was during the time out of my dad's church basketball games.  I ran out onto the court and heaved, more than shot, the ball at the basket.  Miraculously it went!  I was six or seven at the time.  I'm nearly forty and still love to play the game and put the ball thru the hoop!

Tonight I had the chance to play with some guys from church.  It's a good group of guys, out for some fun and exercise, not trying to earn a contract with a NBA team or anything.  The most arguing we do is who's ball it is..."it was off me"..."no, I touched it last"..."no, it's your ball."  I like to think that my skills haven't diminished much, but physically I know I'm not the same.  Can't run as fast, jump as high, get around that young guy guarding me, but my brain still thinks I can, body just won't cooperate.

For me, there are not many things better than a swish that come off a shot that just feels good the moment you release it.  You catch the ball in rhythm, everything is in sync, your knees are bent, shoulders slightly forward, the ball does not dip before you raise it up.  Your shooting elbow forms a 90* angle, ball on your finger tips, your opposite hand is just guiding the ball.  Your focus is on the rim.  For some that is the front, other just over the front and for me it is the back of the rim. You raise up, shooting the ball at the apex of your jump, shooting arm extended, holding your follow thru for a second longer than feels normal.  And as soon as you release the ball, you know it is going in.  Your eyes stay focused on your target waiting to be rewarded with a SWISH and the accompanying sound of the swish from the net!
 

Had one of those shots tonight.  It was beautiful.  I have a personal superstition...never leave the gym on a miss.  Tonight, my perfect shot was the last shot I took, it went in, so I was good to go home.  (No it was not the game winner, but we did win the game.)

What Made Your Day Beautiful?

Of dance.

Let me be clear, I can't dance.  I try, but I have no rhythm.  Ask Wendy, I have a difficult time clapping in sync at concerts, games, etc...  She loves me anyway!  I enjoy trying to dance AND I especially like embarrassing my daughters with my dancing abilities (inabilities).

So it was a beautiful sight to me this morning to see the paper boy (looked like he was at least a high schooler, he may have even been in college) toss a paper onto a porch and then dance his way back to his car.  Granted it was 4:50am and there weren't many people out but he was dancing!  As the cliche goes "dance like no one is watching."

What Made Your Day Beautiful?

Of a drop of sweat, some encouraging words, the start of a final chapter & safety.

Another multiple beautiful moments day!

I've been working out seriously for a year and half...I can probably count on one hand the number of times that I've missed a workout.  For me one of the beautiful rewards of a good workout is sweat!  I love to feel a bead sweat start at the top of my forehead, travel down to the tip of my nose and drip off!

The beautiful reward of hard work! (it's a sweat droplet...Wendy said it looked like a spider.)

At the end of the workout, my partner and I were doing plank walk-outs.  My partners said we're going to do them across the gym.  I'm think end-to-end, thankfully it was just side-to-side!  Here is a video of a plank walkout...you should try it!

 

The walkouts started to get tough about half-way through, that's when my partner, who must have been able to read my mind, started to encourage me.  "We're half-way there!"  "Keep going!"  "Almost there"  "Don't quit!"  "You can do it!"  Those were the words that I need to hear and because of it I was able to push myself further than I could have alone!  There is much beauty to be found in helping someone, especially when they are ready to quit, ready to give up on themselves, because it's tough.  Or because it hurts.  Take time to offer encouraging words to someone, you never know, it might just make ALL of the difference!

Today was beautiful because of the start of the end.  Today was Simon's first day of the last year of preschool!  

He's getting so big!

It's hard to let go of this chapter in my life, but transitions open the doors for new beautiful moments.  I love that he still comes running and yelling "DADDEEEEEEEEE" when I walk in the door from work!  There aren't too many moments that are more beautiful than that!

Finally, the most beautiful part of the day is not this picture:

oops!

but that the occupants of our car and the other car were not hurt!  

What Made Your Day Beautiful?

Of a great end too!

The day ended beautifully too!  Not only was I able to enjoy this beautiful Nebraska sunset, but I also got to play a quick nine...the game itself was hit and miss...I'd hit the ball and miss my target:-)

But every now and then everything comes together for the perfect swing. Tonight it was the last swing of the night. I had a ball that got scuffed when it hit the cart path earlier so I decided to donate it to the range. I picked out my target, went through my pre-shot routine, told myself to clear my mind and just swing. I took the club back nice and easy, relaxed, soft hand, started my down swing with my feet, cleared my hit, lagged the club head, turned my wrists over as I released the club continued turning thru impact (with all of those swing thoughts, no wonder golf is so difficult!)...and what'd you know the ball flew true. carried the 250 sign and got grabbed by the trees at the back of Mahoney Golf Course's driving range! When a golf swing all comes together it is a beautiful thing!

What Made Your Day Beautiful?

of a great start!

A beautiful start to the day!  This was my treat on the way to bball.

Have a beautiful day!

of the imagination of children.

It's Sunday, I go to church on Sunday.  I thought for sure I would write about the beauty of the Lord's Supper, but a couple of things happened that captured my heart today.  Today I was taken with the innocence and beauty of the imagination of children.

This morning as I'm reading the paper, Simon comes up to me and tells me he is making a bandana.  He's really in to Jake & the Neverland Pirates.  So he brings me a a couple of pieces of paper that he had cut into strips asking for some tape to turn it into a bandana.  I told him it was a little short so he went and got another strip.  We taped it together and I put it on him and he goes running off ready to play.  Soon after he designated me to be Capt. Hook! And we played and sword fought for a while.

The flash was a little too bright for him!

Later at church, during the passing of the Lord's Supper, as I'm contemplating the Lord's Atonement, I look over and see Wendy and Maddie laughing.  Wendy leans in and whisper's "Whitney just clinked cups with Maddie."  Maddie thought she was trying to hand her the little cup then she just smiled and looked at Maddie and clinked the cups. It was hilarious.

Today my day was made beautiful by the pure imagination of my children!

What made your day beautiful?

for so many reasons!

I really have a tough choice with this one: 

1. Was it sleeping and and have my two youngest children come wake me up by tickling my feet, which lead to tickle time with the both of them?
2. Was it actual getting some snuggle time with my oldest daughter?  (I've shared a secret with her that if she wants to get out of any chores, she can just say "I want to do that, but I REALLY want to snuggle with dad right now!"  Still don't think it will happen nor will there likely be any snuggling.)
3. Was it the start of the Husker Football season?
4. Was it experiencing something completely new, like being interviewed on camera and being followed by the camera?
5. Was it Wendy and I going on our 2nd date in 2 nights and spending a few hours with my parents and uncle and aunt, playing games?

I suppose the point is, there is beauty and beautiful moments all around us and if we take the time to look, we'll see them!

What made your day beautiful?

of the sounds of football season!

This morning as I returned home from my workout at 7am, not only was I treated to a gorgeous sunrise but also the sounds of the Lincoln Southeast High Marching Band practicing.  I took a moment to enjoy the beats of the drums!

What made your day beautiful?

The why!

A friend and I were talking recently about the news & all of the negativity that gets reported.  We joked about starting our own news channel that only broadcasts positive news!  I have also been struck by the frailty of life as I have followed the stories of two young fathers stricken with terminal cancer in the prime of their lives.  It has weighed on me heavily and has reignited my desire to recognize and appreciate all that is good and beautiful that is around me.  I would like to use this digital space to capture a few of the items that make my life beautiful!

For me, my beautiful life begins with my:

One of my all time favorite pictures of my family!

Tonight Whitney read Mo Willems I Broke My Trunk! to us before she went to bed.  I took time to appreciate Whitney's joyous laughter as she read the story of Gerald telling Piggie the long, crazy story about breaking his trunk.  Wendy's laughter and expressions were quite beautiful too!

There is beauty all around us...just take a moment to recognize and appreciate it!

What made your day beautiful?