Parenting and Volleyball

Saturday we spent the day, all day, in Payette, Idaho at a Volleyball tournament. It was a great day! It was a long day! In the end I had a huge headache. I'm not really sure from what. Yesterday was literally a day of rest for me. Today is a new day and I feel energized again! :)

Kirsten is our youngest. The other two are in college in Michigan right now. They are planning and preparing for their futures. As we journey that part with them we are here for them to be a sounding board, to financially support them as they pursue their education and to remind them to love God, love others and be kind to one another.

Kirsten, though is still at home. Dave and I wanted our parenting to be consistent. Sometimes that is easy...like when they were all in elementary school. But as soon as Jr. High hit for David it was hard to be consistent. But we kept at it. It was really difficult when we first moved to Idaho and Kirsten was in 6th, Bethany in 8th and David in 9th. Talk about differences of ages, maturity, etc. But God is good and He answered our prayer to help us consistently love them and train them towards maturity (which sometimes took the form of discipline).

Back to Volleyball. It seems that the older she gets the more we get to let go and let her stand on her own. At the Volleyball tournament we got to drive her and her team (well, Dave drove the bus!), I got to do the Libero tracking, and Dave got to line judge. Most of all we got to cheer! She was fantastic to watch. She has some power behind her hits!

What I liked most of all was watching how encouraging she was to her teammates. That character will last a lifetime. Volleyball may pass away, but encouragement lasts for a long time!

Pretty soon she will get her license and she won't need us to drive her to practices. But I know that even with the independence she still needs some fans, and I know that we will measure up in that department.

But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good.

2 Thessalonians 3:13 (New King James Version)