Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Papa, Soccer, and the Boy

Well the boy played soccer the other day, and of course Papa was there. It was a cool October morning, a beautiful fall day.

The boy’s a sixth grader so he played on the U12 league. I always tell him he’s special and that I love him to pieces. After all, that’s what Papas do.

He started the game playing goalie. I walked down the sideline to where he played, you know, to be close and where he could see me. I gave him that low wave that I do, and he returned it. You can’t wave real obvious like; after all, he is playing soccer.

Well he’s a very good player. He directs the play when the ball gets near the goal, and he knows just what to do. He had several saves, and the other team didn’t score that half. But that’s not why he’s special.

In the second half he played forward and soon scored a goal. He played real heads-up like, and just knows where to be and how to anticipate things. And he could tell that Papa was proud of him, you know, with me standing on the sidelines and everything.

Anyway the game progressed and the boy continued to play, and then he scored another goal. Oh, did I mention he’s a really good player? But scoring goals is not why he’s special either.

Well his team won. At the end of the game I gave him a big hug and told him again how special he is. And it’s not just because Papa says so, though that’s important. The boy’s special because, well because that’s the way God made him.

He said he knew all of that, and I’m sure that he did.

Well the boy played soccer the other day, and Papa was there. It was a beautiful October morning.