Gunna be hard to shut us down

I just thought I'd give an update on my flag football season.

Unfortunately, it is over. I have played my last flag football game.

During the last game I had the greatest "pump you up for a flag football game" song ever in my head. You should listen to it while you read.

We'll start with Corec.

Corec is so fun. I just love it. Our team went 1-3. Its fine! It was a blast. We won our last game 43-0. It was great to go out on a W.  And Kelsey and Cory brought Capri Sun and Fruit by the Foot to our last game. It was a blast. Another plus of Corec was getting to play with my brother. He's really good. And I just love being with that guy!

Kels and I with our Capri Sun

My boys team.

Yes, I said boys team. I coached my brother's team.  I mean, as much as a girl can "coach" any guys sports team, I totally did.  And for the most part, they listened to me.  Sometimes I would tell them exactly what the other team was going to do and they wouldn't listen to me. I'd be right, and they'd listen the next time :).  It was really fun, despite the fact that they also went 1-3. The last game was also the win.  They were ahead by a significant margin but the game got called early because the other team had three personal fouls.  After the game was called we stuck around and just messed around for awhile. It as a blast.

Daughters of Lightning.

Daughters of Freaking Lightning . . .
I love it.

We went 5-1-1.  We also played in the 3 on 3 tournament.  I just can't get enough of it. I've been told I'm like a totally different person when I'm playing on my girls' team.  And that if you haven't seen me play flag football, you don't know a whole side of Missy. I'm not going to deny it. I get pretty competitive.

Basically, my team is incredible.  We qualified for playoffs and were ranked third heading into playoffs.  The team we were scheduled to play first we had beat the first week of regular season. We were expecting them to have improved a lot. Not really.  We won 46-6.  It was awesome. Except for the fact that one of our girls tore her ACL.

Giving Coach Daniel a football we all signed

Then we were heading into the semifinals!! whoop! I really wanted to win that game for a number of reasons.  We had never been past the semi's before.  We were playing the BCM for the fourth time in two years.  Every time we have played them it has been close. Like 6-6, 14-7, 12-7 . . . and we were ready to beat them by a significant margin. It was just time.  Well praise the Lord!! We played so stinkin' well, and we beat them 38-0. Yeah. 0. It was awesome!

Li Yin getting a first down

catching for a touchdown

Ruthie being awesome and running past multiple defenders

Amy tearing it up

Catching another touchdown

praying after the game

Finals baby!! Here we come!!
The team we played in the finals was called the Replacements. They are mostly ex-Lady Vols. Like they are not eligible to play their sport anymore and so they are playing flag football. Something like that. Basically they are awesome. And big. Our team is very vertically challenged. At 5'6" and a half I am the tallest on the team.  Last year we played these girls in the semifinals and lost by about 45 points.  We weren't necessarily expecting to win, but we didn't think we would get crushed either.  We were so nervous. I legit almost threw up.

We played that game so stinkin' hard! I don't know that we have ever played that hard or wanted to win a game more. Our defense was absolutely incredible.  It was 0-0 at the half.  You have to understand what a big deal that is. These girls have won every game they have ever played, and have won by like 30 points every time.
 We ended up losing 6-0.  But really, it felt like a win. We kept them to their lowest score ever. It was incredible. So much fun. And I couldn't be more proud. Even though we didn't walk away with a t-shirt, we still felt like champions

Ruthie juking past the fastest girl on their team

Amy being an awesome quarterback

after the finals

with some legends, LE and Tami

21 days to normalcy

I've heard before that it takes 21 times of doing something to form a habit.
Its been just over a month into the semester and I've started to see lots of BAD habits beginning to take root. So after finally having enough of myself, I decided that I'm going on a 21 day trek to a normal routine.

One big reason for doing this is that fall is one of the worst seasons for me for migraines. I've had several in the last 2 weeks that have been awful. Having a normal routine, specifically normal sleep patterns, significantly helps migraines.

Another reason is that I want to try to get into a routine of having a "job." School is technically my job (only for 3 more months, praise JESUS!!) but I want to get into that routine.  I do well on routines, and college is definitely one of those times in life when no two days are the same.

I don't like having to do homework at home. I'd rather stay on campus, get my work done, and relax when I get home.  Having a routine will help that because I'll know what needs to get done at school, and then it won't feel as though school is running my life.

Lastly, I was very inspired by a Nutirgrain commercial.  It was all about making good decisions, and how one good decision leads to a whole bunch of other good decisions (watch it).  Its totally true. If I wake up and pull myself out of bed and go work out, I feel better all day, I eat better all day, I'm more productive, and I even go to bed better.  It goes the same with my relationship with God. If I get up and spend time in the Word, I am more focused on the Spirit, more in tune to what He is saying to me, and more apt to run to Him with every need.

For whatever reason I'm not so good at being regular with running right now. And I always have a tendency, like most runners, to increase my mileage, which just takes more and more time.  SO, because of that I'm going to let my friends Billy Blanks and Jillian Michaels help me out.  Yeah, thats right. Billy's Boot Camp or The 30 Day Shred every morning for the next 21 (well, 30 I guess) days.

This could turn out to be a very hilarious endeavor.
Well call today day 0. I'm also very curious to see if this habit thing works too.

Bring it on discipline!!

Hebrews 12:11

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  

Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.  

Well, I'm off to coach some flag football. My friend's team is playing the all campus champions from last year. I made them some brownies to soften the blow . . . pray it doesn't end as I'm anticipating.  :)

Skinned Knees

Flag Football season has officially started.

Gosh. I just love it so much! And I am playing AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE! Ha, I don't admit this often, but when I was about 7 years-old I told my parents I didn't want to play any sports with balls. So I tried gymnastics, ballet, and swimming. Then I retreated back to soccer. Dad says I could always get to the ball first, but then would let the other team have it. I just didn't want to get hurt. Well, 15 years later, I don't feel like I've played well unless I leave the field with some sort of injury. Who would've thought.

I tried to take a picture of my skinned leg just now. Unfortunately it doesn't look cool enough to post. Sorry. I'm sure at some point this season I'll have some great skinned knees to show off. Get ready.

Today was a little crazy. I got a really bad migraine this afternoon. I haven't had one this bad in awhile. So I took some of my meds and took a 2 hour nap. About an hour after I woke up I headed back to campus to play some flag football. Probably not the best idea but it was worth it.

The game wasn't our best. It was our first co-rec game and we just have some things to work out. We'll get there, I have no doubt. Playing tonight with a migraine just made me very in tune with my body. And  it got me to thinking.

We put so much focus on our bodies in this world. From exercising to eating well, to all of these crazy new doctors and health theories. But thinking about it, our bodies dictate so much of our lives.

I have recently realized just how often I get headaches and it is really frustrating (it is like every day). Sometimes it is so bad I just have to sleep, and sometimes I can get through it.
Some days I wake up and am so unhappy with the way my body looks I would rather just trade it in. Honestly. Other days, by the grace of Jesus, I wake up and am so thankful for the way He made me, every part of it.
There are days that everything that goes into my body is incredibly beneficial to its functioning; water, milk, gatorade, salad, fruit, carbs, protein, even dark chocolate (yes, I've heard that in small portions that is good for your heart).
There are days I choose to eat donuts, macaroni and cheese, and chocolate cake. And then I sit on the couch and watch a movie.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says "Do you no know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from god? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."

Well, where is the line between honoring God with your body and worshiping our body?

I'll be honest here. This is definitely a struggle. I love being in shape and healthy, but sometimes my motivation for exercise and eating healthy is because I want to look good. Where is the line though?
Unfortunately there is not a clear answer for that. I think we all have to examine our hearts before the Lord and ask Him to reveal to us what our motives truly are.

Philippians 3:18-19
For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.  Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame.  Their mind is on earthly things.

I think thats the kicker. Where is my mind? Is it on earthly things? Because according to this verse, if I am making my stomach my god, my destiny is destruction and I am living as an enemy of Christ. I don't want that to be my mindset.

But keep going in Philippians. Verses 20 and 21 say "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."

He promises to transform my lowly body and make it like his glorious one.  Yes, please.
He is in control of these headaches. He is in control of how I look. Gosh, he made me this way. I mean as hard as I try to get toned or lose weight, he is still in control. This is so humbling.

I don't have it figured out. I can't spell out to you where the line is between honoring God with my body and worshiping it. But I can choose to cling to this truth. He promises to transform me and give me a new body.  And I can choose to believe this:

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; 

your works are wonderful, 

I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

your eyes saw my unformed body.

Psalm 139:14-16

Jeremiah 9:23-24

This is what the Lord says:

'Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom

or the strong man boast of his strength

or the rich man boast of his riches,

but let him who boasts boast about this:

That  he understands and knows me,

That I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the Lord.

Pride.

It stinks.
And quite honestly, this has been a theme, all throughout life, but specifically these last few days. It just comes in and starts raging like an uncontrollable monster. I really didn't want to blog about this. I was trying to find something else to write about, but this is the verse God put on my heart this morning.

Yesterday I was praying that God would just humble me. Yes, I prayed that. But not without hesitation and fear of how he would do that.

Last night we played in a pre-season flag football tournament.  I'm sure you can see where this is going. I LOVE my flag football. If you've spent any time with me in your life you know that.  And I won't go into detail but the game didn't exactly go so smoothly. We lost. 14 to 0, or something.

At one point about half way through the game, right after a play, I'm walking back to the huddle and I hear that oh so (NOT) still whisper, "you asked for some humility." Awesome.

This verse this morning spoke wonders to my prideful heart. Its not like this is the first time I've heard this verse.  My favorite Adventures In Odyssey episode had this verse at the end. It has always really confused me about what it meant to "boast in the Lord". Isn't it just as prideful to walk around saying, "look at me, I know God so well!!"?

No, thats not necessarily the point.
Ultimately, only God and our knowledge of and love for him are worthwhile.
(Thank you NIV study Bible)

It doesn't mean walk around boasting in how much I know my precious Savior, but that knowing Him should ultimately be on the forefront of my mind. Not how good I play flag football. Not how I look. Not how disciplined I am. But Jesus. He is what truly matters.

It feels like such a simple truth.

I guess its not that simple if its so hard to do.

Lord, give me grace to focus on YOU today. Not on myself and all of my junk.

Number 2!!

Remember how much I love intramurals? Well its a lot. Flag football is my absolute favorite. The last three years I've played with some amazing girls. We call ourselves the Daughters of Lightning. It started out as a bunch of girls from Crusade. When we started our team the guys had a team called the Sons of Thunder. We thought it was appropriate.
After playing together for three years we have really bonded. We had a rough road the first season, losing the game that would've qualified us for the playoffs in the last 1.4 seconds. We were ahead by 3, on defense, and the ball was at midfield. The other team lined up trips right, snapped the ball and the quarterback threw a bomb. It was really devastating. But, we learned the game is not over until the clock runs out.

Now, number 2 here is really a tie. But it is combinable. If you want to title it, call it Daughter's of Lightning Epic Moments.


The first epic moment was during our second year of playing together, my junior year. Now most of us were still involved in Crusade, and almost all of us went on Crusade's fall retreat. It used to be a tradition at fall retreat that we would have a big football game on Saturday afternoon. That year about 40 people were playing, no joke. It was a pretty relaxed game. Ha, that didn't stop Laura and I from scouting on some of those freshman (yes, this was how we discovered Allix).  Anyway, the game began to disperse; about half of the group was supposed to stay on the upper field and play group games, while the other half was headed to the basketball courts to do the same. Well, we didn't end up playing group games. All of the girls that remained on the field, purely by coincidence, were Daughter's of Lightning. So there were about 10 of us, and then about 20 guys. Well, we had one of the most epic football games of our lives. Yeah, 10 of us girls, huddling before each play, calling our plays, and making them. It was AMAZING!! I mean, not that we were really keeping score, or that we won or anything (I mean we were outnumbered 2 to 1, though I'm convinced we could've won if the numbers had been even), but it was incredible!

Daughter's of Lightning Epic Moment #2
This moment truly is epic. During our third year of playing together we had a change of quarterbacks. The first year we had two. Carrie and Laura. Well the second year Carrie was out of town for an internship, so Laura was the quarterback. The third year, Laura had graduated, so Carrie was the quarterback again. Our first game that season we played the BCM, the Baptist Collegiate Ministry. Lets just be honest here, there definitely is a campus ministry rivalry, whether we'd all admit it or not. So about 3 plays into the game Carrie, our quarterback, tore her ACL and meniscus. Shoot. We ended up tying the game. I hate tying, probably more than losing.
Well we had a great remainder of the season. We qualified for playoffs for the second year in a row and won our first playoff game.  Guess who we were playing for our second game. Yeah, the BCM. Woo! I cannot begin to explain the anticipation heading into that game. We had never played them before that season. They had injured our quarterback. We had tied them. This was our only chance to prove which team was better. And I also played with them my freshman year. Yeah. It was time for a W and for the Daughters of Lightning to put them in their place. Shoot. We played so hard that game. I've never seen us want a win more. We truly played our hearts out, and ended up bloody and bruised. Daniel, our coach, almost knocked out the ref for a bad call. And yes, we won! We got that W! The final score was 14 to 7. And the Daughters of Lightning advanced to the semifinals in the playoffs. The farthest we'd ever gone.

So there you have it. Second favorite college memory. Daughter's of Lightning Epic Moments.