Fall football games & History in the making

Fall has semi-officially hit Norcal with its chillier (50F) evenings and mornings creeping into the daylight hours. After last weekend, Daylight-Savings-Time is now upon us, stealing away our long summer days. Looking through friends' picture albums on facebook that are full of pictures of hot apple cider, pumpkin carving contests, pie baking, halloween costumes, and turtlenecks really make the season official. Last but not least, college football has been keeping Michael and I busy among other things. Every Saturday is dedicated in part to watching the Michigan Wolverines break yet another record... The sad part is that the records they are breaking were winning records... It wasn't until this season however that I had my very own Wolverine paraphernalia. So I have been proudly wearing my new Michigan t-shirts and old Illinois sweatshirts. I do of course still bust out the Baylor sweatshirts from time to time too, but admit that I do not do a good job of keeping up on the Bears as well as an alum should.

Speaking of football, Michael and I actually spent a Friday night under the lights at the 2008 Woodside High School Homecoming football game! It was quite a blast to the past for me, but Michael's first ever high school homecoming football game. I could hardly believe it! We especially enjoyed the opportunity to see and spend time, out of context, with students that I work with at BUILD. We had a blast running into students, judging the class floats, cheering on Ruben (an offensive lineman for the team), and visiting the PTA-run concessions stand. Here's a couple pictures of me with Whitney, Sharon, and Danielle.





Even though Michael is still sad that Ron Paul didn't win, I can say without a doubt that this is an exciting time to be an American, encouraging our minority and under-resourced youth to dream big, overcome obstacles and oppression, and be active in contributing positively to our country! I'll sign off with this music video that, believe it or not, I just saw for the first time last night after Obama was pronounced our next President of the United States of America.

Quiz; Golf

Heard about this cool quiz on the Washington Post's website from someone in my Ron Paul 2008 MeetUp group. I took it for the Republicans; Ron Paul won for me quite decisively although I disagreed with him on a few topics and thought that other candidates had some good things to say. Fred Thompson came in second for me and Huckabee was third.

Also, Sarah and I went to the driving range today on a gorgeous December day. Since I'm trying to tell Sarah that golf has many deep connections to the Christian life, it got me thinking. A few key ones:

1) You're success is judged by how well you do against an unattainable goal of perfection, not simply by doing better than others. God doesn't judge us based on if we're better than most people, but rather against the law. No one lives up to the law as described in the 10 commandments and the Sermon on the Mount, which leads us to why we need Jesus and his perfection to be counted to us. Golfers, even those who win tournaments and/or break scoring records, are very aware of their mistakes and how they could have saved a few strokes out there. Golf sets the bar so high that you inevitably leave being very aware that you are imperfect.

2) Thinking about what not to do is futile. Thinking "don't hit it in the water" actually makes me more likely to hit it in the water, just like thinking "don't be prideful" doesn't work at all. You've got to set your mind not on your performance but on hope-giving truth (in life: joy and peace in Christ's sacrifice on your behalf, in golf: trusting your swing and preparation). In golf you're essentially trusting in yourself, and in the Christian life you trust not in yourself but in Christ's work so the analogy breaks down eventually, but you get the idea.

3) Growing as a golfer leads to a greater awareness of your own imperfections. Today at the range I'd hit a shot and Sarah would be like "Wow that was amazing!" In response I'd say "Not really - see how I opened up and it went like 20 yards left of my target?" The more you improve in golf, the more aware you are of the mistakes you are making. There are some interesting similarities with the Christian life here as well. As we grow as Christians we become more aware of our deep-seated idolatries and self-reliance, and yet that same awareness leads us to take ever-increasing comfort in God's grace and commitment to redeem the great mess that we are. We are being sanctified, but it isn't like we're thinking "wow I'm doing awesome out here!" as we may be. Oftentimes, it is only when we take a look back at our lives that we realize how God is changing us.

Other sports certainly have similarities with the Christian life, as Sarah has been great to remind me. The similarities described here are not exact, and there are surely other connections between golf and the Christian life. In any event, these ones are pretty cool. Thank God for golf!

On another random note, here's a picture that Sarah took while a group of us followed a recommendation to visit to a classy winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains named "The Ridge".