Wrestle Hard, Wrestle Fast, Wrestle to Honor God

 We've just finished our fast and furious 2015 wrestling season.  And what a season it was!

We had some really exciting highs:

 We've made some good friends with our teammates:

 

 We competed in really tough tournaments:

We even got to participate in a national event: Midwest Classics Nationals, where over 1500 wrestlers from around the country competed.

There was a really cool Parade of Wrestlers to kick off the tournament.  Down there somewhere are my boys!

Isaac had a rough go at Nationals.  He just didn't show up ready to wrestle hard and got beat twice.

Harrison had a tough time, too.  He had 2 byes, lost twice, then won by scratch for his final match to capture 7th place...which earned him an All American certificate.  

 

Even though he lost his two matches, I've never seen Harrison wrestle better.  He was bold and scrappy. He never gave up.  He wrestled his opponents hard and made them work for their wins.  But the thing that made this mama tear up was watching his confidence bloom, even in defeat.  

Each year of wrestling, each tournament, each match, Lige reminds the boys "Wrestle hard.  Wrestle fast.  Wrestle to honor God."  After many difficult and disappointing losses this season, Harrison's confidence was tattered.  After these matches he would be so down on himself that he couldn't focus on any of the good that took place. We've been talking with him, teaching him, praying for him to understand that wrestling is so much more than winning and losing. That HE is so much more than a winner or loser.

I saw a quote on a wrestling t-shirt:

"Wrestling doesn't develop character, it reveals it."

I have definitely seen some character flaws revealed in wrestlers, including my own 2 grapplers.

But if we allow God, he can certainly use wrestling to develop qualities in them that make them more and more like Christ.

When I teared up watching Harrison's confidence grow in defeat, it's because I saw that his confidence was in Christ and not in winning or losing.  He was disappointed, yes.  But I saw Christ in him yesterday.  And it was glorious.

 So we'll keep wrestling hard, wrestling fast, and wrestling to honor God.

 We'll also continue to use wrestling to teach our boys big lessons about the awesome God they serve.