It was a great season

Today I am lamenting the end of an era. It may not be a well known era to most people but to my family it is. Yesterday afternoon, my nephew Levi played the last football game of his high school career. And what a year it was! Before this year, he didn't get to play much because he was always overshadowed by those a grade or two above him. He worked very hard all summer lifting weights and conditioning. The team ended the season with a 6-4 record which is much better than anyone expected.

Now let's talk about Levi's season as an individual. He played in all 10 games. He ran for a total of 1900 yards and broke the school record for total yards in a season (the old record was 1608) and total yards rushing in a game. He ran for 293 yards against St. Cloud Cathedral (the old record was 257). Yesterday he tied the record for number of touchdowns in a season with 21. He had 3 games where he ran for over 200 yards. He was named West Central North Conference Performer of the Week, KSAX TV Athlete of the Week (that got him a TV interview!), and Hardware Hank "Nuts and Bolts" Athlete of the Week for the week of October 9th.

Congratulations Levi on a great season! I am so proud of you---not only for the great season but more importantly for the wonderful young man you are.

Following your dreams

Last weekend I attended the Women of Faith conference. The preconference was done by Sheila Walsh and Dr. Henry Cloud. They talked about following your dreams and it was really eye opening for me. I realized something that was pertinent in my life in the past and may be pertinent now. It has to do with marriage. Dr. Cloud shared a story of a women he had counseled in the past. She was about 40 years old and her dream was to get married. He asked her what she had done to work towards her dream and her response was she hadn't done anything because in her mind, if God wanted her to be married, he would bring someone into her life to marry. His question to her was "Do you think God is going to drop that man on your door step?". He helped her figure out what she needed to do to find that special someone and she is now married and is a dating counselor.

I kind of had the same viewpoint as the woman in this story when in my 20's and early 30's. I always dreamed of being married but figured if that was in God's plan for me, he would make it happen. Well, it didn't happen until I started looking. When I looked, he pointed out who he had in mind for me. I found that special someone when I was 35 and was married when I was 38.

I am facing that same thing now. I am a widow at 43 and I don't know if I want to spend the rest of my life alone. I don't think that is what Gerrell would want for me. I didn't really mind being single in my 20's and 30's but now that I know how great marriage and having a soul mate can be, I really miss having that constant companion. What do I do? Sometimes when I think about it, I have these feelings of guilt that I am even thinking about it. Searching for someone doesn't exactly excite me. Having someone dropped on my doorstep would be a lot easier. :o) Any advice would be appreciated!

Yet another anniversary

Today marks yet another anniversary. It was one year ago today my Mom and I drove Gerrell to Mayo for the last time. He had gotten so weak and frail and I didn't know what else to do. He resisted going but I explained I thought it was the best thing for us to do. I never expected I would return home 2 1/2 weeks later without him. I have a feeling he knew what was in store for him and that is why he resisted. Maybe I should have just kept him at home and he wouldn't have had to endure all he went through in the quest to make him better. Like they say--hindsight is 20/20. We didn't know they that he had cancer and that is real reason he was so sick. I miss him so much and I dread having to endure the next anniversary--the anniversary of the day he died. I love you Sweetie.

Proud Aunt

My nephew Levi is having an outstanding football season. He is a high school senior and is a running back. In 5 games, he has 935 yards rushing. How cool is that? In game 2 of the season, he had 293 yards and 4 touchdowns in one game. I am so proud of him for his accomplishments--but I am even more proud of him because of the person he is. He is so humble about his accomplishments and doesn't really even like to talk about it. So...I do plenty of talking about it to everyone I know. He now has many fans that don't even know him and have never seen him play. Every night I thank God for the great young man he is--and I am so thankful God gave me the opportunity to be his aunt!