"Jackson Christian def. Pittsford 19-25, 25-18 25-21, 25-21: Abby Cartwright had eight kills and three aces, and Lyndsey Matthews had seven kills as Jackson Christian finished 6-10 in the SCAA. "
This was Lyndsey's last regular season volleyball game - another milestone passed as she heads toward graduation. She played real well. Now we just have districts - which I don't think a team from JCS has made it past the first game in a long while - maybe we will do so.
I want to post some personal information for the many readers of this blog [<-- very tongue in cheek] just to catch folks up on what has been going on in our lives.
Dave is still doing reasonably well at school. [Heh – let’s see if he questions what I mean by “reasonably”.] We get to see him every other week or so. I try to get with him during the week. He seems to have some trouble with a recurring alarm clock malfunction, though. He had a rough break up with his girlfriend – they are still apart – but were able to make the hurt a little less biting.
Lyndsey is doing well at school, too. She is suffering a major outbreak of senioritis. Non-fatal – but it might impact her social life…
My little girl has a boyfriend now. She has known him for quite some time - but has just recently started dating him. His name is Rob. He is a student at New Tribes Bible Institute. [Coincidentally, but not consequently, this is where Lyndsey wants to get further Bible and missions education.] He is a nice young man. He and I went out to lunch on 2/11. Although he didn't come right out and ask me if he could date my daughter - I knew where he was coming from and what he was seeking. So when he eventually asked me what was my philosophy about dating I immediately deadpanned, "I don't think it should happen." C'mon, if the guy doesn't have a sense of humor.... He handled it well. In fact, as we were leaving the restaurant I told him that Lynds was worried that I would give him a hard time. I encouraged him to tell her that I was mean to him - this he did - and she almost cried. OOPS!! He quickly let her off the hook - and I let her know later on that it was all my idea.
We took both of them out to Finley's on Valentine's Day. That was nice. He expected Tonja and I to be more talkative - he likes conversation - but we didn't want to appear to be grilling him. But, now that we know ... watch out.
He treats Lyndsey real nice - which, next to being a true believer, is the top criterion on my list. He should treat her at least as well as I treat Tonja (when I am behaving anyhow). I didn't even get to do my "Do you remember Sonny, from the Godfather? And how he cared for his sister?" schtick for him. Rats!
Whether or not he realizes it - Rob has been inducted into the family history of the Matthews' clan.
- He will always be Lyndsey's first boyfriend
- He will always be the first guy to ask me to date her
- He will always be the first guy to make her smile in a way that parents and friends cannot do
I hope he will not be the first to break her heart. Really! I like this guy.
I tell her - somewhat jokingly, somewhat seriously - that I keep looking for reasons not to like him. And that I keep being unsuccessful. That's a good thing.
It is fun to see the response of her overly protective brother, too. Dave really loves her - and wants her to be happy - and is watching matters with a close eye.
Litchfield def. Jackson Christian 25-11, 23-25, 17-15; Litchfield def. Jackson Christian 32-30, 16-25, 15-9: The Terriers survived the long doubleheader, pulling out the third game in both matches.
"The girls didn't let anything hit the floor at the end," Litchfield coach Vicki Heckel said. "Everyone was on every ball. That's a good change for us."
Christina Cooley led the Terriers with 23 kills, while Erica Marsh, Kayla Marshall and Stephanie White each added 10. Litchfield improved to 7-8 in the Southern Central Athletic Association with one match remaining.
Jackson Christian senior Lyndsey Matthews played what coach Victor Face called "the best game of her career," pounding a team-high 19 kills and making six blocks. Abby Cartwright had 12 kills for Jackson Christian, which dropped to 5-10 in the SCAA.
Monday:
Jackson Cit-Pat: "Jackson Christian def. Washtenaw Christian 25-20, 25-11, 25-21: Abby Cartwright had eight kills, Lyndsey Matthews had seven kills and Cherie Esch served three aces for Jackson Christian."
Thursday:
We played real well - just not enough to beat Climax. If the Cit-Pat has the scores I will update this later. This was Lyndsey's last night to suit up and play on her home court. Kind of sad - but kind of happy, too.
Scoring:
Climax-Scotts def. Jackson Christian 26-24, 25-17, 11-25, 25-21: Abby Cartwright had nine kills and four aces as Jackson Christian fell to 5-8 in the Southern Central Athletic Association.
Rich shared some information in a recent e-mail to me that contains both hope and concern. Hope is evident because it appears that this difficult situation is a means by which God is revealing His grace in many lives through geconciliation and restoration - with Himself and within the family.
There is also concern that sinful frailty needs to be addressed and confessed so that grace may abound even more. Just keep praying for the family.
Also, Let's not forget to pray for this 8-year old boy who is a victim in some form. I don't want to share more than I can - just let it be said that #1 - this boy needs Jesus to change his heart and save him. He needs to be released from whatever spiritual bondage he is in.
Be relentless in your prayers.
Please keep praying for the Howard family. They have retained a non-court provided lawyer for Nathan [need $$ for the attorney fees]. Rich asks that we keep lifting Nathan up in prayer. I was told that the two girls are staying with Rich and Paula. Rich intensely wants to see God glorified through this situation and asks that everyone pray aggressively for all involved.
The ladies won 3 games in a row to defeat Burr Oak for the second time this year. Coach Face switched the line-up a bit. Lyndsey played the front row only - and helped in several blocks and had a bunch of good kills. The girls adapted well to the change up - where before when this happened they were kind of confused. Just a few more games until Districts.
A few of disturbing quotes from Faith & Practice: Credibility: A Sermon Before the Sermon
Steve Lawson (quoted from Apelles): "Be a walking Bible. We must never neglect being a walking Bible. You don't have to be cute, cool, or hip; you just need to be the Bible."
Charles Bridges: "We must be what we preach; exhibiting the pattern, the motives, and the principles of Godliness to our people. A holy sermon is but for an hour. A holy life is his [the minister] perpetual sermon--a living, practical commentary of his doctrine--the gospel to the senses. A minister's life is the life of his ministry."
John Owen: "And as men's diversions increase from the world, so do their entanglements from Satan. When they have more to do in the world than they can well manage, they shall have more to do from Satan than they can well withstand."
The Lady Royals VB team played at Waldron Monday night. Earlier in the season we won 3 games to 1. This time we won 3 games straight and won the match. (Or is it 3 matches straight and won the game???) Lyndsey has been struggling a bit with her serve - and didn't get to serve during the games. She was bummed about that and struggled with her attitude during the rest of her playing.
Hopefully she will adjust and get back in rotation properly.
We have been having great #'s of kids attending our Jr. High ALIVE program on Wednesday nights. We made up a prayer list last night - and if everyone came at the same time we would have 25 kids. For a small church - that is great. Tonja is a great asset in helping me keep things organized. Having Deb and the DeKarske's (sounds like a new band) handling the game time activities has been a real blessing, too.
We started the new year with a Gospel presentation - now we are dealing with them on how to live out what they say they believe. Repetition is a good tool - and we briefly have covered Bible Reading and Prayer time. I am trying to give them some means to be successful in these areas. I want them to look outside of themselves and see the need of others - in the group, at school, at home - and want them to be praying for others. It will benefit them to pray for others.
I sent a prayer request out for a friend of mine on Monday. It was a generic request for his family - especially his son.
Last night in the Jackson Citizen-Patriot I learned the reason for his desperate request for prayer - and why he asked that I get as many folks as I could muster to pray.
Nathan, his son, has been accused of beating his 8-year old nephew and has been arrested by the police. I do not believe the story in the paper (I have seen them mess up on stories like this before - in order to sensationalize and garner attention).
Richard, my friend, asserts the innocence of his son - and he does not do that as a father who believes his child is an angel - he knows Nathan and knows that he did not do this crime.
From a message this a.m.: "...this child has a history of ramming himself, his head, against the wall and doing great bodily harm to himself but you know who the system believes. They have reports coming from the last place he pulled this and pray they get here in time and God can use them to help the truth come out, From Nathans side and not just as his father Gary I know he did not do this. They have taken his kids already Gary and it is destroying him Gary. Try to imagine please Gary get as many churchs praying as many people praying this is life or death Gary ... make it clear Nathan was trying to save this kid from a life in foster homes or worse - a way of giving back Gary - Nathans heart is breaking and so is mine"
Please pray as the Holy Spirit brings this to your mind today and in the days to come.
Thanks!
I sent an e-mail out to a bunch of folks asking to pray for Nathan - the son of a good friend of mine. I didn't know why until I saw an article in the local paper here. Nathan has been accused of beating the eight year old nephew of his wife. I have no other news other than what was in the paper - and past experience has shown that what is in the paper quite often needs to be taken with a salt lick.
So pray for Richard and his family - especially Nathan and his wife Autumn. Rich is real concerned for the well being of the family.
The girls played a double-header in Tekonsha - and lost both matches. The officiating was . . . nah!! I'm not going to go down that road. The girls did enough on their own to lose - it was just an lousy night.
