Becoming Tough

Let me tell you a little bit about Daniel. He loves animals. He loves to read. He loves pickles (even dipped in ice cream), He loves to give homeless people food (if we drive by a person holding a sign, I always hear, "mom pull over!" and he will proceed to give that person anything he has, string cheese, fruit snack, half eaten hamburger....anything!) He loves science. He loves 500 piece puzzles. He loves studying human anatomy. He loves building 1,000 piece star wars lego ships all by himself. I wish I had a picture of his lego collection to show you, but he has taken all his ships apart just so he can put them back together again. He calls himself the "lego doctor". The neighbor boys bring over their broken spaceships and Daniel puts them back together for them without the directions. And you should have seen the Thomas the Tank Engine tracks he would build when he was younger. He's a whiz on the piano, it just comes naturally to him. I could go on and on, but I'll spare you. One thing Daniel is not naturally gifted in is athletics. The whole running, hand-eye coordination, agility, and competitive-attitude thing just has never caught on.

He made the choice to play football this year, and has been having quite a hard time. His coaches are pretty over-the-top tough on the boys. He just hasn't been "getting it" and wants to quit. But last night him and Jon came home grinning ear to ear, and Daniel looked like this:

Daniel got his first big tackle ever! Not just one, but several! Jon said he just came alive out in the mud and rain, and it was like everything just "clicked". Jon said Daniel just got in attack mode and started plowing guys down! Jon almost started crying (well, not really, but he was very excited and very proud) as he was retelling the practice to me. So here's to you Daniel! We're proud of you, that you worked hard, and did your best! And we're proud of who you are, even if you don't choose to play football next year, that doesn't matter. We just want you to *be yourself, because God can't use anyone else.

The way He made you is perfect!

*this quote belongs to Pastor Bob Kruse, I can't take credit for it :)