Lessons from Nationals + Pretty Pictures :)

I bet ya'll thought I was done talking about Nationals, huh? Sorry to burst your bubbles, but POP! BURSTED!  (Sorry, but I couldn't resist.) Here comes another post about the same thing. Kind of. :)
You see, I pretty much talked about how many games we won/lost, and what we did at nationals. But there's more to an event than what you do.
We only won one game at nationals. Yeah, I know I "forgot" to mention that in my least post, but hey, it's not exactly something I was proud of.  I mean, who likes losing?

 Still, I think there are some things that are hard to learn unless you lose occasionally.
For example, I had sort of put all my  "volleyball hopes" into this season. This season, we had six senior hitters, a team that gelled (or "mushed" in Marteney terms :) ) better than last year, and more height than we'll have next year. I got into the mindset that "this was it," and placed too much focus on winning, rather than having fun and honoring God. It's easy to have a great attitude when you're getting your way, but it was harder to be encouraging and  enthusiastic when you're getting beat 25-14 most games. But my attitude shouldn't change based on the score-board! I learned that my competitive nature, though sometimes useful, can get in the way of glorifying God.

Also, when I or somebody else is having a bad game, it's easy to get down on yourself. I used to think that getting upset at yourself is "humble," and that it motivates you to work harder. However, when you get so self-absorbed and depressed that you basically give up, you don't just hurt yourself, you hurt your team. I'm guilty of doing this, although I am working on it. But so many other things I think only affect me actually affect others, too. Bad attitudes are contagious. Sin spreads and hurts others. Though I'm not a stand-out leader, I am surrounded by people who are impacted by the decisions I make. Am I being selfish or selfless with the gifts and opportunities I've been given?

Enough with my ramblings!! Time for the pretty pictures part of this post! I know some of my friends don't have access to the pictures, so here they are!


Us with Coach Weddle!!! Isn't it weird to see us together and not wearing our uniforms? I think I could get used to this!

 

 

 



 

 

Us with Jill... our incredible coach who has no connection to CHIEF volleyball, but still comes to all our practices anyways. She always livens up our practice. Oh, and did I mention that Jill took all these pictures, too?

 

Isn't this one cute? It's my personal favorite. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, one last lesson... don't ask for a picture with a random tall black dude unless you're SURE he's actually famous. According to my dad, that is racist. But he WAS famous, (Brian Skinner, pro basketball player!!!) We just didn't know it when we asked for a picture with him. :) We DID know his daughter was one STELLAR volleyball player (I had to TRY to dig her spikes) so I guess that was kind of a good reason? :) :)