Being a branch in the vine...

Hey guys!

So last night we had a game against no. 1 ranked Oswego.  This game was absolutely huge for us, we are in a position right now that we have to win the rest of our games in order to earn a playoff spot.  So everyone was pumped up for this one, it was a home game so we tried to get a good portion of the school to come out and see us and we actually had a good crowd there.  We played so well last night and we were winning the game 3-1 with 3 minutes left in the 3rd and final period.  Right after we scored our 3rd goal to make it 3-1 Oswego came right back and scored a goal to make it 3-2.  Then about a minute after that goal they scored again to tie the game up 3-3.  It totally stunk that we blew our lead like that, we made a couple dumb decisions and that cost us some goals.  We then had to go into overtime and try to beat them there.  We dominated them in overtime and had a couple of different opportunities to score but we didnt.  Then with 1 min left in the overtime period one of their forwards split our D  and he went in to score the game winning goal.  It was pretty disappointing because we had the No.1 team in the nation and we were beating them and all we had to do was hold onto the lead.  Everyone was mad and disappointed with the results.

I did not get a chance to play in this game again.  I was not really thinking i would get a chance because i figured that since we won both of our games last weekend that my coach would try to keep everything the same, we even wore our away jerseys for our home game because we won in our away jerseys last weekend.  However, through the coarse of the week my Mom and Carol encouraged me with the scripture from Psalm 31 that says, "My times are in Your hands".  My times are not in the hands of my coach (even though they look like they are), i trust the Lord that my times are in His hands and thats the safest place they can be.  It doesn't always feel good, but i am thankful i can trust my times to Him.

We had a meeting this morning at the rink to talk about the game and to watch some game tape.  After our meeting my coach announced that the lineup would be exactly the same as last night.  Therefore i will not be playing again.  I was kind of thinking because we lost last night that he might change the lineup but i was not sure.  However, that word in Psalms still remains true, my times are in His hands.  It stinks that im not playing, but i can rest in His time.

Also a dear brother of mine from India, Sid, reminded me yesterday of the scripture in John 15 about we believers being a branch in the Vine and because we are a branch we simply bear fruit.  We do not have to TRY to bear fruit or strive to bear fruit, because we are a branch connected to the life flow we simply bear fruit.  So i was greatly encouraged by that as i meditated on that yesterday.

We leave this afternoon to play our game against Elmira College, it is only an hour away so it wont be a bad trip.  After this weekend we have one home game next friday and then 2 home games the following weekend and then the regular season is over...

Thanks again for reading and keeping up with what i am doing and what the Lord is doing in my life.  I greatly appreciate it.  I will write again soon!

GO STEELERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!