What I'm Thankful For - #10 - Club Football
That upon which we place our focus, will become greater. This works both positively and negatively. There are many challenges to living in China. Some of these challenges we laugh at, others we scream at. Last week as I was teaching my students about thankfulness I said (in Chinese, of course), "we cannot be simultaneously complaining to man, and thankful to God." If our prayer is that He would "give us this day our daily bread," how can we then complain that the bread is too stale, or too bland, or too...?
So, in an effort to focus on the positive, and therefore magnify the positive, I will be posting The Ten Things I Am Most Thankful For As A Foreigner Living in Beijing. I could make a bottom 10 list as well, and many of those things I have blogged about in the past, but this is November, a time to give thanks, so here goes.
#10 - Club Football
I did a short post last year about our kids playing soccer in Beijing, but I wanted to add it to my Thanksgiving List.
Coming in at number 10 is Club Football. Club Football as an organization sees it purpose as to teach football for kids, organize leagues for adults, raise the level of Chinese football (they can only go up from here), and make the game fun for all who participate. There is also a humanitarian side to Club Football as they give much of their time and energy to do "pro bono" football instruction for kids who cannot afford to join their leagues. They have even offered to come to our orphanage to do some classes with the kids but their schedule and our schedule don't jive.
The organization is run by Brits of different flavors. They also employ many Chinese for office, translating, and assistant coaching work. It is always a treat when you call the office and talk to one of the Chinese staff when they say "cheers" as a salutation. The coaches are very well trained, professional, and work great with the kids. My boys even get a kick out of learning new English vocabulary words like "bum" instead of bottom, and "bogies" instead of boogers.
I am thankful for Club Football because my kids love to play football. It is a lot of work for us to make it happen each week, but we do it because they love it. They love getting uniforms, they love getting medals, they love winning, they love scoring goals, they love playing games, and we love watching them. It paints for me a beautiful spiritual picture as I watch my kids play football - I love to watch them do things they enjoy, when those things are healthy. How much more does our heavenly Father love to watch us do things we enjoy. There is an unspoken sentiment in many churches that enjoyment is for when we get to Heaven. What a disastrous instance of missing the point that is both devastating to the church and the individual. I can only imagine that the joy of their heavenly Father is so much greater than my joy as they run and smile and kick and celebrate scoring goals.
So, in an effort to focus on the positive, and therefore magnify the positive, I will be posting The Ten Things I Am Most Thankful For As A Foreigner Living in Beijing. I could make a bottom 10 list as well, and many of those things I have blogged about in the past, but this is November, a time to give thanks, so here goes.
#10 - Club Football
I did a short post last year about our kids playing soccer in Beijing, but I wanted to add it to my Thanksgiving List.
Coming in at number 10 is Club Football. Club Football as an organization sees it purpose as to teach football for kids, organize leagues for adults, raise the level of Chinese football (they can only go up from here), and make the game fun for all who participate. There is also a humanitarian side to Club Football as they give much of their time and energy to do "pro bono" football instruction for kids who cannot afford to join their leagues. They have even offered to come to our orphanage to do some classes with the kids but their schedule and our schedule don't jive.
The organization is run by Brits of different flavors. They also employ many Chinese for office, translating, and assistant coaching work. It is always a treat when you call the office and talk to one of the Chinese staff when they say "cheers" as a salutation. The coaches are very well trained, professional, and work great with the kids. My boys even get a kick out of learning new English vocabulary words like "bum" instead of bottom, and "bogies" instead of boogers.
I am thankful for Club Football because my kids love to play football. It is a lot of work for us to make it happen each week, but we do it because they love it. They love getting uniforms, they love getting medals, they love winning, they love scoring goals, they love playing games, and we love watching them. It paints for me a beautiful spiritual picture as I watch my kids play football - I love to watch them do things they enjoy, when those things are healthy. How much more does our heavenly Father love to watch us do things we enjoy. There is an unspoken sentiment in many churches that enjoyment is for when we get to Heaven. What a disastrous instance of missing the point that is both devastating to the church and the individual. I can only imagine that the joy of their heavenly Father is so much greater than my joy as they run and smile and kick and celebrate scoring goals.
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