Unfortunately our GCT Golden Eagles have lost the past three games, but to some very good teams! (We are praying for a big win tonight over a really great team!) Losing is definitely not fun; however, I believe God teaches us so much through loss (regardless of what kind of loss it is). A few weeks ago Jeff was broken and I was as well. I began praying that God would do something incredible and unspeakable through all this and to heal my husband's heart! He did!
Jeff wrote the following and shared it with his players, coaches and since then it has been spread around the town and state touching lives for Christ! Kids & others have come to Christ because of what he shared! Read with an open heart! It is some good stuff! It is long, but please read it!
Lessons Learned
GCT Football 2008
I love the game of football because it teaches us so much about life. The following is a list of just a few lessons that I believe football can teach us.
“Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”
James 1:2-4
1. In life, you will face many great trials or storms; much greater than the storms we face in the game of football. How you respond to the storms of life will define you as a person. How do you or how will you respond when you face a storm? Do you breakdown and self-destruct? Do you act out of fear, do you panic? Do you harm those around you with your words and actions? How will you respond to a storm in your marriage someday, your family, your career? Matthew 7:24-27 tells us the difference between building your foundation on the sand and building your foundation on the rock. “Falling down is not failure; not getting back up is failure.” “Adversity doesn’t teach character; adversity reveals character flaws.” Mike Ditka Chicago Bears
Natalie Grant “I Will Not Be Moved”
I will fall down, I will stumble, but I will not be moved.
I will make mistakes, I will have heartache, but I will not be moved.
On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand;
I will not be moved.
2. Football teaches us about humility. During seasons of success, we sometimes become proud and complacent. We tend to begin “going through the motions” and we believe that we cannot fall. Things become boring and dry. We become vulnerable. Then we are defeated. Life is very much the same way. We often fall when we lose our passion. We lose our desire to succeed. We become tired, bored, and passionless. King David made the biggest mistake of his life during such a time (2 Samuel 11). When we become too relaxed, our weaknesses are revealed. We become a target of defeat. You’ve heard the expression, “pride comes before the fall” and it is so true. Proverbs 18:12 says, “Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but before honor comes humility.” It is just as important to correctly manage success as it is to handle defeat. Sometimes, both can be equally challenging.
3. Football teaches us the importance of friendships and family. Friday night we as coaches spent time praying together. We prayed for healing because we were broken. We prayed that you guys would also be healed and built back up even stronger. There is great power in friendships and family. Are you building friendships? Are you learning how to work together as a team and a family? Life is all about relationships. You must learn to work with those around you. You must learn to lift each other up during the good times and the bad. You must stop picking on each other, laughing at each other, stealing from one another, fighting, running to be first in line, creating cliques and not allowing others in your circle of friends. Who are you investing in? Are you anyone’s hero? In order to succeed in this game, we must be a family and we must put others before ourselves. If we put ourselves first, the team will suffer. The same is true in life! When you place yourself first in any relationship, the results will be destruction.
4. Football teaches us how to prepare for the test. Victories in football (and in life) are won in the preparation. Proverbs 10: 4 says, “Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring riches.” Proverbs 12:14 says, “The work of a man’s hands will reward him.” And, Proverbs 14:23 states that “There is profit in all hard work, but endless talk leads only to poverty.” How are you preparing for each game? Are you giving your all in practice? Are you mentally preparing for each opponent? Are you physically preparing through intense practices? Even more, how are you preparing for you future? Are you gaining knowledge in the classroom or are you simply going through the motions? Are you studying and applying yourself to receive an education or are you spending time being lazy? How prepared will you be for your career? What are you doing to prepare for your wife someday? Are you filling your mind and heart with junk or will you commit to purity? How are you preparing to be a father someday? Will you be a leader in your household or will your family resent your leadership? Are you leading on this football team? Again, football can teach us so many things that will prepare us for future success. Please try to learn these valuable lessons now. It is better to learn them now than to experience defeat later in life.
5. I also believe that football can teach us a valuable lesson about defeat. We will certainly fall down in life and, as we did Friday, we will stumble in the game of football. However, it is how we respond to adversity that will make or break us. It is my goal to have the same mindset that Paul had when he wrote, “…forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead. I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 3:13-14
What lessons will you learn this week? It is up to each of us to decide how we will respond to adversity. It is through adversity that our true character will be clearly seen by others. We have 3 weeks left in the regular season. Our goal of making the playoffs for the first time in 17 years is very attainable. If we can unite as a team and bring intensity to practice, we will achieve our goal. Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit your activities to the Lord and your plans will be achieved.” I am going to commit these last weeks to the Lord. I am willing to give my very best so that we can be successful. My prayer is that each of you will follow my leadership by doing the same. Together we can do something special! Many times we have very little control of the outcome of a football game. However, you can control how you develop into a man of character and integrity.
I love you all,
Coach Conaway
GCT Football
Proverbs 16:3
And this is the man I am married to! Praise the LORD!!!!!!!!!
Friday, October 31, 2008
Lessons Learned
Thursday, October 16, 2008
A little catching up to do...
Alright, so after checking a few blogs today I have decided to partake in the little blog posting that my friend Charity inspired me to do...along with my friends Ashley & Kristin! I love catching up with people and checking in on my friends, so here it goes for all of you who enjoy doing the same...
What I've been up to lately:
- Trying to sell about 500 t-shirts that sit in my mother-n-law's kitchen area that say something about GCT football! I have to say they are pretty darn cute!
- Taking classes & staying up till 2am studying!
- Giving speech therapy!
- Cheering for Jeff's football team! They are doing so awesome!
- Making myself go to the gym.
- Trying not to speed to & from school everyday (to save on gas $ & to avoid a ticket).
- Being suckered into being the Chair & C0-Chair of a committee for NSSLHA.
- And trying not to be so up tight and give it all to God!
What I am looking forward to:
- Our upcoming football games & hopefully playoff games!
- My family coming up this weekend.
- Selling our house!
- A break from school.
- The lovely fall weather & the leaves changing.
- The rest of my life with my husband! He's the man!
- The day I don't depend on caffeine!! - will that ever go away?
- One day-- becoming a mom, but currently enjoy my furry little girl!
- Saturday afternoons watching college football with Jeff! And going to A-State games!
Things I am EXCITED about!
- Growing closer in my walk with God & my husband!
- The fact that after two & a half years I get a fall & winter break! AWESOME!
- The direction our church is moving in.
- Thanksgiving & Christmas and what they mean!
- I only have six more weeks of class till Christmas break!
- That I am in grad school trying to better our future.
- That this time next year I will know if I passed comps & will hopefully be actively searching for a job. And plan to NEVER go back to school again! Sorry, I don't think I will be getting my doctorate.
- Seeing my friend Melissa Swain tomorrow morning and her little man!
Things I try not to think about, BUT often pray about!
- Our house will sell in Springdale!
- Health Insurance & what we should do.
- Not having a paycheck.
- The election!
- Taking care of my body & being healthy
- Bills! Boo!!!
That is it - boring I know! I am sure there is more but I am tired! I have two of my first visitors from Springdale coming to visit me in the morning so I'd better go! I would love to know how you all are doing, drop me a note!
Love & Miss you ALL!!!
Monday, October 6, 2008
Pictures from our past couple of conference games!!
This is Jeff after our first conference win against Forrest City! He was soaked!
Saturday, October 4, 2008
GCT Golden Eagles!!!
Well, they did it again! Another win Friday night against Wynne Yellowjackets makes 4 in a row! The last time GCT beat the Wynne Yellowjackets was in 1995, so this was a big win! Our current record is 4-1! Which is incredible! Some big things are happening over here and that is because God is blessing us! We give Him ALL the glory for what he is doing and are so thankful!
We have some really big & fast opponents coming up starting with Blytheville next week! We are praying for all our players to be healthy for that game, be 100% and to play to the very best of their ability!
I will post pictures from the last few games as soon as I have an opportunity. Most likely it will be Monday!
Thank you for your well wishes & prayers! We love you guys!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
I've Been Tagged...
Monday, September 29, 2008
Pageants & Names (quick f.ball update)
I believe everyone is entitled to name their children what they would like. I believe unique names are a good thing for the most part. And I understand a parent's desire to change the spelling of their child's name if it is a popular name they have chosen! More power to these parents!
This past Saturday was mine, my mom and sister's fourth year at directing the Timberfest Pageant in Sheridan! Just a small festival pageant, but it is loads of fun and not to mention loads of work!
It never fails, every year we have people complain that we mispronounced their name or a child's name. And while our emcee was changing clothes to entertain the crowd, I took over the emceeing for one group! I was thinking fine, this will be great! I love talking to audiences and love to emcee...so no big deal! I glanced over the names of the girls in the group to make sure I could say their names and I guess I didn't look close enough. As I was announcing each contestant I found one name that I had no idea how to say! Oh, goodness! And I discovered I had no clue what this child's name was immediately after I announced her number for her to come out on stage and it went something like this...
"Contestant # 5"........................................??????????????? ( I turned to my sister and she had no idea of what to say and we were both speechless), then I turned to the little girl who is standing on stage wondering what is going on and said "Sweet heart, I am sorry I do not know how to pronounce your name!" She yelled from across the stage Mikayla!!! Oh, yes Mikayla! Really...
Oh, goodness how stupid of me right! Well, it looked like Michaela so I said Michael - a. I felt terrible; however, I blame this parent for this goof up! I understand the desire to spell your child's name differently, I do! However, when your child is in a pageant or anything else to where their name has to be read by a stranger over a sound system -- it is best to just spell it the normal way or what would be easiest for the person emceeing! Our poor emcee also did this with a parent's name. The name was spelled Charla so that is what she said "CHarla." Well, the mom was irate backstage because it should have been pronounced Sharla! Now who's fault is that!
Moral of the story is - when your name or your child's name is being announced somewhere by someone you don't know. Spell the name how it should look in a normal way or how it should SOUND! Then everyone is happy!
Football update - We won our first conference game on Friday night against a very good and fast Forrest City team! Jeff was drenched after the game and it wasn't sweat! The boys got him good! There is a big excitement in the town of Paragould about this football team and it is fun to see! Thanks for all your prayers! We play a very good Wynne football team this Friday!
Monday, September 22, 2008
A bunch of useless ramblings...
As a graduate student I am constantly exercising my brain so hard and every now and then I have a moment to just think of crazy things...I think they are crazy because I don't have time to be thinking about them. But another fellow grad student and I got to chatting about the things that we do that are so much alike and she is just like me! It is scary! Below are a few of the crazy things I have realized make me a crazy Type A personality!
As far as driving goes...I like it fast and furious! I have a need for speed, I feel like driving slow is a waste of time!
And I do not like to waste time! Unless I PLAN to waste time! I know, it doesn't make sense!
I'm not good with spur-of-the moment things, but am trying to get better! I feel like if it can be helped and you spring something on someone it is just rude. My dad always had a saying in our house, when my mom lost her keys or just couldn't locate them before the minute she had to be flying out the door...."poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part" and I love that saying! Ha!
I have recently discovered that earplugs are amazing!!!!!!! For tests especially; however, I feel the need to sniff a lot when I have them in my ears! While testing the smallest things will drive me nuts; such as others sniffing, writing, tapping, breathing and the list goes on! I know it is ridiculous! That is my sister's fault!
I love sleeping in and taking Sunday afternoon naps!
No one does things like I want them done! This may be read as selfish; but I think I'm just crazy and my dad taught me this trait! If you want it done right, do it yourself!
I can't wait to have kids and I CAN wait all at the same time! I am scared for my life to change so drastically. I have seen so many friends go through this process and I just feel like the first 6 weeks are the most unglamorous! I would like to think that I can handle this whole process and not miss a beat! For instance, just have a child without all the medication and feel okay after the labor process is over and once released from the hospital be able to run with no problems and fit back into pre-pregnancy clothes and not to mention get the same amount of sleep! But I just have a feeling that if God chooses to bless us with children that he will teach me a thing or to about my Type-A personality! But at least you know some of the things I will be praying for along the way! Haha!
I know I am getting older and older because I find more things to be Type A about. I just wish I could go back to the carefree days of childhood.
That's it for tonight; just a bunch of useless ramblings. Trying to use my brain in a different way other than for school and therapy alone!
Oh and by the way, our GCT Golden Eagles brought home another win Friday night!
