God Speaks - Even Through Cheerleading!!

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

Matthew 19:14

Well, we are back from Cheerleading and we won 1st place!! We better not feel too confident – we have a huge competition next weekend with some top notch squads – I’ll let you know.

Competition weeks are very hectic. We practice an hour & a half and sometimes two hours 3 days a week. PLUS, a one hour tumbling class. Now these are just 5 – 8 year olds, so that’s a lot of time! I was really feeling this week like I was wasting time. What does cheerleading really have to due with life in terms of things that are eternal?

So, with all this cheerleading stuff – God reminded me of a story I want to share with you today. It is how He made a spiritual marker in my daughter’s life. It has a some cheerleading details, but hang in there – it’s really neat!

Back in March we had cheerleading tryouts. Yes, they make little girls “try out”, but everyone makes the team. As you get a little more experience you can be younger and be placed on an older and higher skill level squad. So, my Savannah was determined to make one of the older squads. She worked, and worked and it did not go unnoticed at the gym. She made one of the older squads! She was thrilled – it was her dream come true. Not only was she on an older squad, she was going to be a flyer in one part of the routine (the girl that gets tossed in the air). Life was good!!

Then, we got the schedule. Her squad practiced on Sunday from 1 -3:00 PM. Now Sunday’s are very special days for my family. We don’t get out of church until close to 12:30 most days, and then we would go straight to my in-laws for a huge Southern Sunday Lunch every week. It has been a tradition since my husband and I married.

I talked to Savannah and explained that we would not leave church early, but we would have to 1) drive a separate car from the rest of our family 2) take cheer clothes with us 3) eat fast food every Sunday and 4) miss our family time every week. I wanted her to be clear on the sacrifices we were making (and --- I wanted the gym to know!). We prayed about it and she talked to our family about it. The process was difficult, but she decided to cheer.

This went on for several Sunday’s. Then, I started noticing that she was still praying about her choice for cheerleading. I saw that she was looking sad often, not eating well --- almost like a depression. So, I asked her one day what was bothering her. She said that she had made the wrong choice. She had been praying about it and really thought being with her Nanny, Poppa, Aunts, Uncles and cousins on Sunday was what she needed to be doing. She was in tears and said, “Momma, I guess I’ll have to quit cheerleading. I’m going to miss it, but right now – I miss seeing Nanny and Poppa more.”

Well, that was all I needed to hear. I let the gym know ASAP that our time was over. Savannah had chosen her family (without my influence) and we would no longer be on the squad. I wanted them to know that SHE had prayed about this and this was HER stand. After a few weeks the gym approached us about being on the younger squad one more year and making Savannah the “leader”. She would get to help the younger girls know what to do and would be front and center on the routines. The good news was – no Sunday practice for the younger squad. Savannah accepted.

This year has not been easy. Savannah often sees the older girls and gets sad that she’s not with them. She is sometimes easily frustrated by the younger girls who don’t take things as seriously (including her sister!). But, I have to remind her – “God lead you to this decision. It won’t always be fun and games, but He is the one who wants you to be here at this time. And, you can be confident you did the right thing.”

So, the moral of this cheer story?????

1) Encourage your children to pray for choices they have to make.

2) Expect God to hear them.

3) Remind your child of the story often – it could one day be a special part of their testimony.

4) Go to God with the small stuff.

5) Know that He can and will speak to your kids and through your kids.

6) He can glorify Himself and bring eternal significance in cheerleading!