Seasons of Waiting Feb 2012

In seasons of waiting, it is so easy to become discouraged, but there is great HOPE & encouragement when we take our eyes off our situation, look to God & invite His presence into our waiting. Just as when light begins to break through a dark storm a beautiful rainbow becomes visible. So it is also true with the storms of our lives, as the light of Christ shines in, we begin to see the beauty He has for us right in the middle of our circumstances. We are finding this to be true as we continue to live in a season of waiting. We have asked the Lord to shine into our circumstances & He has given us many opportunities right here in Salem to share His love & life with those around us.

One of these opportunities is volunteering at South Salem High School (SSHS) with their wrestling program, as time allows. As Rob’s role has moved from teacher & coach to missionary & coach, day to day life conversations have come up where he has been able to share stories from the Bible as well as stories from his life. Recently one of the wrestlers asked Rob how he prepared for matches. Rob was able to share with him that as a young wrestler he was very stressed, always worrying about winning & losing, and that after becoming a Christian his focus was on competing to honor God. In turning his life over to God he did not become a better wrestler automatically. It was a journey of casting his cares on the Lord & knowing that his self worth was not wrapped up in winning, rather in living his life for Christ & competing as a testimony to God’s love. As his faith grew so did his wrestling.

Recently Rob has been able to have these types of conversations with two particular athletes, Dan & Jorge. Both sophomores when Rob started coaching; now seniors.
We asked Dan to speak about how God is using wrestling in his life during one of our ministry presentations at church. Dan has grown up in a split family, where neither of his parents are very involved in his life. He invited Christ into his life his sophomore year through the ministry of Young Life. Dan talked about how he was skeptical of the new coaching staff his first year, they had an intensity & passion for wrestling that had not been present at SSHS in the past. Dan said as he grew in his faith & learned more about the coaches he was not surprised to learn that they all have a relationship with Jesus. “The coaches have passion to make us into the best wrestlers we can be but also a passion for us to be the best men we can be.” Dan also said he had never had a group of men build into him the way our coaching staff has.

Just before his first match almost 3 years ago the coaches were told that Jorge was academically ineligible, having passed just one class as a freshman. Rob & the other coaches sat down with him & set out a plan to get him caught up & on track. They wanted to let him know that being a good wrestler was important to them, but so was his life & graduating was key. This year Jorge has over a 3.0 grade point average and is 21-6 this season, 3 of his losses were to #1 ranked wrestlers in our division. Rob has been able to share with Jorge the AIA DVD “Unfading Glory” & have many conversations about his relationship with Christ.
We are continually reminded of how God is using wrestling & our lives to grow people in their relationship with him. To Him be all the Glory!

Please continue to pray that he would have more opportunities to share with Dan, Jorge and the other guys on the team.

Pray too that the Lord would continue to open our eyes to see what He has for us in Oregon while we continue to wait to report to our assignment in Ohio. We are praying for a moving date by March!