{"id":5777,"date":"2016-01-21T09:49:43","date_gmt":"2016-01-21T14:49:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=5777"},"modified":"2016-01-21T09:49:43","modified_gmt":"2016-01-21T14:49:43","slug":"someone-elses-kid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=5777","title":{"rendered":"Someone else’s kid"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"sfwmAkieTSyeToJZqfKV_IMG_9840<\/a><\/p>\n

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We each have places where we choose\u2026 where we root for one over the other\u2026 where we deeply want one person or one team or one side or school to win. We passionately desire success and victory for a single one.<\/em><\/p>\n

And if that team or side or school includes my<\/em> kid, then regardless of the current respect, obedience level, or whatever-still-in-need-of-growth characteristic exists in my kid, I am going to root like the dickens for my kid\u2019s team to win. I won\u2019t be rude; I won’t call anyone names (and hopefully not even think them);<\/em>\u00a0and I won\u2019t be unable to interact warmly with any of diverse desire sitting in the stands nearby. I simply will root like crazy for the one I love \u2014 regardless of the health or status of my current relationship with him. I will be my son\u2019s advocate. Always.<\/p>\n

And then it donned on me last weekend\u2026 sitting in the auditorium in the first high school show choir competition, a weekend where my kid\u2019s choir did great \u2014 but another choir was deemed to have done better; we came in second. And as I watched the winning choir burst with ample enthusiasm \u2014 pleased to have won and to have surpassed this day a choir with a growing national reputation \u2014 it donned on me: each kid on stage is someone else\u2019s kid\u2026 each young adult is someone else\u2019s kid. Each person on that stage is the kid of someone \u2014 and regardless of age, stage, character, or health of their current relationship, there is a parent watching who is rooting like the dickens for their kid. There is a parent who is pleased and proud.<\/p>\n

Such is true whether the competition exists\u2026<\/p>\n

In Little League\u2026
\nIn high school\u2026
\nIn college or the pros\u2026
\nAt a swim meet\u2026
\nAt an Olympic track and field tryout\u2026
\nAt a high school debate team contest or even presidential debate\u2026
\nOn the hardwood\u2026
\nOn the gridiron\u2026
\nOn the field or something online\u2026
\nSteelers\/Bengals\u2026
\nSteelers\/Broncos\u2026
\nBroncos\/Patriots\u2026
\nBrady\/Manning\u2026
\nBird\/Johnson\u2026
\nTiger\/Phil\u2026
\nAlabama\/Auburn\u2026
\nMichigan\/Ohio State\u2026
\nDuke\/Carolina\u2026
\nRed Sox\/Yankees\u2026
\nTastes great\/less filling\u2026 \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

The point in (almost)<\/em> each of the above is that someone\u2019s kid is playing. And someone other than you and me is going to be rooting just as hard for their kid precisely because it\u2019s their kid\u2026 it doesn\u2019t matter if growing up, they\u2019ve made poor choices \u2014 or even if they\u2019ve made a series of poor choices lately. The parent will always want the perceived best for their kid.<\/p>\n

Let’s\u00a0take this awareness one step further…<\/p>\n

How does it change all of the above \u2014 who we root for, how hard we root for them, and how we perceive the side or team that bests ours on a given day \u2014 if we recognize each of us, created by God (since there\u2019s no way we could have come out of nowhere)<\/em> \u2014 as one of his<\/em> kids?<\/p>\n

If we are one of his kids, then he must always want what\u2019s best for us, too\u2026 working on that whatever-still-in-need-of-growth characteristic still exists in me\u2026<\/p>\n

Makes me think that winning and losing, even coming in second, matter a little less than we sometimes believe\u2026<\/p>\n

Respectfully\u2026
\nAR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              We each have places where we choose\u2026 where we root for one over the other\u2026 where we deeply want one person or one team or one side or school to win. We passionately desire success and victory for a single one. And if that team or side or … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Someone else’s kid”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5777"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5794,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5777\/revisions\/5794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}