Stephen...The Goalie!=)

Yesterday, Stephen had his second soccer game. Based on his performance (not even sure if that's a good word for it), neither Jeremy nor I honestly expected a whole lot. We knew this going in. The league is for 3-4 year olds. Stephen actually missed the cut-off date by a couple days, but they let him anyways. He's undoubtedly the youngest on his team, with some of the other boys having recently turned 5. Jeremy and I have decided to consider this next month of soccer as more of a social time for Stephen as opposed to actually learning soccer! We want him to learn how to "win" and "lose," to interact with other kids, to understand that there are rules, and to listen better to his authorities (in particular, his coaches). This Saturday, however, Stephen exceeded way more than our expectations. He was still his cute, little distracted self, but at the end of the game, he was a star! (at least that's the way his Mommy saw it!) The coach asked if anyone wanted to be goalie, and Stephen immediately raised his hand. His buddy, Corey Canter, is a goalie, so no doubt, Stephen wanted to try that position. With about a minute left in the game (I can't tell you the score, because they don't keep it...so no one gets their feelings hurt, which I think is crazy, losing is part of life...anyhoo...), a big kid (like Goliath compared to little Stephen) came dribbling down the field. Jeremy and I immediately said, "Oh, no" and assumed the Red Dragons were about the score another goal on Stephen and the Carolina Blue Birds. To our amazement, though, this "big kid" kicked the ball (right at Stephen but hard, nonetheless), and our little #2 stopped it like a champ. Literally (this is no exaggeration, you can watch the video!) everyone there watching the game cheered! It was so unexpected that Stephen actually stopped that ball! Jeremy and I busted out laughing! We have bragged on Stephen so much and told him over and over how proud we are of him. Stephen must have watched the video 20 times! He's even went out back in the grass and re-played his "moves" over and over. And now on a more serious note, when we got back in the car Saturday after the game, "Praise You In The Storm" was playing. Jeremy and I took a moment just to thank the Lord for our little boy. We will not forget. We've seen a much greater miracle than one that can happen on a soccer field!