Wild Things

So, one of the joys of being a high school teacher is ever so often having the opportunity to pretend you are one of the kids again.

This Friday night was our Homecoming game and I was afforded such an opportunity. Our school is fairly new (this is its 3 year) and our student body has done a wonderful job at attempting to build unity and school spirit. One such method has been the creation of the "Wildthings", a student group that dresses up in white overalls painted with Cy-Woods Crimson red and gold and lead the student section in yells through out the game. They also run these huge flags that spell out "W O O D S" down the field whenever we score.

The Faculty Wild Things lined up ready to run for the opening before the National Anthem

Well, for the Homecoming game they asked for volunteers, and I, wanting to be involved with my students and serve in what ever way possible, decided this was a good idea. I have to say sprinting 100 yards down the side line carrying a huge flag is a little harder than it looks, and I am a little sore today, but I had the time of my life!

It was so amazing to be able to see my students shine in their different areas of talent. Before the game started, we, the faculty Wild Things, lined up down the field ready to run as soon as the football players broke through the banner. We had to time this perfectly as to not get run over by the football players. The Crimson Cadettes (our drill team) and our cheerleaders were also lined up on the field as well. I have several on the drill team, and 3 varsity cheerleaders and many football players. It was such a privilege to be on the field with them. I also got to see the drum line when they came over to the student section after half time. These students are so talented, and it is so neat to see them outside of the classroom in their element. I now have a lot of ammonitition for praise.

And I have to say I really enjoyed the intensity and atmosphere of being on the field on a Friday night football game. I yelled as loud as I could, did some cartwheels, and basically got to act like a huge goof ball. We scored a total of 6 touch downs and we quickly got tired of running the flags- so we were on a rotation. One time I was slightly embarrassed as I happened to be the only girl running with 5 guys. The lead flag sets the pace, and our wrestling coach decided to sprint as fast as he could down the field- sadly, despite my best efforts, I had trouble keeping up. It was quite humorous as you saw the spirit flag, W, O and then a H U G E space O, D, S. Oh well, anything for the kids...right?!
One of my amazing students, Lauryn and me at the game

Two thoughts:

1. Why does no one have to tell the crowd to cheer when a great play is made or yell "ooohhh" when some one jumps off a diving board and does a huge belly flop? This is worship. This is the natural, truthful response to these given situations. Our Father desires us to worship in Spirit and in truth. Worship is our repsonse to God for who He is and what He has done. This should not be some conjured up emotion or praise, but just a natural response, like our loud cheers or standing to our feet when our team is about to make a great game changing play. We should stand up and shout or fall to our knees, or simply respond, however we see fit to Our God, our Creator, the One who has given us life.

2. Wouldn't the football game be a lot less fun with out the cheerleaders, the dance team, the band, the fans, the players? Each role is important. I think that this is a huge lesson that we must learn in life. We must not be envious of others' gifts, talents or position in life. For God has appointed each of us to serve in different capacities. He has so perfectly engineered us to be different for His glory. We are all members of one body, each with a different role. What if the heart decided it wanted to be the lungs? We would die...

"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us." Romans 12:3-6

"As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace" 1 Peter 4:10