Hold the Rope

The Tigers are 2-1, with a convincing win over the Essen Cardinals and two other games that were true fights for 48 minutes. 


What does holding the rope mean? You are hanging from the edge of a cliff five hundred yards in the air. The only thing between you and falling to the ground is a piece of rope with the person of your choice on the other end.
Who do you know that you can trust enough? Who do you know who has enough guts to withstand rope burn, watch blood drip from his hands, and still not let go?
Look around and ask, ‘Who can I trust to hold the rope?’ Who will let his hands bleed for me? If you can look at every member of your team and say they will hold the rope, then your team will win!

In this poem, a depiction of trust and love can be seen.  These two attributes are what keeps the one hanging alive.  Trust, as defined by Merriam Webster, a charge or duty imposed in faith or confidence or as a condition of some relationship.  This is the type of a relationship that is formed with Brothers, and I have been blessed to have a whole new set of Brothers on the Osnabrueck Tigers Football Team.

The other attribute described is love.  "Who will let his hands bleed for me?" This is nearly the greatest showcase of love; John 15:13, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."  Nails didn't hold God to a cross.  Love did.  This is a love that Jesus demonstrated for the world, "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God," and through his sacrifice, we have been given life. 

In a song by Matt Maher - Hold Us Together, his chorus reads, "Love will hold us together.  Make us a shelter to weather the storm.  And I'll be my brother's keeper, so the whole world will know that were not alone." 

Men,

When we step out on that field tomorrow, I want you to know this; I will bleed for you, I will fight for you, I believe in you that you are the greatest GFL 2 team in the division.  Let's go take that championship, starting today; through a trust developed with this Brotherhood and a love that is sacrificial where we'll bleed for each other.

We are not alone.
Joshua Aakre


What's been going on?
The past week has been another rainy week in Osnabrueck, glimpses of sun will show here and there but ultimately has led to a rainy week.  Chris man has been healing up from last games bangs and I have tried not to hurt myself any further.

Thank you for all your support and prayers; keep sending them to Germany.

Deuteronomy 20:1, "When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you."
 

The Night Before...

 Boom... Here comes the Tigers!  It's our home opener and we're ready for the Jets.  The Troisdorf Jets don't know what is about to hit them.

The following is something that has been on my mind and that I shared with both the Senior and Youth teams today:

In the states, everyone knows the story of Old McDonald and his farm, but I don’t know if you have ever heard this version…

Old McDonald had a farm, E I E I O (I’ll stop with that now).

Now Old McDon had a classic farm with all sorts of different animals, but after his excursions to Africa, he decided to add a new animal to the farm. A Zebra; this is the Zebra’s story.

Now the Zebra being in a foreign environment, he had to explore his new home. In his exploration, he met many new animals and asked what their jobs were because he himself didn’t know his job on the farm.

“Hello Mr. Piggy, what’s your job?” Zebra said.
“My job is to grow fat and supply Mr. McDon with bacon,” Mr. Piggy replied.
“What’s my job?” Zebra asked.
He got no reply.

“Hello Mr. Sheepy Sheep, what’s your job?” Zebra said.
“My job is to grow hairy and supply Mr. McDon with wool,” Mr. Sheepy Sheep replied.
“What’s my job?” Zebra asked.
He got no reply.

“Hello Ms. Chicken, what’s your job?” Zebra said.
“My job is to lay eggs for Mr. McDon,” Ms. Chicken said.
“What’s my job?” Zebra asked.
He got no reply.

“Hello Ms. Moo Moo Cow, what’s your job?” Zebra said.
“My job is to produce milk for Mr. McDon,” Ms. Moo Moo Cow said.
“What’s my job?” Zebra asked.
He got no reply.

“Hello Mr. Bull, what’s your job?” Zebra said.
Mr. Bull turned towards Mr. Zebra and said, “Why don’t you take off those silly Pajamas and I’ll show you.”

What is your job? During college, the head coach shared this story every season. The message every time was “do your job!”

Gentlemen… I’ve been extremely blessed and honored to be apart of this team. There is greatness in the Tigers that can’t be found in other places.

Pulling from the greatest book and world’s best-seller:
1 Corinthians 12:12-26, “12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free —and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

Tomorrow is war, not decided on one play but after 48 minutes. Let us lay down all selfishness and be unified as the Tigers. “No greater love has a man than to lay down his life for a friend.”

It’s a fight… Let’s go!

Summing this up, basically we are all different.  We all have lived different lives, have different and unique abilities and all have been blessed with different gifts and talents.  But with all this differentness, we need to become one.  SYNERGY: was a word Coach Bergy used last night at our Friday practice and it describes perfectly who we need to become.  Alone we are weak, but together we are a force.

Isaiah 54:16b-17, "And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,”declares the Lord.

Thank you for all the prayers; I believe God's hand is on this team and victory will be claimed through His son Jesus Christ.   Boom... Here we go!