The power of scripture?

Last Saturday morning, Billy and I were riding to his soccer game around 8:15 and Billy was practicing his "memory verse" -

"So let's come near God with pure hearts and a confidence that comes from having faith."

and I asked him if he knew what "confidence" meant. We spoke about confidence and faith for a while, then Billy said, "Dad, I'm confident I'm going to score a goal today!"

Now, Billy, try as he might, had yet to score a goal in his 3 years of playing soccer. To be fair, many of the kids haven't. But this year especially, Billy has been playing with the heart of a lion, running as fast as his little legs will take him...and he's the fastest one out there. He drips sweat at the end of each game - he tries so hard.

So the game begins, a balmy Kentucky sky burning off the morning fog as 14 eager 6- and 7-year olds race up and down the field, half flourescent green, half royal blue. 1st quarter ends, Billy on defense. 2nd quarter, Billy's picked to be goalie. Nothing goes through.

He's looking confident. The score's 1-1.

Halftime ends and it's Billy's turn on offense. He and his best buddy Dakota give each other that look they always give - they've played together 3 years now. Veterans. They nod to each other and the 3rd quarter starts.

Down the field they go, Billy on the left, he turns in towards the goal. 8 kids at once battle for the ball. One emerges from the pack, just for a moment. And Billy shoots, and he scores!

I high-fived everyone around me, most who knew the "story". Billy's whole team high-fived him. His coach screamed from the sideline. "Way to go Billy!" You've never seen a kid so happy.

And then and amazing thing happened - he scored again! This time making the audience almost gasp when Billy kicked it in from mid-field! The momentum fully on the Green side now, Dakota scored 2 more for a hatrick. Billy, inspired now, kicked in one more in the 4th quarter to get his own hatrick.

3 goals. Final score: 7-1.

Billy's team is undefeated. This week we're getting it on video :)