Pep Squad

Throughout my high school years, that bastion of mature and welcoming hearts, I was not friends with one cheerleader. Nope. Not one. Furthermore, I still do not understand why they were ever and continue to be invited to the annual high school athletic banquet. Seriously. More still, during the high school football games I used to wish the coach would call a sweep play whenever the team was near where the cheerleaders roamed….preened….cheered (?).

With the gift of distance (a whole lot of it) from my days at dear old Freeport High School, I have come to both realize and appreciate the need for the cheerleaders in our lives --- those who encourage us, cheer us on and remind us of the little old ant and the rubber tree plant (shout out to Shirley Feeney).

I am reminded of this from, of all things, the wrapper on a HALLS cough drop. Printed on the wrapper are things like “Get back in the game” or “It’s yours for the taking” and “Fire Up these engines!”

These “a pep talk in every drop” lozenges got me thinking as to why? Perhaps, it’s because one takes them when feeling a bit under the proverbial weather or one uses them when preparing to do a lot of talking, teaching, preaching. If so, what a nice pick-me-up!

Along with the occasional cough drop, who are the cheerleaders on our sideline?

Are you a picker-upper?

Sincere words of encouragement from someone who is strongly in one’s corner work and have amazing staying power. Case in point, to this day in the Bible I received on the day of my ordination there is little note card. It was placed in the bag lunch she packed for me on the day of my ordination interview. The card said, “there is nothing you and God cannot accomplish together.” The card was from my mother. Gift in so many ways and still.

A few days after I wrote this post, I saw a segment about high school basketball in Texas. The Juvenile Correctional Facility in Gainesville, Texas fields a boys basketball team. As you might imagine, there is not an abundance of fans at their games --- being in lock down prevents that.

However, for good behavior the team is able to travel outside of the correctional facility to play a few games against other schools --- these schools are predominantly private schools in Texas. A couple of players from Vanguard College Preparatory School had the brilliant idea to ask half of their typical fan base to cheer for the boys from the correctional facility in Gainesville.

The students and parents went all out: signs, cheerleaders, and shouts and whoops whenever a Gainesville player scored or made a good play.

This fan base was a total surprise to the players from Gainesville who are used to playing with zero support. The players said the fans and cheering section was something they would remember the rest of their lives.

As one of the Vanguard players said, “It’s a very real impact that encouragement and support can mean for someone. We all need to have someone who believes in us.”

Encourage someone today. Better yet, encourage someone who would least expect it, yet needs it the most.

sj;