Hanging in - or hanging out? A footy lesson?

I went to a Swannies game yesterday.  We got smashed.  It was very sad.  But it got me thinking.  There are two types of people.  There are those who support loudly, who cheer, who wear the team colours, who raise their children to be avid supporters.  Yet when their team is down and it looks like it's all over, they cut and run.  (This is understandable when you know what the traffic is like).  But there are those who also support loudly, cheer, wear the team colours, raise their children to love the team and when their team is losing - shock horror - they stick around.

I am one of the latter.  (When it comes to being a Swannies supporter anyway).  Part of this is my stubborn nature.  Part of it is that I've paid good money to watch a whole game & enjoy the kick to kick.  And part of it is because I have stickability.  I will hang in there to the very end, still encouraging the boys and willing them to finish well.  It genuinely worries me to think how the players feel when they see hundreds of supporters who were cheering for them an hour ago turning tail and heading home, emptying a stadium that was previously a sea of red and white. Perhaps more importantly, what message do we send to our children?

Now you may be thinking - it's just footy - seriously, get over it!  But it's not just footy.  It's life.  We all get caught in the same trap.  We might be hanging in there through sickness or loss or a rotten job or a difficult relationship.  But we stop cheering.  We take off our team colours.  We start to look at the world outside whatever stadium we're currently in and it looks like a good option.  We start to forget which team we belong to and who our coach is.  The truth is we're hanging in there through the bad stuff, but we've stopped hanging out for the good stuff to happen.  We've lost hope.

1 Peter 1:6 says:  "So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while."(NLT)

We need to be truly glad.  We need to find our joy in hope.  Paul tells us that hope isn't hope if you can see it.  It's not crazy to take joy in something that hasn't happened, isn't likely or you haven't seen.  It's optimism.  And if you're in a relationship with Jesus - it's one of his best gifts!

Our kids don't need to see us throwing our hands up in the air in despair.  They don't need to hear us whining about how bad the ref is and how unfair the calls are.  They don't need to see us getting frustrated with other supporters.  They don't need us to take them with us when we opt out and leave when the game's not over.
Rather than hanging in there and just being miserable, our kids need to see us cheering, wearing the team colours and hanging out for a better future.  It is their future after all.