I love social media. But I really love Twitter. I manage a Twitter account for myself, for work, for church, and just recently for my son's lacrosse team. To me it's more fun than Facebook. You have 140 characters to say something profound, or not. I've read inspiring, life changing quotes, and given advice via Twitter.
Two weeks ago I started a Twitter account for my son Christian's lacrosse team. To me it was the natural progression since I developed the club web site and the Facebook page for the Junior Program. I chose great pictures for the Twitter page background and I was so excited to follow some of the college teams that our graduates now play for. I also started following our local rivals. No harm in that. So I thought. Until I saw the Tweet of one of our rivals that said "31 days until we beat Montclair". They even had a picture of a digital clock with the words "Beat Montclair" at the top. What? So I quoted their tweet and said "NOT THIS YEAR". No harm in a little town to town rivalry. And I wanted to shock them.
Fast forward to yesterday. I picked up Christian from practice because I had a fundraising check for the program. I waited by the gate after the boys passed by to go to the locker room and handed the coach the envelope. "Are you the one doing the Twitter for the program?" he asked. "Yes I am" I responded with a great sense of pride for pushing the program forward. " It's great, but we gotta stay away from the negative stuff. We can prove that we can win on the field." I felt a bit uneasy and really thought that he didn't have the right attitude! We were gonna beat these guys and why didn't he think so. After all, the boys (who always seem to be in my car) had been talking about beating this team since the Fall. Oh well.
I went to my car and waited for my son. So of course, when he sat in the passenger seat I immediately told him about my conversation with the coach. I was so proud of how I retweeted the other team. But my son said " Mom, it's about keeping your humility when another team lashes out. That was bad sportsmanship. We can work it out on the field. That's not good character." My heart sank. I never want to disappoint my children. Not ever. But I was so surprised that my son, who sometimes lets his hair grow too long, wears his pants a little low, and listens to music with lots of profanity, has grasped the lessons learned in so many hours of Sunday School, church sermons, and of course endless lessons from his parents. "Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing. Come, my children, and listen to me, and I will teach you to fear the Lord." Psalm 34:10-11(NLT)
Just when I thought Christian's not listening, God smacked me right between the eyes with a lesson from my teenaged son. My son is humble, always puts others first (uh, except his immediate family :) ), and respects authority. To watch him grow as a young man of God has been mind-blowing. This is what I pray for weekly in Moms In Prayer, but I guess I needed proof to really believe it? I thank God for this young man who is quickly growing into an unassuming representative of God's kingdom. I am so thankful for how God gave me a glimpse of His handy-work which is so perfect and awesome. So I'm now quoting reputable sports figures and tweeting game scores on our teams' Twitter account. Because of my son, I am tweeting with integrity.
