Ultimate Frisbee Tournament

Yesterday as she was leaving to bring Maciek home for a nap, Vicki told me she was thinking about how strange, yet cool, it is that we have found ourselves a part of this interesting community of frisbee players in Poznan. And actually it's not just Poznan. The tournament this weekend has teams from all over Poland and Germany. Pretty amazing that we just stumbled upon this group trying to arouse some attention for baseball one afternoon at the Cytadel Park!

The tournament has been a ton of fun so far. I think I must have played 6 or 7 games yesterday, basically sprinting around a soccer-sized field for near 40 minutes per game. After game one my back began bothering me yet I pressed on, battling for the team (Uwaga Pies - Beware of Dog). Of course this battling has led to me hardly being able to walk today! But that's nothing for the good of the team, right?

The sport is very action-packed, full of long, dramatic passes, daring dives to catch that perfectly-placed pass, strategy as teams jockey back and forth looking for holes to take advantage of. We have also found that, again this word, community is a big part of the game. When these teams get together it's like a big family reunion. Everyone knows each other, they spend time encouraging each other (newbies and veterans alike). At the end of each game both teams huddle up (picture above) to thank each other for the game and to encourage each other by pointing out the positives of each other's play and to give *very* constructive criticism on how the teams could take their game to the next level. The huddle finishes by a round of applause and with everyone slapping hands.

Of course our ultimate (no pun intended) goal is to be able to share the love and grace of Jesus with these people...and we had a few opportunities to do some of this yesterday through words - many more opportunities through actions. And with this in mind I was thinking a lot about how I wish that our churches would involve this incredible aspect of community to even a small degree of what was seen yesterday on the fields. I wish we would spent time together battling on the field, sacrificing ourselves for the cause, encouraging each other with positive observations and very constructive criticisms which would help us all take our game to the next level.

Obviously the Christian life is not a sport. It's not something we do for fun, although there's no reason we shouldn't have fun as Christ followers. But it does need to be something we are extremely passionate about. It's through that passion that we are bonded together with other Christ followers who are looking to give their all in pursuit of finishing well. And it's then through those passionate bonds that we are energized and encouraged to keep on moving forward, no matter how much pain we might be experiencing (as I wince from a back spasm - haha).

We'll be going back this morning for the last day of play. Vicki and the kids will be "suiting up" today as I take care of Maciek and try to get some good pictures of folks diving (just sounds fun trying to capture those moments of glory!). Enjoy these few pics and I'll try to get more up on our Phanfare site later.

Think about this aspect of community...if you don't have it wherever you're fellowshipping then try to figure out a few ways you might be instrumental in seeing it begin!