Dreams meet Reality

The Lord smiled down on me this weekend. I ended up winning the Regional Championships!!! That is actually such a loaded statement because I have never faced more issues during a tournament than I did this past weekend (massive head cold and then my knee injury flared up after 4 months of being completely dormant. I literally played one of my matches practically on one leg). But the end of the story is.........I won. The whole stickin' thing.
I don't mean to sound so shocked. I do train very hard and feel like I have been blessed with some abilities........but as I've told my kids a million times, you spent much more time in your life coming in 2nd-last than winning, so you have to ENJOY what you are doing. Otherwise, you will constantly be disappointed.
This is my first Women's Open Title, and it just happened to be on the grandest stage, at the biggest tournament in the NW. But two things made this win especially great.

1. Guess who I played in the final.........again. WANDA. The woman that's been on top for-EVER. I placed 2nd to her at the State Championships, but I didn't play my best. This time, once I got my head and knee under control, I was ready to play. I had nothing to lose. I went out believing that I could win and finally beat her.

2. Being in Oregon, not only was Will there, but my Dad came up too. He beamed with pride and followed me around the club after wards. Every time someone would stop to congratulate me, He'd chime in, "She's my daughter". It was sweet. (Or maybe it was self-defense as someone had already asked him if he was my husband!!)

(A few details for my personal memories.....sorry to self indulge)

I went out guns a blazing in the first game and did my best to not pay attention to the 60+ people watching in the stands. Every time I needed strength, calming or reassurance, I just starred into Will's eyes. I knew he believed in me.

I felt emotionally and mentally in control. I played well and won the first game 15-8. However, during the time before the second game started, I gave myself little credit for that win......intentionally. In Racquetball, you play two games to 15, and if you split the games, you play a tie-breaker to 11. So all I told myself was.........go back in there and get back to work.

The second game, I went in and immediately went up 8-0. That was the first time I thought, wow. This could be the one. But Wanda is a veteran. She is so smart, so strong and so mentally tough. She worked herself right back into the game and I quickly found myself tied up around 10-10.

Then she went up 12-10. With the win with in 5 points, I had gotten a little timid. It takes a lot of guts to really swing and SHOOT the ball 38 feet from the front wall. It's always safer to take it up to the ceiling and just keep the ball in play. But that's what I had been doing the last several points........and she was winning those rallies. I told myself to "Go hard or go home". Take some risks, when it's the right moment, and shoot like you can shoot. Once I got the serve back, I had two rallies back to back that forced me deep in the back court, on my backhand side (generally the weaker stroke......rather than a forehand). Both times, I swung for the fences and hit perfect shots right down the backhand line that she couldn't retrieve.

12-12.

The next rally, she sided me out, got the serve back and went up to 14-12 herself with a few amazing shots of her own. Shockingly, I stayed in the moment and just thought long and hard on what I needed to do. She served me game point.......and that rally ended in another deep back hand that won me the serve back.

I had served the same serve to her almost the whole match, because it had been working, but I knew that I had to change it at that moment. I had to switch it up, catch her off guard and try to get those last 3 points. I hunkered down, served a low Z ball to her backhand. Won that rally.

13-14.

Another low hard drive serve to the other side.........she sided me out and got to serve for the game again. I won that rally and got back in there at 13-14. Served another hard Z.

14-14.

My turn to not only serve for the game, but the whole match. One more hard Z serve, got myself a set up........missed it just slightly and left the ball up for her to kill. She also missed her shot but the ball came at me at a kind of funny angle. I couldn't do much with it, but I realized she had left herself a little too far forward in the court. All I had to do was get it BY her and PRAY the ball bounced twice before she could get to it.........and it did.

Point. Game. Match. .........and the crowd went wild. Okay, mostly my family, but it was a really special moment. Will actually got that last point on tape.....I'll see if I can get it on here.
The picture below is JUST after my win, if you can't tell by my sweat. The guy standing next to me was my doubles partner for this tourney and a friend of Will and I's.
Besides the actual win in the finals, we had a really great weekend overall. The kids were good. The hotel was great and we did LOTS of swimming. So nice as our children begin to get older and older. I can see the light!
Last night, Will said, "So how does this rank for you? I mean, I would think that besides our wedding and the births of our children, this would rank pretty high".

Funny. Because my first thought was.........that's like comparing apples and oranges. Though several of those experience had the common denominator of ice and Ibuprofen. But it did make me think.

It was incredible and I definitely have even bigger plans for racquetball over the next several years for myself, but..........it is just racquetball. It's just a game. And while it's a goal I've been working towards so diligently, it served as a good reminder that the joy and happiness that comes from a moment like that is PALE in comparison to the LASTING joy that my family and God bring in my life.

When I was caught this morning between this feeling of the specialness of yesterday's events, and feeling a little sense of it being anti-climactal, I stumbled upon a quote that kind of brought it all full circle for me.

"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world".
-C.S Lewis

That spoke to me.

Some joy is temporary. Some joy lasts forever. Having temporary goals and worldly moments of success are so great and important in our lives, but it is in things eternal that true, lasting joy happens.

Okay, all that seriousness aside.............I CAN'T BELIEVE I WON!!!

Definitely taking a rest day today, but hitting the gym tomorrow. This coming November (as I've mentioned before) I am bringing the Women's Pro Tour to Olympia for a tourney that I will get to compete in as well. That is what I'm training for now...........

Sorry for such a long, self indulgent post. Had to get it out when it was present in my mind.

Blog to you soon~