Not the Blog I Planned...

I know I promised a new blog this week, and I had something in mind for it already.  That one will get posted at some point, but sometimes life throws you a curveball and something comes up that you have to talk about.  This is one of those times..

The Only Guarantee
If there's one thing I've learned over the last three years, it's this: the only guarantee in junior hockey is that there are no guarantees.  Ice time is never a given, and your spot on the team isn't secure until after trade deadline, no matter what you think.  Those who know me, know that I've had to go through this part myself and it's been really tough, but I thought this year would be a bit different.  What I didn't realize is that it isn't just tough when you're going through adversity yourself, but also when people close to you get put through it as well. 

First it was my brother- as many of you know he was not given much opportunity to play with the blazers despite leading the team in points in the preseason.  It finally got to the point where about a month ago, they reassigned him to junior B to get ice time and get his confidence back.  Funny how closely the two coincide.  He's currently lighting it up for the KIJHL-leading Kamloops Storm and is in good spirits.

Dropping the Bomb
The second big example of this doesn't quite have the happy ending of the first one, and is the part that I felt like I HAD to get off my chest this week.  On Monday, I went to the gym to work out with the team just like every week.  When we all got there we were told that one of our teammates had been traded.  Obviously guys have been getting traded all year as we try to make the best team possible to take into playoffs but this one was especially tough for two reasons:

1.  I was pretty good friends with the guy and I knew I would probably feel his absence at the rink more than most

2.  He was one of our 20 year olds, in his last season of junior hockey.  All he wanted for his last year was to win a championship and he knew that our team has a good shot at winning it this year.  

Not only that, he had really made Campbell River his home ever since he got traded here last season; so much so that he decided not to go to Kimberly (the team we traded him to) and just stay in town here.

Lesson From Mom

When I was younger and things didn't go my way, my mom would tell me "life isn't fair."  This was usually a defense mechanism on her part to try to get me to stop complaining about an early bedtime or the like, but it rings true.  Talking with my teammate on the phone on Monday night, it was obvious that this lesson from Mom is still true today.  He did not know what he could've done to get a better outcome, and it was really tough to hear what he was going through.  I didn't know what to do except listen and console the best I could.  I had gone through similar experiences in my relatively short hockey career and I knew exactly how he felt in that moment.

In moments like these, people relate closely to the angrier psalms of the bible, like Psalm 35, when David cries out, "They repay me evil for good and leave my soul forlorn...[my] attackers gathered against me when I was unaware. They slandered me without ceasing."

The Old Testament is full of stories of injustice, and I love how it presents life the way it truly is: ugly, unfiltered and unfair.  Stories about people like Job, Jacob, Joseph, David, Hezekiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel come to mind immediately.  Yet all of these people knew where to go for support- to God, who loves us despite our flaws and all our baggage.  It is an incredible truth, that always seems fresh and relevant, and it seems I need constant reminding of this fact.

In the End...

Life isn't fair.  That is a fact everyone will have to confront sooner or later.  As I listened to my friend wrestling with this fact, there was so much I wanted to say to him, but either didn't know what to say or knew it wasn't the right time.  I wanted him to know that there is someone to turn to in times like this for answers.  His name is Jesus, and he had one of the most unfair lives ever lived.  He came to save people from their sins, did nothing except love and teach and heal people.  In return he got spat on, beaten and hung on a cross to die.  However, because he is God, he overcame death and now lives at his Father's side in the heavenly realms.  

I wanted him to know that Jesus knows exactly what he is going through and wants to be there to help you through the toughest moments of your life.  I will keep on praying for him, not only that he would come out of this adversity as a stronger human being, but that he would come to trust in Jesus- the only one who is able to take away every burden and heal every pain.   

The Bible says that "we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are- yet was without sin.  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." -Hebrews 4:15-16