Georgetown Basketball EPIC FAIL

With school work being relatively light this week, I thought for sure I could kick back tonight and watch the Hoya's secure victory against UConn. WRONG! The game accelerated my anxiety more so than a Management Science assignment involving multiple constraints and parameters. Throughout the game, the lead changed hands multiple times. Then with 4:01 to go, Freeman scored, giving Georgetown the lead 70-69. Tragically, right after that UConn went on a 9-0 streak, and Georgetown MISSED 4 three pointers in a row (any of which would have allowed them to win). I mean really... WTH MATE??? Final score: Georgetown 70, UConn 78. '

Initially, I was disappointed, frustrated and somewhat angry. To make myself feel better I thought, "Well it's a good thing I didn't shell out serious cash for floor seats to the home game against Cuse, because they'll probs choke again". My roommate got pretty tired of my grumbling/complaining so she tried to block out this bad memory by distracting me with American Idol, which worked pretty well. I also was able to calm down when I stopped my "what have you done for me lately attitude" and went back and looked at how Georgetown has performed in the past. How easily I had forgotten how well Georgetown played 4 days earlier against Marquette, or how well they played during any of the other 7 games they had WON in the past month:

STATS:
1/15 @ Rutgers: 74-65 W
1/18 @ Seaton Hall: 80-75 W
1/26 St. Johns : 77-52 W
1/29 @ #13Villanova: 69-66 W
1/31 # 7 Louisville 62-59 W
2/5 Providence : 83-81 W
2/9 @ #17 Syracuse: 64-56 W (First time in 9 years Gtown beat Cuse away)
2/13 Marquette: 69-60 W
(rankings were current when game took place)

After reviewing the stats, I realized that I shouldn't be so quick to lose FAITH in my team. Maybe if the team changed in some way (coach gets fired, starter gets injured) then I would have a legit reason to lose faith. Or maybe if Georgetown wasn't #9 in the country and instead lost frequently to unknown division 1 teams, I would be justified in losing faith.

I think so often we do this in all aspects of our lives. We are all happy when our subordinate is performing well, until he turns in that one crap TPS report and we forget the good work he has done in the past and instead begin to question his future capabilities. Or we are happy with our significant other/ spouse, until that time they forget to say "I love you too" before hanging up, and we forget how they cooked us dinner for Valentines Day a few days ago and instead relabel them as insensitive and unloving. And yea I get it... we lose faith in people because humans are flawed. But what if there was someone who always kept his promises? What if past performance was a 100% indication of future results and there was no variation within that? Surely, we wouldn't doubt this person's capabilities and LOSE FAITH when we were in a time of uncertainty, right? Unfortunately, that isn't the case. If this person is God and we look at how the Israelites complained/doubted God even though He had ALWAYS come through for them in the past, you'll see what I mean...

Complaint: ²² Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. ²³ When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. ²⁴ So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” Exodus 15:22-24

Keep in mind, just days earlier God had come through in huge miraculous was for them...

STATS:
- Freed Israelites from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 13)
- Chilled w/ Israelites in the form of cloud to protect them during the day from Egyptians (Exodus 14)
- Chilled w/Israelites in the form of a pillar of fire at night to keep them warm and help destroy Egyptians (Exodus 14)
- Parted the Red Sea so Israelites could cross on dry land, and then closed the Sea so that wall of water crashed down and destroyed their enemies (Exodus 14)

Take away: Don't doubt God's capabilities and dwindle your faith. Unlike the Hoyas, or any other humans, God is perfect and all powerful...if God did it before, He can do it again! Start a prayer journal where you keep track of prayer requests and praises. Then, when having difficulty thinking God may not come through, go back and read some of your old entries and reflect on how He's worked in your life. This will give you courage and comfort. Please note, this is not some health/wealth prosperity gospel where I'm saying that God is some magic genie in a bottle and whatever you wish for he will give you. What I'm saying is the following: when you are going through a hard time, look back on what God has done for you in the past and it will help you to remember his faithfulness and goodness, thereby giving you hope and enabling you to maintain your faith :) .

and yes, I'm still a Georgetown fan. HoyaSaxa!