An Athlete’s Beginning: Saints and Scripture Sunday

by Dianna Kennedy on January 22, 2012

Saints and Scripture Sunday

I Corinthians 10:31
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

As a bona fide geek, I’ve never been mistaken for an athlete. I was a cheerleader in grade school, when all you had to to was volunteer. In high school, talent was required, so, that left me off the list.

I took up tennis when I was 30, and even though I loved it, I’ll never progress past a 3.0 level, no matter how many lessons I have.

My decision to start running at the ripe old age of 37 was driven primarily to impress my athletic husband. (not to mention, I want to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon) It’s the one athletic endeavor at which I’ve ever been marginally successful.

The Kennedy children will be a completely different story. Rachel has already tried soccer, dance, and recently added cheer leading to her athletic repertoire.

After the first practice, my husband told me, “We’ve found her niche.” She may not have inherited his athletic prowess, but she gives her absolute best in practice, and today, in game time. Even after telling me, “Mom, my throat is swollen from yelling!”, she was all smiles.

Looking for some inspiration for your young athletes? In my mind, I link Blessed Pier Giorgio and Blessed Pope John Paul II with athletes. Blessed Pier was an avid outdoorsman, enjoying skiing and mountain climbing. Blessed Pope John Paul was known as the “Athlete Pope”, as he climbed mountains, skied, biked, played soccer and volleyball, and even kayaked before becoming a bishop.

Traditionally, our Catholic Church has named Saint Sebastian as the patron saint of athletes. Young men will certainly be impressed by his story of surviving execution by arrows!

My young athlete, along with these favored Saints, remind me that we are called to always give God our best. This applies to athletes, saints, along with homeschooling mommas who dodge Nerf arrows on a daily basis.

I’d love to hear from you this week! Write your post about a favored Saint or beloved Scripture, add a link back here and add your post to the list below. Be sure and spread the love and visit the other participants, too.

Looking for other faith filled link ups? I’ll be stopping by Scripture and a Snapshot, Sunday Snippets, Spiritual Sundays, Hear it on Sunday, Playdates with God,Word Filled Wednesdays, Walk With Him Wednesdays, iFellowship, Planting Mustard Seeds, Good Morning Girls, Inspiration Fridays and Journeys of Faith Fridays.

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{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }

Carol@simple_catholic
Twitter:
January 22, 2012 at 3:01 pm

I don’t have a post to link up, but I thought I’d stop by and say hello.

Neither my husband nor I have any real athletic ability, but our son is showing signs of having said ability. I think he gets it from my father-in-law who has always been athletic, and at 72 he is still very athletic and going strong!
Carol@simple_catholic recently posted..Sunday Snippets: A Catholic Carnival (January 22, 2011)

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Dianna Kennedy
Twitter:
January 26, 2012 at 8:46 am

Oh I love to hear about your father in law! How awesome!

The littles of mine are all athletic, and my oldest daughter is a singing wonder. I’m writing about her next week!

Thanks for coming over!

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Barb Schoeneberger January 22, 2012 at 5:03 pm

Those pictures are wonderful. Youthful energy and enthusiasm are so precious.
Barb Schoeneberger recently posted..Sunday Snippets – A Catholic Carnival

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Dianna Kennedy
Twitter:
January 26, 2012 at 8:50 am

Thanks, Barb! We’re really proud of her!

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Contra January 22, 2012 at 8:35 pm

St Sebastian is one of my favorite saints. I guess since he was a Roman Soldier that they figured armies are teams and use many of the same athletic and teamwork skills.
Thanks for hosting again.
Contra recently posted..Saints and Scripture Zaccheus

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Dianna Kennedy
Twitter:
January 26, 2012 at 9:03 am

A lot of times, I read about saints and think, “What do they have to do with ……?” For St Sebastian, Catholic Encyclopedia mentioned that he was the patron saint of athletes, because we assumed he had great strength and was very healthy and hardy, surviving an attack of arrows.

The army analogy makes a lot of sense as well!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

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Lynnie January 22, 2012 at 8:54 pm

Whoops! I didn’t read all the way to the bottem of your linky rules, so I didn’t exactly write about a favorite Saint. So I apologize if you must delete me, but I wanted to share may faith journaling post and there are so few places to link up to!
Lynnie recently posted..Pages of Faith

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Dianna Kennedy
Twitter:
January 23, 2012 at 2:20 pm

Heck, no, I’m not deleting your post! I don’t ALWAYS write about a Saint … and I LOVED the faith journal.

Thanks so much for coming by and visiting, and for linking up. Hope to see you again soon!

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Allison January 22, 2012 at 9:29 pm

You little girl is such a cutie!! I loved your comment “homeschooling mommas dogging nerf arrows” sounds like a day in my house. I never thought of it as an athletic endeavor, now I”ll have to give it a rethink :)

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Dianna Kennedy
Twitter:
January 23, 2012 at 2:10 pm

Aww! Thanks! I’m hoping to get a better picture of her in her uniform soon. We have an amazing camera, but even after 6 years, we’re still learning it! Argh! Being inside with flourescent lights didn’t help much.

My boys — oh my! Most ANYTHING can be an athletic endeavor when dealing with them — getting dressed, bathtime, and even story time. They are always climbing, jumping, running, etc. I LOVE being a mother of boys!
Thanks so much for stopping by!

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cinhosa January 23, 2012 at 12:14 am

To add another link up: Jennifer Fulwiler hosts a link up on Fridays at conversiondiary dot com


cinhosa recently posted..Year of Faith (aside)

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Dianna Kennedy
Twitter:
January 23, 2012 at 2:11 pm

Thanks so much for stopping by, and for your wonderful post on Confession!

I’m a BIG fan of Jen Fulwiler, and I stop by 7 Quick Takes occasionally, too. It’s fun!

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Amy Sullivan January 23, 2012 at 4:06 pm

Oh, your first two paragraphs made me giggle…and the Disney run? Not that I’d ever want to run a marathon, but if I did, Disney sounds like a good place to do it!
Amy Sullivan recently posted..Pinecone Wars and Basketball Tournaments and Rest

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Dianna Kennedy
Twitter:
January 23, 2012 at 6:23 pm

Really? Not even if you got to dress up like Tinkerbell? It looks Awesome!! :)

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Michelle DeRusha January 24, 2012 at 11:53 pm

Cool link-up, Dianna — I’m happy to learn a bit about Saint Sebastian (hadn’t heard of him till now!). As for athletes in the house…we have a whole mix. My husband and youngest son are very athletic. My oldest, not so much…and I’m somewhere in between (although not lately, she says, from her reclining position on the couch!).
Michelle DeRusha recently posted..Hear It on Sunday, Use It on Monday: The Hard Heart

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Dianna Kennedy
Twitter:
January 26, 2012 at 9:06 am

I’ve pretty much decided that all of my littles have some athletic talent …. my oldest daughter has musical talent. Not from me, that’s for certain. I prayed while I was PG, “Please God, give her some musical talent.”

She sings, plays piano, gets up and performs like it’s no big deal. I love it!

Thanks for coming by — and thanks for your link up!

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Angie January 25, 2012 at 10:44 am

LOVE these pics – she’s so stinkin’ cute!
Angie recently posted..Anthropologie-Style Ribbon Necklace

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Dianna Kennedy
Twitter:
January 26, 2012 at 9:17 am

She’s a mess ;)

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laura January 25, 2012 at 4:22 pm

I always say that I’m a runner because all the grace it requires is putting one foot in front of the other :) . That’s about all I can manage. Loved learning about the “Athlete Pope”. Who knew?
laura recently posted..How the Word Tranforms and Scripture Cards for the Book of James

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Dianna Kennedy
Twitter:
January 26, 2012 at 9:19 am

You’re right — I’m a total klutz, but I can run. I tell my husband that I’m built for speed, not distance.

I love reading about his younger years …it’s amazing. After his death, soccer games were called off for mourning, because he was once a goalie. It’s awesome.

Thanks for coming by!

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Kathleen January 25, 2012 at 7:07 pm

I was geeky before the word was heard of… NEVER an athlete. I never had the confidence to even try… But all my kids have various talents. I am amazed and amazed at their God given confidence to try new things.

Enjoyed you post today.
Kathleen recently posted..From Anger to Contentment

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Dianna Kennedy
Twitter:
January 26, 2012 at 9:21 am

Running is for all ages, all sizes, all speeds! You could definitely do a Couch to 5K. It’s designed to build up slowly.

My girls crack me up — they have no qualms getting up in front of a crowd and singing, dancing, cheerleading, etc. I’m amazed.

Thanks for stopping by and for your kind words!

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Rebecca January 25, 2012 at 9:15 pm

I always look forward to your posts….learning about the Saints…keeps me thinking!

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Dianna Kennedy
Twitter:
January 26, 2012 at 9:35 am

Thanks for your kind words, Rebecca!

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Denise January 26, 2012 at 2:37 am

Sweet post.
Denise recently posted..Word-Filled Wednesday

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Dianna Kennedy
Twitter:
January 26, 2012 at 9:47 am

Thanks for coming by, Denise!

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Jennifer
Twitter:
January 26, 2012 at 6:20 pm

I have had the hardest time leaving a comment today! Your site was down for me for a while.

I’m not athletic, but my girls have been in dance for several years, and my husband played sports in high school. It almost makes me want to do something more than walk on the treadmill. Almost.

Thanks for the reminder to always give our best.
Jennifer recently posted..Small Victory Over Phonological Processing Difficulties

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Charlotte January 26, 2012 at 6:40 pm

When I saw the subject of this post I immediately thought of Tim Tibow. Athletes have a unique opportunity to be a good influence for God and for good. Thank you for sharing.
Blessings,
Charlotte
Charlotte recently posted..Show & Tell

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Kayla @ The alluring world January 27, 2012 at 12:48 pm

Blessed Pier Giorgio is so awesome. I read about him in high school when I was working out how my personality fit with my faith.
How have you made running work for you? I’m not athletic, but I want to be. I have such a lack of self-discipline in that area.
Kayla @ The alluring world recently posted..Worst Neighbors Ever – 7QT

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Amber January 27, 2012 at 4:45 pm

So very encouraging!!

You go girl with running!! That is something I love so much about running…..it truly is for everyone if you just start doing it and training.

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