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This is the part of the blog where I promise that, despite cheerleading being such a big part of my life, it's not going to be the topic of every post I write about. But it’s also the place where I don’t let a story worth telling go to waste! So, here it is, an old high school post I’ve since revised, titled…

But I’m a Cheerleader

Something to know about me is that I find great joy in learning big faith lessons out of tiny life moments. But, actually, a lot of the time, those “tiny life moments” don’t seem tiny at all when you’re living through them. Like this story, I’m about to share with you. The story about the time I didn’t get to be a cheerleading captain during my senior year of high school when I really wanted to be one. And how thankful I am for it now, because having gotten that title wouldn’t have led me to writing the realizations I am right now.

I have to set the stage by saying that cheerleading was my thing in high school. I loved everything about it. But when it came to giving instructions and keeping the attention of the team itself, that was my weakness. I wanted to be a better leader in that way, but I could never really pull it out of myself. I was a one-on-one kind of girl. If I saw you struggling on a dance, I would pull you to the side or send you a video. If you wanted help improving your jumps, let’s set up a private jump sesh, because I was your girl. But if asked to lead the team as a whole for practice, I was gonna need backup.

Nonetheless, this was my senior season, and I had great expectations with “Be a cheerleading captain” written at the top of my bucket list. And as lofty as it sounds, I thought I had a head position secured because there were only three of us seniors on the team that year, and all three of us had cheered before. So, based on the previous history of our school's cheerleading program, we were the captains!

However, what I didn’t expect was for our new coach to choose to put her twist on the matter. (In the best way possible.) (We love a fearless leader.) As it got closer to summer, she chose to rotate multiple of us on the team to lead our practices to see who could lead our team best in the way it needed to be led. And the ending result?

I didn’t get to be a captain. While the other two seniors I expected to lead with were. Now that seems simple enough, but through an entire year of having to be a student and realizing how I wasn’t entitled to anything and that I still had a lot of room to be an enthusiastic student, here’s what I learned!

GOD’S WAY IS BEST!

Noes aren’t always a bad thing. They can point you to yeses that build you and lead you to things and places that are more meant for you. Especially if you just let God do His thing. Think about it. I wouldn’t be writing this post right now if I’d gotten a captain position. I remember coaching a girl and thinking, “This post is for someone like her.” I shared with her, in short, what she can now read in full. So to senior year me, be thankful!

The cherry on top!

I realized people don’t always have to have a title by their name to still be leaders. My coach acknowledged I wasn’t “cap” ready while also acknowledging I still had a lot to offer even though I was not in a leading position. She called me the cherry on top! I grew to have more and more admiration for my coach during that time because she called me higher!

Give it all you’ve got!

I realized the cheer ‘give it all you’ve got’ is a cheer for everybody, always. Don’t just assume you are entitled to whatever you feel entitled to; rather, work enthusiastically for the Lord in all things. Even in the things that feel mundane or insignificant. It’s biblical.

The truth is kind!

During that season of my life, I grew more as a person and a cheerleader by simply being a student. If my coach hadn’t pointed out to me that, yes, I was a great cheerleader, and yes, I was great with the team one-on-one, but I still had room to grow, I wouldn’t have felt the need to. She pointed out my strengths while also acknowledging my weaknesses. She cared, and for that, I’ll forever be thankful.

How to be a cheerleader at heart.

Having to move permanently to the second row at practice, kind of, can I say? Stung a little. Especially as a high schooler who’d been cheering for so many years. But, thankfully, I got to see through two teenage girls I’d gone to school with since the third grade how to lead well. And I learned how to truly be happy for the people who get the things you so desperately want.

The point of this post is that a simple “no” led me to so much growth that I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life. Things didn’t go my way in this situation, and I’m so thankful for it now. I’ve always heard it said and eventually came to believe that God’s way is best and that He genuinely cares for us, even in the little things. But now that I’ve gotten to see full circle in even such a tiny high school story, I’m simply reminded that it really truly is, and He really truly does.

TYJ

TARA