sad time for the ministry

This finally ends hockey season for almost all of the teams in the ministry. Yes the Chicago wolves are the only team in the ministry going to playoffs. The thrashers ended their season this saturday while the gladiators ended their season last Saturday. It's kinda sad especially when they do those year end videos like this one



Sad. It's kinda like sending your brothers off to college if your brothers are all freakishly tall and are really good at hockey. I think the part where it hit me was this week when I checked the Gladiators website and there was no practices and no games listed. Also when I talked to Drew Akins and he mentioned being back home studying or doing some project for college. I do know the old saying remember the good times and I also know they'll be back soon. To the point of remember the good times here is a video I found from Christmas that is kinda good


I'll be posting videos and pictures later. To the point of you'll see them again, I'll see some or most of the guys again--not all. So I couldn't sleep hence why I'm up at 3 am working on this when the last Thrasher game (which I watched on Sports south) ended between 10 and 11. I just couldn't believe it, it's all over. This is the time of the year when I make sure I have full support for next season and see how the last season went. I really didn't do that last season, I guess cause I was lazy and not a lot of people cared. so here I am looking at the past few months wondering where the time went and how I could get it back. There were no problems in the beginning of the season then there was a few times when situations and drama came up but I handled it and I'm learning from it. There was a lot of changes of the rosters and a couple changes to the ministry. One of the big changes to the ministry was the addition of the wolves to the ministry. I also got a partner with the ministry. Coach Pyle of the Gladiators has been more involved which is nice. I got to pray over the boys and got some friends out of it including Michael Forney. One difference between this season and last was that last off season Jeff Mason's father died and never had we had someone involved in the Gladiator nation die since I became a fan but this season we had a loss during the season Mr. John Martin who was the Zamboni driver at the Gladiator games, he was only 66 and died of a heart attack. This ministry is a living breathing tribute to him so it can not fail. This season was hard on me. It was the 1st full season of the ministry and I had no clue what I was doing still. I still have my moments where I'm completely confused at what to do. This season was good in some ways, I grew as a person learned some stuff and I know what I have to do during the off season. I have to pray, reflect and move on. so there maybe more blogs about the 2009-2010 season. It's so crazy that this time last year the Glads were in the playoffs losing to Florida and the Thrashers were not in play offs but won their last game. This year there's no play offs for either team but the thrashers were the only winners in their last game. I believe the wolves will be in the playoffs this season but I have to check. Also this season we got rid of a super star, Mr. Ilya Kovalchuck. God I wish we got into playoffs to show Ilya we could do it. ok so It's nearing 4 and I have to at least temp this thing called falling asleep one last time. So here's the anthem of the ministry or at least 1:

Prayer and Closure

What a difference a week makes, I guess you could also call this blog a tale of 2 Thursdays. The thursday before last (the 18th of Feburuary) I got to pray over the Gladiators. This was no spur of the moment thing either, I had been emailing coach Pyle about praying over the boys for a while then on Monday or tuesday the week I went to pray I got the email from coach saying that I could come thursday to pray over them after practice. I was so very excited. So on Thursday I got up, got ready and left about an hour before practice started. When I got there I saw my friend Amy so I stopped to talk to her, all of a sudden I hear "Christine!!!" UH-OH I'm in trouble! "Yes Coach??" I walked over to coach and my hands were shaking. I wasn't in trouble he said he didn't know I was going to be there so early and he asked if I would like to pray over them before pracatice and I said yes. I also told him that I had scriptures for them. He seemed kinda relieved that I was there early. So I walked behind him until Scott "Miffer" Mifsud caught my attention. I talked to him for a little bit and told him about his prayer partner. He's so awesome and precious!! Then after that I said hey to some of the other boys and headed into the rink. Coach had the boys skate around for a while then opened the gate and I got really nervous. He yells "boys, bring it in!! Bring it in!!" He looks at me and tells me to stand on the board the gate rested on. So I got into place as the boys settled into their semi circle in front of me. I smiled as I saw Michael Forney move his eyebrows at me. "Crazy boy- loving women's attention a little too much" I thought. Then I looked over and smiled when I saw Phil Youngclaus standing to my left looking at me as he just realized he reconginized me. As I looked over the boys I realized something, I had no reason to be nervous because these were my boys!! I've loved this team (maybe not these excate boys but the team) for 2 years as of January and I've known at least some of these boys for a year and a half now. I looked over and there's Chad Denny, my sweet Miq Mak I love the heck out of that boys!! He smiled at me, so sweet. Coach spoke to the boys introducing me to them saying that I was there to get God on their side for the rest of the season. So I shared a few scriptures with them about strength then I asked for prayer request--none-- and so I prayed for everything (strength, safety, wins, wisdom, and anything else I could think of). I peeked around and for the most part all of them had their eyes closed and their heads bowed. When I got done coach leans over and says "how about 'Lord help them to listen to coach'?" I smiled and said "Well Actually there is scripture that says to respect your authority" He kinda laughs and says "very good, thanks" and fist bumps me as I got of the wood. I also heard the boys yell thank you, even though it wasn't in a vey excited tone. I stayed for practice and to talk to the boys afterward if they wanted to or needed to talk. I eneded up staying until Danny, Dan and Drew left (they were the last to leave). I did talk to all of the boys and Danny was very chatty and silly. I did end up getting a smile out of Phil, I love seeing that boys smile!! While I was there all the boys were fist bumping me thanking me and I felt like I was suppose to be there! So the next day I went back bright and early to see my boys and of course I was early so I watched some of the figure skaters until my boys showed up. I said hey to Chad Denny- sweetheart but not really talkative.Then Danny Taylor walks in, now the fun begins. Danny is pretty cool so we talked for a while when he said something simple and sweet, but awkward, "pray for Jamie's head." It took all I had not to laugh "ok I will and I'll tell his prayer partner." Poor baby got a concussion. I stayed for the whole practice and until Danny left. I love those guys but sadly they lost their 2 games after the prayer. Coach didn't blame the prayer, he said it actually helped. After that I have emailed him about praying over the boys again and it might actually happen. After Friday I thought I'd have a nice break from hockey until I decided to deal with Bogi or go to a Gladiators game. I was so wrong!! I woke up saturday and went to my gym and as I was on the tredmill I saw Chris "Thor" Thorburn of the Thrashers. I finished my stuff and I saw he was on the bike and that there was an open 1 by him so I went over to talk to him, he's pretty cool. After we talked he asked me if I was coming back to cheer for them and I told him I would come back to practice as soon as the break was over. The following thursday (1 week after the prayer) I kept my promise and went to the forum to deal with Bogi. Practice was half over when I got there but I saw Bogi so I was ok. While I was watching him I saw something I missed, his little smile and I heard him laugh. As soon as practice was over and the boys started to come off the ice my heart started to pound. Bogi came off and instantly was being asked for autographs so I crossed the aisle and got close to the dressing room doors. "Zach?" He smiles and says hey. I told him what I had to say and that I would be there when he wanted me there. He smiled and said something sooooo mature but in his own 19 year old way "You're fine you're good you don't have to apologize don't worry about I'll see ya later!" Oh I am so proud!! He is such a good boy!!

What's new

I already made ammends with the fan that I was in the middle of the Bogi situation with me. I lost my temper with her during the situation. I got an answer from her so now thers is just one last step- talk to Bogi. When I talk to Bogi I will tell him that IF HE wants me there I will be there and after I talk with him I will just leave it to God to take care of him. I will be able to focus more on my true boys- the Gladiators. They have earned my attention. I realized through all of this that they were waiting on me to come back to them which I think they kinda knew that I would come around. I do have to give some credit to Ms. Virgina for showing me how stupid I was being-and may I say she did it very bluntly. I am backing off and keeping my focus on the Gladiators. Thanks boys for waiting on me and thanks Virgina for being blunt---maybe a little too blunt. Wednesday night at Sola we were talking about Jonah (yeah the guy in the whale) and Chris was saying that God actually appointed the whale to swallow Jonah to show him that where he was going wasn't where God wanted him. I realized that maybe this situation and Ms. Virgina were my whale. Sorry Ms. Virgina I don't think you are a whale, you where just a small part of my spiritual whale. My whales-our whales-are sent to show us that we are going the wrong way spiritually. I'm still praying for the wolves and the thrashers but I'm not calling them my boys. I'm still trying to see how I feel about practices, I guess we'll see how the one I go to next goes.
Ok so on to the next topic! I think I haven't written about the actual new prayer partner match ups yet, I think I just mentioned there were new match ups. Ok so we have David Brown with Mary, Matt Caruana with Brittany, Chris Higgin with Morgan, Jason Lawerence with Lexi and Danny Taylor with Mr. Andy. On the wolves side of things Grant Lewis is with Kerianne, Drew Macintyre is with Taylor, Jamie Hunt is with Crystal, Arturs Kulda is with Grace, Jason Krog is with Hunter and Chris Chelios is with Mr. Craig. We do have a little bit of a situation with with the thrashers. Kari L. has been out for sometime so I assigned all 3 of the goalies that were listed on the roster (including Kari) a prayer partner. Then once I realized 1 of the 3 will have to be sent to the wolves I didn't invite the goalie prayer partners to adopt a wolf thinking that if 1 of them was sent down to Chicago I could just explain the situation and tell them they no longer have a thrasher but instead they have a wolf. As far as injuries go besides Kari the only other injury is assistant Coach Weeks who fell on a puck and had to have stitches on the back of his head. How in the world do coaches expect the boys to keep their eyes on the pucks if we have coaches tripping on them? Ok so anyway. With the "whales" being dealt with I can finally relax and deal with my boys. I can relax for the most part until the trades start up AGAIN!

My boys redifined thanks to a game

Like I said in my last blog I had a situation with my thrasher which caused me to go running to my home-my hockey home that is (the gwinnett Arena). I knew my mom would be at home all day monday since it was martin lurther king day but I just had to get out of the house. I did however feel a little guilty leaving her alone but I knew she had stuff to do and I would just be getting in the way. I also knew that she'd be happy that I was getting out of the house and seeing my friends. I stopped claiming the thrashers as my boys after the situation had come up so I knew it was time to see th only boys I had left, it had been forever- or at least it just seemed like it. So I got up that morning and washed my car, got all dolled up- what I was going to see my boys I had to look cute!!- and went to see my boys. I got there early and was ableto get a good parking spot-cause that's just how I roll. After I got my ticket I went outside to wait where I found one of my friends, Dianne--yay!! She has the 2nd cuttest boy ever--what I had to put my cousin's baby as 1st!! Dianne's little boy likes to smack the boys as they come out which is super cute and funny. As I went in I already felt loved, welcomed and needed. I found my seat and placed my jacket there and went to see Krystal who has missed seeing me at the rink which felt good- I like being missed. After seeing the coolest girl ever-besides...ok yeah the coolest- I went to see Emily and Dianne. I also wanted to see if they knew if mama Linda was there. When I was over there seeing the girls out come the boys! It was sooo good to see them again, I missed them-I actually missed them. It's sad I missed them more than I can say, I have no clue why though. I got back to my seat to watch Forney and Siddall warm up- they looked mighty fine! It took all I had not to say "Heeellloooo Handsomes" as they came out. Sometime before the 1st period a guy came and sat down by me. I introduced myself even though I planned to sit by my friends later. So we started to talk and I told him I was there for my boys mainly Forney and Sids which wasn't a lie my beautiful sids had invited me to a previous game I wasn't able to go to! As the boys go back to the locker room and Krittle and the ice crew came out the excitement start to build. I knew I was doing the right thing by being there for my boys. I was truely there for no other reason but for my boys. About 20 minutes later the lights went down and out come the boys!! I was going wild for my favorites-yes I play favorites. Then the 1st puck drop and all that happens but what caught my eye was the checkers goalie. He came to his goal after the anthem and does the cross symbol Catholics do before they pray then he began to pray as he did people were yelling at him to get his attention. He was so focused as I sat there and watched him pray after he finished he did the symbol again and put his gear on. The guy sitting next to me continued to talk as I watched my boys. I was nice and held a conversation with him but I made sure I gave my boys their attention. I was happy I paid some attention to my sweet little forney some attention because he totally scored a goal. I went nuts screaming "Way to go Forney!!!" I was soo happy and excited for him. After that there was one more goal for our team and at least one goal for their team in the 1st period. I stayed in my seat- I felt like it was rude to leave the guy I just met. Maximus came out for the intermission game and then the ice crew came out. Then the 2nd period started and I stayed put. At some point I felt like I should look at Krystal, when I did she was looking at me smiling. I about asked her what but I didn't I just smiled back. I loved seeing Krittle again. Everything was normal it was 4 to like 3 in the 2nd and life was good. Some where either at the end of the second or the start of the 3rd the checkers tied it up. After the 2nd I was tired and had to walk so I went and got a shirt for my boys signafter the game. Then I got back to my seat just in time to see my boys skate back out for the 3rd. I was super excited until we had 4 minutes left and the Checkers pulled ahead then with a minute left they scored again! I was so bummed for my boys and for coach I knew they had it. I knew they could have won, if they truely tried. So then at the end of the game I walked to the line of people who were waiting for the boys to come out and signed stuff. I waited for what seemed like a long while and all of a sudden out strolls some of my boys and the crowd went wild. They kept coming out sometimes in 2s or 3s but sometimes just by themselves. I waited in line finally getting up to the 1st table seeing Mifsud, forney, Schellers, Berti and a few boys I had seen before. they all asked me what was new and was genuinly happy to see me there. Then the second table was full of boys I reconginzed and a couple I didn't. I loved seeing my boys again. I heard Sulli's accent and about teared up. I got through the line and had a lot of my boys ask me what was new. I knew then that things had to change. I was walking out and saw one of the "Babies" (new guy) walking away from the table I excused myself from the guy I met at the game and asked the very tall, very handsome baby his name. His name was Sean. I told him I was trying to learn their names and he kinda laughed and said that I better remember his. I told him that I would. As Sean crossed over my path to sit and talk on his phone I almost grabbed my camera and took a picture beacuse there's just something just so artsy about a tall guy slouched over in a chair, in the right way of course. But I didn't I was good! I got to my car and made sure noone was watching and acting suspecious as I started my car and teared up just a little bit. My reunion with my boys was over but I knew now that I had to still pray for the thrasher and that was it. I had to focus on these boys, they liked me and they geniunly cared about me being there. I'm now in the process of getting coach to allow me to pray over these amazing young men. I truely thank them for changing the direction of the ministry in 1 afternoon.

How dare you judge me

I know I'm not suppose to air out dirty laundry on here so I will only give out general inforamtion. I went through something with my Thrasher prayer partner and ended up feeling judged by another fan. I decided that I'd go to one last practice to make peace with Bogi and the situation until things simmer down and if they don't then oh well then I guessI was never meant to be a thrasher. With this situation in it's heat I found a partner in the ministry which is a God send. Mr. Gary (my partner) gave me an assignment for the week. I'm so excited about this partnership, Mr. Gary is a prayer partner to Jamie Fritsch the gladiator as well. When I didn't have Mr. Gary I never had stuff to do or ideas I was just going by the seat of my pants which got me in trouble. I love structure, I like having set stuff to do. When I was going by myself I hurt my thrasher for which I am very unbelieveably sorry. But if there is one thing I learned through my life and faith it's not to give up or give in, if you give up or give in the devil will win. If the devil wins the volchures will get you. In the midst of the crazy time I decided to switch my focus and give the thrasher part of the ministry to some one else at least for a little while. So Monday I ran to my original hockey home the Gwinnett Arena. As soon as it came into my sight I started to tear up, then when I got parked I just sighed and sat there for a second. Then I made the treck to get my ticket and waited outside where I found one of my friends so I'm redirectiong my focus for now and I'll blog more about my Gladiator day later! I'm so excited again---finally!!

What's new with the ministry and the boys

The adoption continues with the wolves. I'll post names later. There has been also some changes with the Gladiators but I have missed placed my notebook so I'll post those names later as well. We also have a few Olypians on the thrashers including Pavel Kubina (Czech), Ondrej Pavelec (Czech), Maxim A. (Russia), Ilya Kovalchuck (Russia), and Tobias Enstrom (sweden). If I missed any of the sweet bears I'll post more later also as more come in I'll post those as well! I'm checking with my Chicago source as well so I'll have those names later.

Now to this week I have my I have some sad news to report, our beloved gladiator zamboni driver passed away the saturday before Christmas. John Martin was 66 and died of a heart attack. Out of this tragedity I have a new purpose........to get our boys up to heaven to skate on the ice Mr. Martin probably working on now. So Mr. John, this ministry is for you buddy!!

In happy new it's somewhere around 2:30 am on January 8 so my 1st game is some where around 40 1/2 hours away!! I'll be blogging about that the day after. That evening I'll be working on the blog for our new star player Maxim from the thrashers so it maybe a few hours late in being posted but it will be posted!! I'm so very excited. The people at my church will have to deal with a tired and cranky version of me also they will have to deal with me possibly with no voice!! I'll still maybe working off of the aderaline of my 1st NHL game. Baby bogi and a few of the other boys know I'll be there! Also I just want to put a disclaimer out there if anyone gets a call from jail that night...it's me because I got in trouble for harrassing Alexander Ovechekin! But anyway I'll be posting more later

Anthem for ministry

So I heard this song by Taylor Swift and I really liked it. I adopted as 1 of at least 2 anthems for my ministry. So here it is.

Change by taylor swift

and it's a sad picture, the final blow hits you

somebody else gets what you wanted again and

you know it's all the same, another time and place

repeating history and you're getting sick of it

but I believe in whatever you do

and I'll do anything to see it through

CHORUS:

Because these things will change

can you feel it now?

these walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down

this revolution, the time will come

for us to finally win

and we'll sing hallelujuah, we'll sing hallelujuah

so we've been outnumbered

raided and now cornered

it's hard to fight when the fight ain't fair

we're getting stronger now

find thing they never found

they might be bigger

but we're faster and never scared

you can walk away, say you don't need this

but there's something in your eyes

says we can beat this

(CHORUS)

Tonight we stand, get off our knees

fight for what we've worked for all these years

and the battle was long, it's the fight for our lives

but we'll stand champions tonight

it was the night things changed

can you see it now?

These walls that they put up to hold us back have fell down

it's a revolution, throw your hands up

cause we never gave in

and we sang hallelujuah, we sang hallelujuah

hallelujuah

What's New with the ministry

Recently God led me to add the Chicago wolves and possibly the 2 other affiliate teams to the ministry! You say cool, I say scary and nerve racking!!! So I'm getting prayer partners for the wolves as we speak!! Joey Crabb has me as a prayer partner and Mr. Jon traded his Thrasher, TObias Enstrom, for Brett Sterling of the wolves. Brett use to be a thrasher!! In Gladiator news Michael Couch, Jon Horrell, and Chris Zarb have been released. So now Ms. Patty is praying for Tim Filangleri, Mary is with Cole Dye, and Kristen is with Scott Mifsud. I think very few people are with their original gladiators but more people are having more luck with their Thrashers!! 5 people are with their orignal Glads as where 17 are with their orignal Trahsers. SO out of 70 (a little over 40 being thrashers & Glads) 22 are with their orignal people!!
Also I'm looking for ministry ideas, I'm running out!! I emailed coach Pyle, the Glads coach, to complement him on his boys and to see if we could do anything for him or the boys. He just said "yeah they're good kids. thanks Christina." SO no ideas from coach! I think he gets rushed when checking email and can't think of anything!
On a more personal note.......................I GET TO GO TO MY 1ST THRASHER GAME IN JANUARY!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Finally! So excited!! Don't worry, I'll blog about it!! Who they're playing, I have no clue! I told my Aunt, who's giving me the tickets, a few teams I wanted to see and she's taking her own sweet time in figuring it out!! I would love to know now!! It maybe the sabers, rangers, capitals or one other team. Yeah I know with one of those teams we may get killed but I don't care! I'll be proudly looking on as baby Bogi skates in that game while I'm in my special ordered Bogosian jersey!! so excited!!

My goals for the ministry

When I started the Ministry I had no goals, I just wanted to help my boys. Now I have some goals. I was sitting there one day thinking about my boys mainly just the thought "What do I want for them?" I want a lot for my boys. I want them to happy, healthy and successful. I also want them to find purpose and joy in something or someone, hopefully they'll find purpose and joy in Jesus as well as something here on earth!!




So my goals are:

1. to have all of the guys become comfortable with me and the idea of religion and prayer

1. 2. to have at least 4 players come to faith and be baptized



2. 3.to earn the trust of the coaches and the boys



3. 4. to have as many of the boys as possible be involved in some curch somewhere

So these are my goals for now. I'm not out to do the impossible just what is possible through Jesus which is everything!! So far I think I'm starting to earn the trust of at least coach Pyle of the Gladiators. I also think I'm starting to earn the trust of some of the boys. I have so much hope for the boys--I love them to death!! Have fun baby boys and BE SAFE!!

To parents everywhere

There's a few really good reasons why I'm not a parent. The main reason is that I'm not ready to have my world be focused around a kid!! It's not that I'm selfish it's just that I'm young and have a lot more time to think about having kids!! I'm still trying to figure my own life out why would I want to bring a kid into that? The reason why I bring this idea of sacrific up is that I was thinking about the parents and families (including wives and kids), girlfriends, Fiances and friends of my boys. When they were young my boys' parents (and maybe occasional grandparent, aunt, uncle, and sibling) drove them to pracices and games and sat through these things. If I'm not mistaken there might have also been award nights as well.Big hats off to hockey (and sports parents) everywhere!!These boys must have had amazing parents because these young men (for the most part) have been so sweet and respectful to me.
Also to their friends, families, girlfriends, Fiances, wives and kids-y'alls sacrifices are awesome. Think about it they don't get to see these boys that much. For about 6 monthes they have to give up precious time with these boys even if the families relocate to be close to the boys. My boys are from Czech, Sloviakia, Russia, America, Canada and a few other place. I know their families miss them and love them I know that last season Bogi's parents have visited him and went over to Russia with him for the world Championship. Some of the boys go home for a little while for the holidays. These families are awesome, so are the boys!! Not only do they not get to spend a lot of time with them they have to see these guys get beaten up for a living so if there is anything the ministry can do for these families it would be well deserved and I would personally arrange it!!

I once in my crazy little head thought it would be cool to date a hockey player. If I found the right one it wouldn't be so bad!! But it takes a strong woman to be involved with a hockey player!!

So to all of my boys families--Thank you!! To any hockey family--y'all are awesome! To any young lady or woman involved with a hockey player--you are stronger and braver than I!!

Star player to start sunday

I decided to reward the boys who are doing well by doing a star player blog about how they earned the title and some stories from fans who know or know of the star player.This will continue even in the off season to honor those who I couldn't get to during the season or honor the guys that do well during pre season games and camps. Each star player will be a star player for 2 weeks.

What is a star player? He is a guy who....
makes great plays
has diginity
improves
doesn't give coach problems
inspires the other players

So if you know of a great player fiiting any or all of these qualities or someone who would know let me know. Also if you know of something you wanna know about a star player let me know at Tina86@mail.com
The 1st star player will be honored sunday I'm currently working on his bio blog and his star player blog!! His name is Ondrej Pavelec!!

the inspiration for my ministry and why I'm not giving up

I'm always asked three questions about my ministry:
1) What is it?
2) Why do you do it?
3) Why don't you just give up?

To answer one and two, I started the ministry "Hope in hockey" to help the thrashers and Gladiators. People were matched up with hockey players to pray for. After that we basically wait for them to need us. Some go to games and they're also able to go to practices. I just had this burden for the boys and I didn't know where to turn until this idea just hit me.I just want to do this for the boys to let them know not everyone want something from them, there's people there to look out for them.

To answer three, I didn't come all this way to just give up!! I feel like we may have a chance to help these guys either find purpose or find a "family" here in Georgia. Everyone needs a purpose and someone who cares. It hurts me to know that I have people questioning me. I just love these boys so much!! Please keep the ministry in your thoughts and prayers