Skip to main content

Fighting Giants: From the World Cup to the Daily Grind:

For the past few weeks, we have been watching 48 nations from all over the world pour their hearts out for a spot in a dream that unites entire countries—the FIFA World Cup. This incredible event only happens every four years. In this historic 23rd edition, the Paraguayan national team is determined to make history and drive their country's name as high as possible in the world rankings.

The road so far has been full of faith, grit, and perseverance. Here is how our track record looks in this tournament:

  • USA 4 – Paraguay 1 (A tough opening loss)

  • Turkey 0 – Paraguay 1 (Our first crucial victory)

  • Australia 0 – Paraguay 0 (A hard-fought tie)

  • Germany 1 (3) – Paraguay 1 (4) (A historic penalty shootout win against a global giant!)

  • France vs. Paraguay (The massive Round of 16 match ahead of us!)

Millions of people are watching these games, experiencing firsthand the tension, the pain, and the ultimate joy of every single play. Soccer is truly a beautiful metaphor for life. Our recent victory over Germany was a modern-day David and Goliath story. Nobody expected it, but the team stood firm with courage and faith until the very last penalty kick.

In a similar way, in our daily walk as believers, we often feel small, isolated, or weakened by the grueling matches of our daily grind. We need to be reminded that we are called to be champions. This is not because of our own strength, titles, backgrounds, or social status. We are champions because we can fully rely on Christ, who already fought and won the ultimate battle over death, promising to be with us always.

As you face your own "tough opponents" and challenging scenarios in life—whether as a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a professional, or in any enterprise you lead—be reminded that God has your back. No matter the temporary scores, failures, or snags along the way, the final battle has already been won.

Dont stop, keep playing. And dont listen to the naysayers. Zig Ziglar appropiatly said:

“A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could”



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Christmas in Paraguay!

If you're wondering what Paraguayans do at Christmastime, they have some great traditions , including the " noche buena " meal on Christmas Eve at midnight.  They eat lots chipa guasu (a type of corn casserole, stay tuned for a recipe), asado or grilled meat (some eat it cold), salads, especially fruit salad, watermelon and drink mucho terere . Families travel from all over the country, many even return from working in other countries like Brazil, Argentina, and Spain, to celebrate with loved ones. This is us at last year's Kurrle celebration in Asuncion. Festivities are anything but a silent night with fireworks, loud music and drinking cidra (hard cider).  Most Paraguayans do not decorate Christmas trees (we decorate ours in shorts!) or emphasize Santa Claus.  Instead, they put beautiful nativities " pesebres " in their yards and in store fronts.  Kind of novel to focus on Christ at Christmas, isn't it! To beat the heat, many Paraguayans g...

Paraguayan Weddings

On Valentine’s Day, we had the joy of attending the wedding of Sandra and Anastacio, young leaders in the church. Sandra is my assistant with Children of Promise and Anastacio, apart from his carpentry job, has a popular youth-focused radio program every night at 8:00 on our station. We’ve been to quite a few weddings, and these are some of the uniquenesses of southern Paraguayan wedding celebrations from our North American culture: 1. Nothing is fancy. Emphasis is placed on the act of marriage and not on the decorations or food. 2. It is not an expectation that parents help pay for expenses. Most families just make it each month with regular expenses and cannot afford to pay for eleborate feasts. Most couples have to spend months saving for their own wedding. 3. Borrow as much as possible. Many times wedding dresses are borrowed 5-10 times, because few women can afford their own. Flowers, decorations, shoes and ties (Norb loans out his ties often...since he never wears them!...

How to make Rosella (Roselle) Juice and Tea

This is rosella (not to be confused with grosella, which is gooseberry).  Rosella is from the hibiscus family. It's harvest time here, and we use the rosella to make juice and tea.  It's properties are absolutely tremendous.  It helps sooth colds, coughs, helps digestion, promotes healthy kidney function, is a treatment for cancer, and reduces a fever and that's just a few of its benefits!  To make rosella juice, first de-pit the fruit and wash the skin thoroughly. Put the fruit into boiling water until the water is bright red (about 15 minutes).  The color is so vibrant, Roselle is sold to make dyes.  Strain the fruit (which can be used to make a delicious jam) and refrigerate the juice.  Add a few squirts of Stevia for a healthy drink. The finished product looks exactly like red Kool-aid, but is entirely full of nutrients.  We can't get enough of it. We dehydrated the petals for hot tea.  All you need is two dried flowers to infus...