Today is the first day of the hardest four years of your life. It will take a toll on you physically, mentally and emotionally. Your work will never be done. There will always be some crisis, some world-shaping issue that needs your attention. I can’t even begin to imagine what it will be like. I can’t put myself in your shoes but I can commit to surround you with prayer.

• I pray for wisdom to guide your decisions and the ability to discern right from wrong.
• I pray that you will be surrounded with the counsel of wise and godly men.
• I pray for your protection from the schemes and plans of evil men.
• I pray for the ability to make the tough and unpopular decisions.
• I pray that you would be able to see through the lies of those whose desire is only for their own gain.
• I pray for your heart to be filled with a love for peace but also the strength to stand against the forces of injustice in our world.

President Obama, thank you for being willing to lead our country in this time when a strong leader is needed. I celebrate with you and the rest of our country this monumental day in our nation’s history.

As luck would have it!

We had just taken off and I was about to put my iPod on when the man next to me began the usual airline chit chat. He seemed pleasant enough so I obliged and continued the conversation. He quickly told me that he was flying to Portland as he is the assistant coach for the Portland LumberJax Professional Lacrosse team! Hmm! How interesting since both of my boys love lacrosse. In the course of our conversation I found out that not only does he coach lacrosse, but he also played lacrosse for the Victoria Shamrocks and for Team Canada (Canada's National Lacrosse team) for 10 years. Conversation flowed easily and he also told me that he teaches welding at Camosun College but I could tell that his real love was lacrosse.
He asked my name and I asked his...Kevin Alexander he said. Yes, the name rang a bell but I honestly couldn't say from where. It was until I got home and googled him that I found out why he sounded familiar. This is what I found:

"Kevin Alexander has been described as the "Gretzky of the lacrosse floor." His prowess with the stick was phenomenal and his astronomical scoring feats throughout his career were instrumental in leading teams that he played for to championships. In his last two years as a junior he led the Victoria McDonald's to the 1976 Minto Cup Junior Canadian championship. He amassed 204 points in 28 games in 1975 and 217 points in 28 games in 1976. His senior career in the Western Lacrosse Association ran from 1977 to 1986, eight of which he played with the Victoria Payless. In exactly 300 games his tally was 797 goals and 584 assists. It is clear that had he enjoyed a longer career his stats would be incomparable. Alexander was a skilled player with an instinctive understanding of the game. His combination of speed and insight made him nearly impossible to stop once he was close to the net. His greatest moments in lacrosse came with his Minto Cup championship as a junior and leading his team to win the Mann Cup in 1979 and 1983. In 1986 he was named the best midfielder at the world field lacrosse championships, which are held every four years, and he was named to the All World team.
Member of the Lacrosse Hall of Fame since 1991. Position - Attack/Midi"

After reading this I realized that I had been sitting next to a lacrosse legend. I remembered the name because he was a lacrosse hero whose name frequently appeared in the local newspaper when I was in high school. I thought it was strange that likely no one on that aircraft could have appreciated sitting next to him as much as I did. The trip went fast and I felt lucky to have met him.