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Tennis anyone?  Hi this is Doug Flemming your tennis partner again today on Take Five, sharing with you good music and lessons from the recent Wimbledon tournament.  Take Five is produced by the Church of the Nazarene. Teenage tennis superstar, Maria Sharapova, recently defeated the reigning Wimbledon champ Serena Williams in straight sets.  This is a tremendous accomplishment for anyone, especially for a 17-year-old Russian.  But there’s more to this story than just a good-looking, teenage tennis player. Behind Maria’s success is a lot of hard work and sacrifice.  After winning Wimbledon, Maria rushed to hug and kiss her father, Yuri and then tried to phone her mother Yelena.  By her actions, Maria was showing the world the secret to her success. A strong family that was willing to sacrifice for the success of their daughter. They gave up their home and their work in Russia and immigrated to America when Sharapova was seven.  Maria’s father, Yuri, worked as a waiter in a restaurant to fund her tennis.  Sharapova had to sacrifice the normal activities of youth.  She had to be very disciplined, waking early to play tennis, rain or shine, even when she didn’t feel like it.  She learned this kind of discipline from her parents, who themselves were modeling discipline in their daily lives.  So, Maria Sharapova is not an overnight success.  Her success is the result of many years of parental and self sacrifice.  Parents, young people, today are you willing to work together as a family, are you willing to sacrifice, are you willing to discipline yourselves to succeed in your spiritual lives?

Today’s Music: You’ll Get Through This, Martina Mcbride

As much as I admire the Sharapova family for pursuing their daughter’s success in tennis, I am challenging you to be as willing to sacrifice for your family’s spiritual success. After all, what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul.  In the book of Proverbs parents are reminded to Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. This is true success. May each of us model the kind of sacrifice and discipline necessary to raise up a Godly next generation.