BEFORE THE MUSIC STARTS

The gym at seven in the morning in July. Nobody is watching. This is where the season actually starts.

Most devotionals for cheer athletes are ninety separate pages that could be read in any order, in any month, by anyone.

This one follows your season.

It begins in the summer, in the heat, doing conditioning nobody will ever see. It moves through tryouts and the list going up. It sits with you while a stunt refuses to hit for three weeks. It is there in the warm-up room before your first competition, and on the sideline when you are hurt, and in the strange flat week after the last routine of your senior year.

SIX PARTS, NINETY DAYS, IN ORDER

- Summer: the work nobody sees - days 1-15

- Tryouts and team placement - days 16-28, including being placed lower than you hoped and how to be around a friend who was placed higher

- Building the routine - days 29-45, the unglamorous spot, being corrected in front of everyone, trusting people who are literally holding you

- First competitions - days 46-60, the warm-up room, two and a half minutes, and what happens after a fall

- The middle of the season - days 61-75, the grind, injury, wanting to quit, whether this is still fun

- The end of the season - days 76-90, seniors leaving, and who you are when nobody is watching

EACH DAY

Something to read that starts with a moment you will recognise. A verse. A short prayer written in words a real person would actually say out loud. About four minutes.

ONE PROMISE, UP FRONT

This book will never tell you that God hands out first place to whoever prays hardest. A bad competition is not a spiritual failure and a good one is not a reward. Scores are not how He keeps track of you - which is the entire reason a book like this is worth having.

A NOTE FOR PARENTS AND COACHES