Hoops

Our family loves basketball. After Doug accepted Christ into his life, he decided to fully use the gifts God had given him to share basketball and Jesus with kids. He jumped out in faith and started his basketball academy, Shoot-It.

Every week Doug has the opportunity to teach kids about basketball.
How to dribble.
How to shoot.
How to avoid the defender.
How to be a good teammate.
How to live a life that puts Jesus at the front, and basketball at the second.

He makes his lesson plan just like I used to do when teaching kindergarten and he thinks about how every minute on the court with the kids will be used.

Lay up drills.
Ball handling skills
Chest passes, bounce passes, over the head passes.

Some kids are what we would call "naturals". It comes easy to them. They step in line, dribble around the cones, avoid the defender and make the shot look easy.
Other kids...well...there is a bit more work involved. As they attempt to make it around the orange cone, the ball goes off their foot or the shoelace trips them up and they don't quite make that three point shot.

Basketball is a team sport though. There have to be five players on the court for each team and I have heard Doug comment about some teams having a "deep bench". I have learned that means once the starters come out of the game, the kids on the bench can play just as well.

It has me thinking about my faith...this season of basketball.
My walk with Christ is somewhat like Doug's passion and teaching of the game of basketball...

We need to learn how to dribble: balance the balls of life, up and down, up and down, with a goal of getting the shot off in mind.
We need to learn how to shoot: this is that ability to actually release. To let go and let God. To have the courage to throw it up there, after time spent practicing, take aim, and let it go. Obedience really. Courage. Faith.
We need to learn how to avoid the defender: protect ourself with the word of God, with prayer, have an open, yet defensive stance, ready to move and change directions based on what is being shown to us.
We need to be a good teammate: while Christianity is all about a personal relationship with Christ, it was never meant to remain only personal. God wants us in the game, on the court, ready to share and love and show Him though our actions. He wants us to finish the game strong...never giving up or giving in. Walk alongside, high five and fistbump those in life who need it most.

Recently my son's AAU team was paired against a less skillful team in a tournament. About five minutes into the game it was very apparent this would go down in the books as a blow-out. My son's team was already up by quite a few points. Doug took the starters out of the game and as one of the boys came to the bench he said, "Hey coach, can we try to score 100 points on them?"

Now, there is some debate as to whether this is the right thing to do in this situation...run up the score on a less skillful team. But, that's not what I thought about when I heard this story. What came to my mind was this player's drive. His passion. His desire to hit a goal which often seems unattainable. He saw the 100 points within reach and wanted to get there...he wanted to give his all in this game. 

So the next time you have the opportunity to watch a game of basketball, think about your own walk with Christ. What skills need to be refined in your game? How many hours are you spending in patient, persistent, consistent practice? How often are you in the game rather than on the bench? And are you willing to go for the 100 points with all you have for Christ?

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

2 Timothy 4:7

Dear Lord,
 Help me spend time with you in the court of Christianity. Help me work on my skills of dribbling, shooting, avoiding the defender and being a good teammate. Give me the passion, drive and courage to simply shoot the ball, knowing you have fully equipped me. Give me the persistence to finish the game strong, no matter who or what the opponent. Bring me into the game for you Lord.

Weenies in the Pot

Waiting can be so difficult!

"Just one Mom!?"
"Pleaaaassseee can we open just one gift?"

The presents sit so inviting under the Christmas tree. Red and green wrapping paper. Beautiful bows. Tissue tucked ever so gently in the gift bags hiding the well-chosen toys below.

I think back to my days in little league. As I carried my bat to the plate, helmet well adjusted, cleats trailing brown dust behind me, I could hear my coach say, "Wait for it. Wait for it." He knew our propensity to swing before the ball arrived. Our nudge to see it coming and want to hit before it ever crossed the plate. So over and over again, as each of his ten year old players took their place at bat, he would yell, "Wait for it. Wait for it."

My children often tease that the most heard phrase in our home is, "Just a minute!" I would like to think I am teaching them the power of waiting, but I may be fibbing a bit with that!

It is common to have students in our home. We love to entertain, feed them and fill them with a little dose of Jesus. My children have become accustomed to seeing 2, 3, maybe 4 or 10 extra college kids in our home for any given meal. They have become brothers and sisters to them. So when the food is prepped and the prayers have been uttered, it is difficult for my children to wait to make their plates. They want to jump in and be first in line. The cheesey potatoes call out their name. The little weenies beckon to their paper plate (no china here ladies!). And they rush in, taking first spot.

"Kobe, wait your turn. Let the others go first."

It is difficult, especially when you see a limited number of weenies in the pot and a line to what seems to go to Timbuktu in your kitchen.

WAITING.

My dear sisters, the Lord calls us into periods of waiting. Often we don't know why. We want immediate results. We can google and have an answer in 1.5 seconds....so waiting, well waiting...that is difficult!  God sees all. He knows the resources at His disposal. He knows He has not only cooked enough weenies, but He has a storehouse full of weenies (and other hors d'oeuvres).

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."
Lamentations 3:22-24

God loves us. His compassion is new every morning for us and His love will never fail us. If me, a sinner, would make an entire new meal for my son if the weenies ran out, imagine what our God will do for us! He makes us wait, knowing HE IS OUR PORTION! He is worth waiting for my friends!

Dear Lord, help me remember that you are my portion! You provide for me and in that I can trust. In that I can be assured of provision. In that I can wait! Dear Lord, help me wait...not with tears, not with complaining, not with uncertainty, but with the faith that you will provide for whatever it is my need may be. Thank you for your unfailing, unending, compassion and love for me!

Gina

The pizza pan is sitting on the counter. The old tile floor, yellow and brown, is marred with spilled Kool-Aid and remnants of the night of laughter and fun at the kitchen table. The deck of cards are strewn across the table and floor showing the last moments of the game of "50 card pick up". 

We are sitting on the old green couch, cuddled close under a blanket watching a scarey movie. Her arm rests around my shoulder as my sister's legs entangle with hers. My hair is matted with hair gel and tiny bows, and she has mastered perfect french braids in my sister's blonde locks.

She is Gina. She is our babysitter. The one we cried out for when Mom would say, "Who do you want to babysit tonight?" She has spent as much time in our home as I have in my first 9 years of life. She has toted me to baseball practice, swimming lessons, haircuts, and the park. She has helped bathe me, braided my hair, read stories at night, and made my lunch, dinner and breakfast. 

She has shown me what high school love looks like, opened my eyes to girls playing basketball, and let me witness her love of music and fun. She smiles the biggest smile I have ever seen and makes me want to be with her more than my parents can afford in their babysitting budget!

She is Gina. 

Today, I sit in a church in West Des Moines, just an hour from my home. I am scanning the room, filled with people. Elderly people, those around my age, and young, just about to start living people. Some are holding the offered coffee and cookie, others simply grasp a kleenex. The room is not one of mourning, but one of joy. One of celebration, and love, and this feeling of, "I really knew her and I really loved her" fills the air."
 
The worship team takes their place and as the guitars begin to fill the air with songs of praise to our Savior my eyes can't help but scan the room. Yes there are pictures telling the story of her life flashing across the big screen: pictures of her babies being born, of nieces and nephews, of football games and cookie making, of mother and daughter, brother and sister, husband and wife. But my eyes are torn from the screen.

Everyone sits relatively quietly. Some are singing along to the lyrics of the song, but for the most part there appears to be a simple daze at the events of the week.Words are few over this gathering in a church this Saturday afternoon when the family was supposed to be unwrapping Christmas gifts and eating peanut clusters.

And then I notice it. Up front, in the very front row. In the seat reserved for the man who loved her most, her husband raises his hands to his Savior. The music chimes on. "Jesus Lives!" "Jesus Lives" No doubt his grief is great. His life has been changed forever...one minute laughing and listening to his wife talk about her garden, or Christmas, or family...and the next sitting in a church, surrounded by those who loved her, grieving for what was, what was planned and what might have been.

But his hands are raised! 

He is praising his Jesus for the life he had with her. Praising his Jesus for the life he knows she now has in heaven with him. Praising his Jesus for whatever it is on his heart this day. 

He does not care who fills the 25 pews behind and beside him. He does not care if others are following suit or simply watching him. He does not notice not the standing room only auditorium wanting to embrace him and his family during this time of grief or the baby crying in the back. He has an audience of ONE and he is saying, "I still believe!"

And in that moment, the tears begin to well up in my eyes. Tears over this man's faith. Tears over his heart for Jesus in the hard times. Tears over his witness to the hundreds of people filling the room. Tears over a life lived, by a woman I loved, for a Savior I cherish.

Oh Lord...bless the family. Bring them comfort and peace in knowing that their Gina touched my life and so many others. Bring them encouragement in knowing their witness during this time of grief and sorrow has brought me encouragement, has convicted me to live for Him, has spurred me to take the words of their dear Gina to heart and simply live with a Spirit of Christ each and every day! Dear Lord help us all to take what we witnessed that day, in that moment, and put it into practice. A spirit of joy, a spirit of happiness, a spirit of forgiveness and love and peace. Dear Lord thank you for Gina...for all of her...for all that she gave to others and to you!

The Boss

WANTED

Someone to join an adventure.

The route is unknown. 

The road might be bumpy, or curvy, or sometimes straight.

There will most likely be hills to climb, maybe even mountains.

You will experience times of frustration, anxiety, even agony potentially.

There typically is no salary, and you may even be asked to contribute amounts of money you do not have in your bank account. 

Friends and family may call you crazy. Coworkers may also think you are not of this world. 

You actually may be disowned or unfriended by some.

You will not have what is needed for this trip, so no qualifications or resources needed. This will most definitely frustrate you during your time on this adventure.

No need to send resume. 

Future benefits are most definite although not specified at this time. 

All welcome to apply.

I wonder how many would apply?

I wonder if we actually ran this ad in the newspaper or online, and included an email address...how many responses would flood the inbox?

Hmmm....maybe I should try it?!

You see...this is how the advertisement for becoming a Christ-follower might read.   

Not a "say a little prayer and now I am a believer".... but a TRUE, say YES, go where you lead me....CHRIST FOLLOWER! 

I think God uses his HR department quite often to nudge us into this job.

The Holy Spirit taps on our heart.

We feel a tug.

We want to get up during church and give or get on our knees.

We feel pulled to leave the comfortable.

Pulled to give until it hurts.

Pulled to explore the unknown.

We want to say Yes to the pull because we can feel it so strongly.

BUT...the advertisement only stays for a minute (or even seconds) in our heart. 

Then the world comes in. 

We felt it. 

We wanted to do it. 

But we didn't respond with a YES.

Oh Lord, how many times I have failed to sign up! 

And yet, take a minute, reflect, and join me in thinking back to the times you DID say YES.

The times you DID RESPOND TO THE AD.

Oh how great the benefits!

Talk about a total compensation package!

You give a dollar, and get the feeling of a thousand!

You pray a prayer with someone and feel like the apostle Paul!

You step out of the comfortable and explode with experiences you didn't know existed!

You open your door in ways you never have, go around that curve of the unknown...and BAM...there sits a blessing!

This weekend our church highlighted God's work through Lucy's journey. 

At the end, Doug quoted my dad's reminder to us to "Just get off the couch and say YES!"

The link to the video we shared is here:

 Lucy's Journey

             

Say YES my dear sisters....God is a pretty good boss!!!

"We know not what to do, but our eyes are upon you!"

2 Chronicles 20:12 

Jen  

 

     

Freaky Fast

Ok, so I have this little confession to make...(golly, I really hope Doug isn't reading today!)...

You see, this restaurant went in around the corner from our office a little over a year ago. 
You have probably heard of it. 
It isn't some cute, unique place. 
It doesn't have great ambiance. 
It's not necessarily where you would take a date, or hold a grand celebration. 
It's just a chain restaurant...it's Jimmy Johns.

They serve sub sandwiches...well, other things I am sure, but mainly sub sandwiches. 

And they have this little principle they operate by...FREAKY FAST SUBS. 

Well, in addition to that they do this thing called delivery!  
Not just ordinary delivery, but order online, click submit and within minutes my sub is delivered to my office. 
Like literally the other day, I clicked the button, found a $2 tip in my purse, walked out to the main entrance of my building, and Mr. Freaky Fast Jimmy Johns was pulling up with my sub (ok, and my soda and my BBQ chips!). 

So...my confession...yeah...well, I have this little habit of ordering a sub at least once a week from them. 

It is just so easy, so fast, so convenient. 

Not healthy for me. Not getting me out of my office to eat. Not helping my muffin top. 
But...easy, convenient, and freaky fast!!!!

So, I was thinking...

Sometimes my relationship with God becomes stuck in this rut. 
Sometimes when I am dealing with God I want easy.
I want convenient.
I want freaky fast! 

But, you see God isn't always freaky fast!
His timing is not always my timing. 
His ways can be messy and long and drawn out. 

There are days, weeks, seasons where I wonder, 
          "Hello, God...where are you? I placed my order days ago!" 

And in all honesty, there are times when I am like,
       "Um God...I telephoned in my request over an hour ago...could you please deliver now!!!"

I think we live in a time when we, and even more so, probably my children, expect immediate results. 
We want things now. 
We live in a Google era right...answers at the touch of a button. 
Within seconds we have access to information, people, answers from all over the world. 
And we expect it in our lives...in every part of our lives...
                            immediate results, instantaneous answers, freaky fast! 

So waiting...waiting on God...well, it becomes problematic. 
It is tough.
It is messy, and troubling, and sometimes time consuming. 
It is exactly the reason we as Christians have to have this little thing called:
                         FAITH!

I don't know where you are today. 
     I don't know what you might be waiting on. 
              I am not sure what order you placed with God my dear sister...
                         but I can assure you of this...

The cheesecake at cheesecake factory that takes much much longer to arrive at the table will always out score the Jimmy Johns Freaky Fast sub in my book!   

And...God's response...as slow as it may seem...well, you can be assured it will also top Freaky Fast any day!!!!

"Be on your guard [constantly alert], and watch and pray; 

for you do not know when the time will come."

 Mark 13: 33

(And Doug, if you are still reading...I promise to try to cut my order from Jimmy John's down!!) Really I do! 

And to my dear, dear follower, Madonna...thank you for the kick in the pants this week! I love ya my sister!

Jen

Garbage

"This is the day the Lord has made, rejoice in it and be glad."

Psalm 118:24

In the letters went...typed into a text to my hubby at 7:50 a.m.

I felt it this morning. I did.
I awoke, sat on the side of my bed, grabbed my 7.25 prescription eyeglasses so I could at least see two feet in front of me, and that verse popped into my head.

Rejoice. Be glad.

That will be the mantra for today. That will guide me through therapy sessions, through travel to and from meetings, through keeping up a house with four rambunctious children.

"Seriously! When you throw something away, put-it-in-the-garbage-can!!!!!"

Only 11 short hours later I was raising my voice at my children and husband. I had opened the kitchen cupboard one too many times to find a popsicle wrapper and half eaten apple core alongside the trash can instead of in it.

And...everything S-T-O-P-P-E-D!!!!

Three pair of brown eyes and two pair of blue all looked at me hesitantly.

The dishes that were being put away were now being held in Luke's hands.
The leftover meat in Kobe's hand, stood still with him.
The towel that was wiping dishes halted.

And each of them looked at me,
         not moving,
           and must have been thinking,
                          "Uh Oh...Mom is mad!"

But in an instant the littlest brown eyes in our house walked over to me by the cupboard and slapped me on the arm. Her little brown fingers made contact with my bare arm and a huge smile fell across her face. Her tongue slipped out of her mouth and she giggled that giggle.

And in an instant it was like God said through her...

"This is the day the Lord has made, rejoice in it and be glad."
Psalm 118:24

And so playfully I slapped her back on her bottom and she erupted in giggles as a small slapping match ensued.

And everyone went back to being a family.

And I....
   well I was reminded once again of the blessings in my household!

Tonight my dear sisters, I have friends that I have only met via facebook and they are sitting in a hospital with their daughter, Bella, who has not eaten for close to a week and is in undescribable pain that so far doctors can not only not diagnose but not touch with all the medical care available to us. People have been praying for months for this little girl. The family has been in and out of medical facilities. And this poor dear girl can not even sit or eat because the pain is so bad. And this poor little girl, she has lost hope. She does not want to fight any more. And her mama...well her mama...would give anything to be at home with a popsicle wrapper on the side of the garbage can!

Tonight my dear sisters, this family is still claiming the power of prayer and we are storming the heavens for Bella to be able to take just a few bites of food. We call on our Savior Jesus for our dear Bella to be HEALED. WE NEED A MIRACLE my sisters and we know that our God is still in the business of creating miracles...for when His people pray, He listens!

So tonight... tonight the garbage (or whatever it is that is under your skin tonight)
Tonight...it does not matter...

Tonight we will pray to our God about Bella and let the garbage go!

I share Him!

There is a little boy playing with the cap of a bottle. It is dirty. Not sure how long it has been on the ground. He puts it in his mouth, then in his hands, then throws it on the ground and kicks it a bit. It is his only toy. The cap from a Pepsi bottle.

There is a little girl with a growth on the side of her face. It does not look good. Her mother sits beside her on the hospital bed. There is no TV in the room. No IV's hooked up to her providing her pain relief. There is not a rolling cart with a finely cooked cafeteria meal in front of her. No sterile gloves, no thermometers, no syringes. The little girl's doctor does not have anything to prescribe and her family does not have the money to pay for a surgery, not that exploratory or repairative surgery are even normal protocol here.

There is a husband who welcomes us to his home. He takes plastic chairs from a stack in his living room. The chairs remain from the funeral of his wife they had just thirty days ago in the open area outside their home. He has his 11 year old son put a dvd in their outdated dvd player so we can watch this funeral on their small, grainy, outdated 20 inch tv. And his 13 year old son, sits quietly in the corner, hands behind his back, silently reliving the funeral of his mother. This husband tells the story of his wife's abdominal pain that led him to have to carry her to the hospital, in the middle of the night, on his back. A hospital like the one described above...no testing, no treatment, no pain medicine, no surgeries. And this same husband breaks down sobbing in the arms of a white woman he just met ten minutes prior because he so loved his wife and misses her so deeply.

And the stories haunt us.
And they are hard to digest.

And there are times when we are asked, "How was Africa?" and we just want to scream...

"IT WAS HORRENDOUS...PEOPLE ARE DYING THERE! I HELD A DYING CHILD! I HELD A GRIEVING MAN! I SAW STARVATION AND DISEASE AND DISGUST! AND RIGHT NOW I CAN'T COMPREHEND ANYTHING THAT YOU ARE TELLING ME ABOUT YOUR LIFE HERE IN THE U.S. AND I CAN'T WRAP MY BRAIN AROUND THE TINY DETAILS OF MY JOB AND ALL I WANT TO DO IS RUN BACK TO THAT PLACE AND THE ONLY REASON I KNOW WHY ANYONE WOULD WANT TO GO THERE IS BECAUSE...."

it was also GLORIOUS!

The children pierced my hearts! The stories stole my heart! The images I saw, the sounds I heard, the smells I took in and the view of CHRIST in what could be perceived as such a desolate place....

well...that is something I now CRAVE!

So...now what?
   I find myself asking that again...as I have so many times since my first steps off the plane two years ago in Sierra Leone, West Africa...

    NOW WHAT?

Well, right now...I rest in God's timing. I rest in the truth that He has a perfect plan for my life. That He hears the desires of my heart and He knows what is best for me. I dive into His word to learn more about Him. I share my stories with those who will let me get past "Africa was great". I work at the job He has provided me and I do it as if I were working for Him...and more importantly I share HIM! 

Right here...right now...in the midst of grading online coursework, in the midst of painting our house a new color, in the midst of figuring out a budget for our family and planning summer activities...

...in the midst of wondering what in the world is the reason behind much of what I do here in the U.S....

I share Him!!!

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will counsel you with my eye upon you."

Psalm 32:8

Schedules Interrupted

Sunday:  Top 64 Basketball League in Carroll
Monday: Physical Therapy Lucy
             Kobe Basketball practice
Tuesday: Speech Therapy Lucy
              Faith, Kobe, Luke basketball camp
              Meeting at coffee shop downtown

So, this morning I woke up and I knew....PT with Lucy, basketball practice for Kobe, and a few other things thrown in for good measure.
I sort-of had a plan in my head how the day would progress.
COFFEE...eggs for Lucy....PT...run and get toilet paper...etc...

But you see the past few weeks a picture from Facebook has been hanging in my brain.

You see, this is a picture of some friends we know through The Raining Season. Luke is on the far left in the gray t-shirt. His wife, Rachel, was with me on my last trip to Africa. We connected immediately. You see, Luke is a physical therapist. He works on people's bones and muscles and tendons and cartilage and such (I am guessing here...I don't know all the PT terminology!). Anyway, several years ago he heard about a little girl named Lucy in Sierra Leone and he paid for, donated, and shipped a pediatric walker to help her take her first steps.

And next to Luke, sortof hidden in the back, is Jason. Jason is a board member for The Raining Season. I don't even actually know what his "real" job is, but I know he is amazing at computer stuff and really funny! His wife Wendy and I became friends because we are both educators and care deeply about the reading, writing and 'rithmatic of the kiddos in Sierra Leone.

Oh wait...I got side-tracked...this blog post is about schedules...

So...Monday...Monday morning...I wake up and I have a schedule...what will my day bring...what will I accomplish...who will I meet and greet?

Well, back to the picture...you see the man in the middle?
The one with what appears to be soaking wet clothes? 

Well you see one day last week he woke up too. He woke up in a remote village in West Africa. He woke up among people who just like him had been mainly exposed to the Muslim faith. He probably had an agenda for his day...eating mango, playing with chimpanzees, killing a wild boar (I am kidding!) I don't really know what his day's plans were, but none-the-less I am sure he had some.

But you see...his day was interrupted! 
His schedule took a detour.
The plans for the day were put on the back-burner.

Because you see, Jason and Luke, along with a few others from their small church in Kansas City, decided to divert from their normal schedules. They decided to step out of their comfort zones, leave their families, take their hard earned vacation time, and invade into this man's schedule.

They didn't plan for it that day either.
They were simply obeying the call...
The call we have all been given...

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy."

Matthew 28:19

You see, they didn't know his name.

They didn't know his family.

They didn't even speak his language.

  (But God did!)

They simply swayed from their schedule,

             obeyed the call of our Savior,

                              and shared Christ that day!

And there will be one more person in heaven because of it.

So...back to schedules...

Can  you imagine this man's day on that particular day?

His plans...mango eating, chimpanzee playing...whatever...they were all interrupted by our Savior...to meet white men from Kansas City, Missouri, who didn't speak his language, but who come bearing the name and grace of our Savior!

Wow...just keep thinking about that!

What an awesome thing!

Schedules interrupted!!!  Souls saved!

Oh Dear Lord...thank you for Jason and Luke and the others who were with them that day. Thank you for their courage to step up. Thank you for their boldness with your gospel. Thank you for the testimony to us. Thank you Lord for this picture...this picture that has popped into my brain every morning since I first viewed it....for it reminds me to interrupt my schedule for you....to share you...because it might just be the interruption someone needs today!! Dear Lord, thank you for this man. This man I don't even know who has brought me faith in you, faith in your salvation, faith in your provision to guide us to all nations, all peoples. Oh Lord...I simply stand in awe today...and for that, well...thank you!





A Beacon of Light...

I have been thinking a lot about light houses lately. I guess God is laying something on my heart. There have been little glimpses of His teaching in my life on this topic and then today my devo said this,

"I chose to pour My Light into you, so that you can be a beacon to others."

So, a lighthouse...

 a tower or building designed to emit light as an aid to navigation for ships and boats. 

The light coming from the light house would alert the ships of where the coast line was, and illuminate the waters.

It has me thinking...

Am I a lighthouse?

Am I a beacon of light to those wondering in the hazards of this life?

Do people see me, see light, and understand a clear path?

A path of Christ?

I should be...

"In the same way, let your light shine before men..."

Matthew 5:16

So, I did a quick little search on lighthouses...you know in the place I wouldn't let my college students search for information: WIKIPEDIA:

"Once widely used, the number of operational lighthouses has declined due to the expense of maintenance and replacement by modern electronic navigational devices."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighthouse

Hmmm....the number of operational lighthouses had declined...

Could we make a connection to Christianity here my dear sisters?

...due to expense and maintenance...

It is difficult to be a lighthouse for our Lord if we are not spending time with Him.

 If we are not maintaining our own relationship with Him.

LIGHTHOUSE....

Be one today....