I wasn't sure what we'd signed ourselves up for at the beginning of basketball season, but isn't that how we all feel at the beginning of everything new?!
The six of them taught me a lot about myself during those Saturday mornings as I watched from the bench. They played this piece of scripture the best they could and I learned it right along side them.
Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat—I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?
Luke 9:23 MSG
1. Keep your head up.
Looking down is easy. It doesn't require much thought, it doesn't challenge you, and you only see a limited piece of where you are and not one extra inch of the people and places beyond yourself. Keep your head up and let your eyes lead the way. Let your eyes guide your feet to that place where greatness can happen - not because of you, but because you were willing to see the big picture and not just yourself.
2. When it's hard, don't run away.
Finding the easy way out is what a lot of people do these days. We run the other way and try to figure it all out on our own. We refuse to stick with it because we're afraid to fail. We don't want to look foolish, and we don't want to let anyone down - especially ourselves.
Hard builds character. Hard pushes you to places you've never been before. Hard turns you into a selfless person - where selfishness can't even think about growing. Facing hard head on - that's where you find out what you're made of and who you're really trusting to get you through.
3. Remember to jump & follow through.
We don't make every shot we shoot. Sometimes we forget to jump. We often to forget to follow through. And sometimes we're just off. The important piece is that we remember why we're here in the first place. Not just to win. Not just to hear the crowd cheer. Not to make every shot. We're here with our head up and our eyes wide - listening and learning - even when we're on the bench ... because if everything was easy, we'd have no reason to remember to jump or follow through. We'd forget where we came from and who brought us here and we'd never see anything but ourselves.
I've spent a lot of time thinking about this verse and this basketball season, and as I do, I can't help but whisper {thanks}. We all gained 3 habits during those months - keeping our heads up, running toward life, not away from it, and jumping in & following through. Habits that are crucial for playing basketball and for life if we are truly followers of God.
Habits are hard, but they make life easy. {ann voskamp}
Keep shooting Mason - jumping and following through with all you've got - God's got you!
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