As I noted before, during the first two months of the year, part of my Saturdays are spent in gymnasiums … one in my church, and another in the public high school across the street. The Upward Basketball and Cheerleading [1] season is well underway here, in Midland, Texas. Volunteers are helping the program in a lot of different ways … as coaches, referees, time/scorekeepers, and delivering devotionals to the fans during halftime breaks … I’m one of the volunteers doing the devotionals, and here was my presentation for this past Saturday, inspired by what I observed of the youngsters on the court …
Hello, everyone, and thank you for being here today for the kiddos …
One of the reasons I volunteer for Upward Basketball is to enjoy a chance to watch kids at play … there is something spontaneously joyful about children at play … and that joy can be contagious.
A few weeks back, a timeout was called during one of the games, and a coach signaled to his team to circle around … and most of them did … except for one little boy, off by himself, just outside the circle, going like this … (at this point I’m spinning around in a tight loop while waving my arms)
As the father of two young men, I know there will come a time when sports, and everything else in a youngster’s life will become so serious, a point where a child’s every move will determine whether or not they will have a future as a professional athlete, or a scientist, or a successful business owner.
And of course you are there to support or encourage your kiddos in whatever path they take into their future … but that might include their choice to abandon that path if all they joy has been sucked-out of it, and pursue another path.
There may be some future NBA or WNBA stars out there … or there may not. I don’t know, and I don’t care because, for now, at this stage, there is still the fun, the joy.
Jesus told us – more than once, that we can learn something from children.
In the Book of Mark, we read about a time when people brought their children to Jesus … “And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them … But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.”
I guess the disciples needed reminders sometimes, because in the Book of Matthew we read about them quizzing Jesus … “At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’”
Now, I’m not saying ‘all fun at all times’ … we still need to make sure they get a good bedtime, eat a good meal, mind their manners and other ‘un-fun’ things. But when we can, let them have their fun, and let’s share that fun, that joy with them.
Thank you, everyone. Enjoy the game!
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Jeff McDonald [4]
Latest posts by Jeff McDonald (Posts [5])
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