I wasn’t sure what to think about the big Home School Basketball Tournament we were headed to last weekend in Kansas. I’d heard it was well run and that there were lots of teams coming from three different states. Well…wow to both! It was very well run and there were basketball players and parents EVERYWHERE! :)
This is our first year to have a child on our local home school basketball team. As you know, we are a complete soccer family. (Well, except for me. I can’t play worth a hoot. I just feed everyone and cheer really loudly.) It has been a great experience for Asa, our oldest, to learn what to do with a ball in his hands instead of at his feet. He’s come a long way this season and he’s been a joy to watch.
Since the tournament was in Kansas, we headed down a few days early to spend some time with our family and friends there. That was an added bonus and blessing (even though my brother’s whole family came down with the flu so we couldn’t spend much time with them…and even though when I went to go visit Amy my website went down so I had to spend several hours of my “vacation” trying to fix it). But other than that…it really was a great weekend!
What I loved most about the tournament…besides spending time with some great families from our community and getting to know more great families from other states…was that the weekend wasn’t just about basketball and trying to win games. Coaches led the teams in prayer together before games started. Team devotionals were held each morning. And on Friday afternoon while all the teams and families were in the big gym together for a little “three-pointer-shoot-out”…we were blessed to hear a short but meaningful message about how the “uniform” you wear shows that you are a part of a certain team. So, how about the “uniform” we wear for Christ? Do our actions show that we are on Christ’s team? Great stuff.
I feel very blessed that our family had the opportunity to be a part of something so beneficial in so many ways. Looks like we’re now a soccer family…and a basketball family. :)
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Lori says
That is so neat! Yes, basketball is lots of fun! It used to be #1 to me, but baseball has kind of taken over, since it’s my four children’s favorite.
Samantha says
This week we are very grateful for the promotion my husband just got at his job. (Plus the nice raise he got with it!) This allows him to stay home in the morning with us and he gets home around 8:15 at night so he can tuck our little one into bed! =]
Have a very blessed week!
Brieana Smith says
I can’t imagine having to drive to another state for sports! I guess that’s the good thing about living in the middle of 12 million people.. :)
Rachel says
I’m grateful for an evening to laugh with other ladies from church while we watched a Chonda Pierce video. I needed to laugh tonight!
Just curious, where was the basketball tournament held? I know one was going on in the church where my son has homeschooling classes and I was curious if it was the same place.
Laura says
This one was at McPherson – games were going on constantly in both of their colleges, in two gyms each. It was quite the system!
It Feels Like Chaos says
Glad it was such a positive weekend! I used to not like basketball as a sport but now that my oldest son plays it a few months a year (and the other months I freeze or burn up on the bleachers for baseball or the lawn chair for soccer and swimming), I’m thankful for the indoorness and climate-controlledness of it!!!
Jill says
This year is my first year of being a scream your head off, jump up and down basketball Mama in the bleachers! After 33 years of parenting son #5 is loving basketball and is playing for the first time. What a hoot it is to watch.
Teresa from NanaHood says
My boys basketball career just ended and I was feeling really empty until I read about Wes Leonard, the young man who made the winning lay up for his team and then died suddenly. He was only sixteen years old. I wrote a tribute for him last week on my blog, http://www.nanahood.com I am still grieving for his family and friends. So glad your boys are enjoying the sport! It’s a great game and I’m thankful for all the years my boys did get to play!
Jennifer says
Funny you should bring up being on Christ’s team… We are going through 2 Corinthians in our precepts sunday school class… Paul told us we are an ambassador for Christ and our life should be a reflection of that fact. Great message for the young boys, and a good reminder for us! :)
Lisa@HappyinDoleValley says
What uniform are we wearing, indeed! Thanks for sharing and for hosting, Laura. :)
Betsy says
I ordered 2 flexiclips and we just got them in the mail this morning. Needless to say, my daughter and I had to put them in our hair in the car…I did a semi french twist on her hair and did a half pullup on mine! I will be ordering more of these. They are fabulous! Thanks for posting this…this is the ultimate way to network market a product. Word of Mouth Advertising is the business of the 21st Century. Thanks again.
Becky says
Wow. You must spend a huge amount of time traveling to all the games. Makes me kind of glad none of my girls are in sports. The music and art lessons are enough running around for me.
Amy @ Finer Things says
Ahhh, what a week for you. ;) LOVE me some kids’ sports, and can I just give a quick shout out to our Tiny Town public school and their ROCKIN’ football coach (hehe) who PRAYS with his players both before and after each and every game?
Laura says
How cool is it that he is ALLOWED to pray with his team. Awesome!
Debora says
I’m grateful for my friend Laura who’s teaching me some homemaking skills (even though she’s MUCH younger)since all I ever learned were business skills!
blair says
I’m thankful that by next gratituesday I will be posting my thankfulness for a new baby :)… No really tho, I’m thankful this pregnancy has gone by quickly with no major complications… Did I mention, I’d appreciate prayers for a successful csection, next monday at 9am (central time) lol.
Jessica Renee McCarty says
Thank you so much for this post. It is so easy to get caught up in the busyness of our lives and forget what we are thankful for and all that God has graciously given us! Thanks again!
Kim says
Thank you for this post. We are basketball people around here but also we are pagent people too. I have 2 boys one who plays basketball and one who does pagents. Over the weekend we had a baketball game and a pagent to go to. My oldest who plays basketball won his game which was an outstanding game. My yougest who does pagent won his first pagent (he always placed in his pagent but never won one) so when I heard them call his number out I was so shocked, happy and crying all at the same time. I guess you can say that Im so grateful for my boys even if one does play sports and one does pagents.
Cindy says
Hi Laura,
You were at the NDII !! My Jr. High daughter’s team, the Reno County Sabres, was the host team…I wish I had known you were there. We were bouncing between the two colleges for almost 12 hours each day :) I looked at the program and saw Asa on Central Falcons. My 5 year old son, who loves green, (because he is a HUGE John Deere fan), took a liking to Central and cheered, all by himself. He was so loud during the H.S. girl’s game that a few of their players came over after the game to thank him :) I love the atmosphere and the spirit of Christian competition that the NDII offers. It was great to see complete teams rooting on others they had just met that weekend!
If you’re back next year, we’ll have to meet up. Good luck with soccer. My daughter is seriously missing basketball, already!
Sabre #34 Mom,
Cindy
Laura says
Yah…that’s where we were!! Shucks, it would have been fun to meet you!!!
You guys run a SLICK operation…very well done!!!
We’re good friends with Mark and Bonnie T. I’m assuming you know them as well, since they help run the tourney too?
Cindy says
Such a small world!! I talked to Mark and Bonnie Friday night and they said they knew you well. Thanks for the compliment on he tourney…we have such a fun time with it,but Kelly L. plans for months to make it run so well.
Thanks for your great blog and all the encouraging posts!!