Jake's Thought for the Week

Every Sunday evening or first thing Monday morning I take an hour or two to step away from the non-stop emails, the ringing of the phone, and all the craziness that often surrounds the daily responsibilities of the Kingdom Hoops program. I attempt to step back and admire what people all over the world are doing for the purpose of glorifying Christ. Many weeks I will steal the materials I read to use as the thought for the week. Usually the items I share from others have motivated or challenged me in some way.

As we drove home from another great weekend of basketball I was over-joyed with the improvement many of the players are making on the basketball court. While I was filled with elation from the success of the weekend I was left scratching my head as gripes and complaints began to come in as they do after every weekend. We have certain parents bargaining with other programs about the potential of their kids playing with them while they are playing with us. We had another weekend of players bailing out at the last minute based on what roster they were on. I have a girls program complaining that I do not care about the girls just the boys. Now this was no surprise to me as these are the regular standards of a Sunday evening or early Monday morning. When I become my most frustrated I always rely on the fact that God is using me for the kids and families that want to fully utilize the gifts they have been given to ultimately glorify Christ. This simple truth keeps me motivated and burning with enthusiasm each day.

As I drove home Sunday night I asked God for wisdom in trying to relay to all of the parents & players what we are trying to do at Kingdom Hoops. As I began my readings Monday morning I came across a recent post on the blog ‘Kisses from Katie’. Please Read…………………………………………………………

Post from Kisses from Katie Blog: www.kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com

I have recently been humbled by the privilege to get to know twenty of this community's women on a very personal level. Juliette was a prostitute, sneaking quietly away from her home after her children had fallen asleep and selling her body to be able to put some food on the table for them in the morning. Veronica was brewing alcohol as a quick way to make money to support her children, one of whom was literally dying of starvation. On days when alcohol didn't sell, she would bring the mash that it is made from home to her family and they would swallow it until they fell asleep. She was making her children drunk so that they were unable to feel the pains of hunger. Todi, widowed after her third child was born, had recently taken in her sister's five children after her sudden death. "What was my choice?" she asked when explaining the situation to me. "God says I look after the orphans, I look after the orphans." Ten of them sleep together on the floor in a home about half the size of my giant kitchen table. Jja Jja Maria looks after her three grandchildren though she can barely walk due to severe back pain. Kasifa only has use of one arm as a result of polio when she was younger but uses her one good arm to pick through the trash for some food for her 6 children. They each have a story that would blow your mind.

As I read this all I could think about was how blessed we are. I get to coach basketball, we have a huge facility, and we get to use our gifts and talents to maximize the platform given to us by God. I read the excerpt above and could not fathom how we so often miss the joys in our life because we are upset about a loss, a coach, playing time, or a perception. When I drive home after practice each night I get to lay my daughter down to sleep after she gives me a kiss followed by 10 giggles. Each night I get to walk into a room where JJ and Sam sleep that would be twice the size of most houses in Africa. I get to do devotionals with them and talk about how they saw God work in their lives that day. I get to hold my wife’s hand and share some of the stories from the day. I get to wake up to “Hiii Daddy!” from my little girl while JJ grills me about the number of meetings I have on that particular day. I get to challenge young men and women to strive for more. I get to have a young boy put his arm around me this weekend and say thanks for getting him a meal that evening. We get to share in the high’s and low’s with young people as they strive to reach their goals on the basketball court while helping them as they search for their place in this fallen world. I get to receive an email from a young man in our high school program last week who tells me he is ready to commit more of himself to become successful. He says he is ready to fully utilize the gifts he has been given because he wants to be the first member of his family to graduate college.

I am certainly not mad or upset about the weekly complaints that are excusing many of our world’s young people from ever accomplishing all that God has designed for them. Rather, I am simply challenged to begin to see the small joys God has blessed all of us with each day. I am challenged to ask God if there is more that I can do? Am I fully maximizing all that he has given me? Yes, Kingdom Hoops is an elite basketball program in the United States garnering great success on the court but winning a basketball game or a big trophy is not what God ultimately wants from us. Instead he wants us to use those successes to open the doors where God’s work can really begin. Who knows what God has planned for all of us but I know it is more than emotionally living based on personal success on a basketball court.

The Kingdom Hoops program is definitely not designed for everyone. I simply pray daily that through basketball God will allow us to accomplish all that he has intended for his purposes! When we get frustrated over what happens in a basketball game, in the classroom, or in any other arena where frustrations seem to shine so brightly, just imagine if you were that parent whose children were starving – whose family members were dying. What if you were the one having to sell your body so your children could eat the next morning? God has a plan for all of us even though some days we will not understand it, but after I did my readings today I know he has blessed all of us ten-fold and now it is our responsibility to do great things with it!

Have a great week!

Jake