Upward Basketball

I cannot believe that our Upward Basketball Season 2 came to an end this week!!!

We had our last game day on Saturday morning and then our End of Season Celebration in the afternoon! This past Saturday during the team huddle, the kids learned about what the verse John 3:16 means from their coaches.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. ~John 3:16~

What an important truth to share with our kids. That God loves each and every one of them enough to let his son die on the cross. What an intense meaning that has for us. And such a priveledge to share with the kids that come to out to play basketball.

I just thought I'd take a moment to share some memories and thoughts about this year's season.

What an intense season it was for me. The sharing of Jesus with kids and families has taken on a new sense of urgency in me this year. Life is short....you never know what is going to happen, so you have to make the most of every opportunity. How often do you have families and kids come out to play basketball where you have a chance to share the gospel message with them? Through our season with our team huddle devotions for the kids, and the half time speakers for our families, we tried to present them with the gospel message and why we do what we do. On Saturday we had an awesome juggler - Eric Dettweiler from Catch-A-Laugh Entertainment. What a show he put on. It was great....he had people on the edge of their seats and laughing pretty histerically. It was really great! He also pointed out to the kids that each one of them has a special purpose...that God created them for a specific reason and that He loves them and cares for them and referenced Jeremiah 29:11 - one of my favourite verses. I think its great when kids and families hear the same message consistently from different sources. It really makes them think.

Let me share with you a couple of stories that makes all the work we do to put the Upward Basketball League together so worth it:

Last year, we had a grandmother register her grandson for Upward Basketball. He played the whole first season. This boy is great, but definitely one of those kids, that you never know quite what they are thinking. At any minute you feel as though he might fly off the handle so to speak. He's interesting, although that does tend to make them more indearing especially when you've found an outlet for them where they can run off some of that energy and possible anger.
This year, his grandmother registered him again for basketball, and his grandmother also brought his friend. This grandmother is really great to be so dedicated to her grandson. So these two boys are now in our league. Their coach called the one boy's parents regarding being part of a snack schedule, and they made it very clear that they don't want anything to do with the basketball - that the coach should be calling the grandmother about anything related to basketball.
However, about half way through our season, both boys' parents starting showing up. How cool is that? That means they were there, hearing about how God loves them and wants to know them!

So about half way through the season, one boy started asking some really good questions. What is a cross? Who is Jesus? Commenting how it sounds like Jesus did some pretty cool things. During the juggler, he struck up a conversation with his coach about Jesus being so cool because he could walk on water. This coach was able to tell him about the coolest thing Jesus ever did - dying on the cross for our sins...and coming back to life again. This conversation with a child that our coach had no idea that he really heard anything she said.

To me that makes everything worth it. This boy, now knows about Jesus and will hopefully make a decision...but he is beginning to hear about Jesus and have questions about who HE is... for the first time. Amazing!

Another story from another coach is that a player who's family doesn't attend a church because according to the mom, they aren't church people, at the last game of the season, during the team huddle, this player offered to pray for her team. May have been the first time she ever prayed, but somehow felt that she wanted to talk to God and pray like her coach had done during every other team huddle.

God is at work. He's working through our coaches and working within the children playing basketball and their families. Lives are being changed. God's love is being made evident by all the amazing volunteer staff that help make Upward possible.
So thankful for these wonderful people willing to give of their time to share in sharing God's love with others. It is making a difference. All these volunteers really embody this verse - as it is not easy to give up so much time and energy...

However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
~Acts 20:24~