Basketball has been a part of my life for a very long time and through the years I have learned some very valuable lessons through the game of basketball. I always thought that I would be a basketball player, but I never dreamed of how God could use my knowledge of basketball in so many ways and to teach me so many different lessons(I will not share all of those now because it would get to long). The past six years I spent hours and hours coaching basketball, and by last year I was honestly just getting to the point of being burned out. I started to lose sight of my love of the game and sharing that love with the basketball players. As I began to look at coming to Tanzania part of me was ready to have a break from basketball all together, but I have come to realize that God really has planted that love deep inside of me and He will continue to find ways for me to use that to glorify Him.
First of all I have been contemplating the past few weeks why it is always after the fact that we realize how much we really loved doing something. I have been greatly missing the girls basketball team back home and overall just the competiveness of coaching. I am trying to take that lesson into account now and really just "be here now", and enjoy every aspect of my life here realizing that there will come a day that I will miss what I have here.
Secondly these past few weeks I have had many opportunities to teach the game of basketball to kids who are soaking it up. It has made me realize again how much I love it. At the Sala Sala kids club the past few weeks I have been teaching the girls the fundamentals of basketball. Two weeks ago we were teaching them how to dribble and we happened to have enough basketballs that they all got to have their own. It was so amazing and humbling to see their faces light up as they each were handed a ball to use during the club. As I talked about dribbling and it was translated into Swahili, they were taking it all in. We then gave them the opportunity to practice dribbling on their own. It was so fun to see them try exactly the way I showed them and get huge smiles across their faces as they began to improve their dribbling skills. This past week we worked on lay-ups. This was a much more difficult task for them, but it was so fun to break them up into groups and allow each one of them to try. What a joy to see them all jumping up and down and clapping each time one of the girls made a lay-up, even if it wasn't great form. It has brought me great joy each week to teach these girls basketball. I love that God is bringing my love of basketball back again, and that He is giving me ways to use it to bring to glory to Him.
Finally, after much prayer and thought I have decided to coach the U18 girls basketball team. I wasn't sure about this because coaching here is going to be way different than coaching in the States (that is a whole different blog), but I am glad that I made the decision to do it. We had a "try-out" practice this Thursday and the U18 and U15 girls practiced together. I walked away feeling like I was back in my element. I absolutely loved it. I am excited to get to know the older girls a little better and to be able to teach them more about the game of basketball and how much it can tie into this "game" of life. I am also praying that it will be an avenue for me to show Christ's love to girls on the team.
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