A New Phase of Life

So.

I'm wondering when the mid-life crisis hits.

I've had some crazy thoughts lately; I'm sure my husband's head is spinning:

• I'm ready for a red convertible.
• I'm not really caring what I wear at the beach. (I can hear you gasping now. After all, tanned fat looks much better than non-tanned fat.)
• Can we just move to somewhere new and start over?
• How much does a tummy tuck cost, and how soon can I get that done?
• Does getting your nose pierced hurt? What about my belly button?

Ok, ok. You can quit judging me now. At least I'm not ready to trade in Mr. Coach for a new one. :)

Tough Times

I have to take a break from remembering this past basketball season to remembering some life lived.

Self-employment in this economy is tough. I remember hearing last year on the news how bad our economy was, and how many jobs were being lost, and how people were losing their homes, etc. and I thought, "God, you are blessing us, and sheltering us from this. Thank you that we aren't experiencing this slow economy."

I also remember God telling me, again, that I'm not dependent on this economy. I am, and always have been, dependent on Him.

As things tend to do, the "tough economic times" finally filtered its way to Small Town USA, and hit our home.

I've gone through each phase: "God will provide, I can do this" to "Ok, this is tighter than I thought it'd be" to "God! What are You doing??" to "God? Why me? What have I done to You?" to "Yes! Enough to pay the light bill!" and right back to "God? Why me? What have I done to You?"

Through it all, God has most certainly provided and hopefully I've matured. (Good grief, I hope I've matured!) I cannot tell you the number of people that decided they wanted to get together and feed us a meal, or just bring us milk and bread, or hand us gift cards to buy what we needed at the time. We have not gone without something to eat, or light, or water, or even chocolate. Thank You, Lord, for that! :)

This past month, though, it seems as if God just wanted to show out a bit. I felt like I was drowning. But He has given new breath to me. He has taken away some burdens that were heavy; they felt like mud weighing my legs down so that the next step was barely obtainable.

I give Him glory.

I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.
Psalm 37:25 (New International Version)

North Central State Tournament

On we go to the next tournament.

We had a blast!!

Our first opponent went down without any problem. We won by about 20 points, and I wanted to make a statement to anybody who was following us.

I had been to a meeting where all the districts from the state were represented. Talk about being a woman in a man's world! By the time I left the table, I was SICK of male testosterone!! "My girl's better than your girl." "I've never even seen you play." "I want the best picked."

Well, you know what?!? Since you wouldn't put me on your schedule, I did you one better. I played teams you wouldn't even consider, and not only did we stay in the ballgame, we won!

Reading back over that, it does sound a bit prideful, but I respectfully tell you that the pride comes out of being handed a challenge from haughty coaches, and beating them at their own game so they have no arguement against my school.

I believe our statement was made. Actually, I know it was because you wouldn't believe the number of coaches and referees I met that asked me about our school and how long we had been open, and "Uh...who are you again?". I just chuckled and thanked God everytime someone stood next to me with their jaw dropped.

And, with that first win, school history was made. Again. :)

No other girls' basketball team had ever gone past the first round of North State.

Our second game, however, was not so easy. Since I want to remember the play-by-play and the following discussions, I will devote a totally separate post to it.

District Tournament

We finished the regular season as a 4 seed. Not what we had hoped, but not the worst either.

Our first game was against the 5 seed (CA, for my future reference) and I was nervous. We had beaten them twice before, and as the saying goes, it's hard to beat a good team three times.

We did beat them, and it put us one win closer to going to the North Central State Tournament.

My point guard was suffering from some back injuries, and had decided she was ready for the season to be over. I have to say that the best decision I made was to take her out for tacos. :) She and I talked, very honestly, about where things stood and where we would most likely end up. Long conversation short, I asked her for another week of play and she agreed.

I'm sure, up in heaven, God was shaking his head at my lack of faith.

Our next game was against the #1 seed in the tournament. We had never beaten KA. As a matter of fact, they were used to beating us by an average of 30 points. At the end of the 1st quarter, we were down by 11 points.

I remember taking a deep breath and going into that huddle, and telling them to slowly chip away at the lead. I have to be honest. I didn't really believe we would win.

BUT GOD....(don't you just love that phrase?!?)

He decided that history could be made that night. Our fourth quarter was great. We were down by 2 with about 5 seconds to go in the game, when my only 8th grader on the team made a shot with her toe on the 3-point line. You would have thought we won the state championship. We went into overtime and beat them for a chance at our district championship.

I remember the buzzer going off and all of us standing there for what seemed like a minute, thinking "Did we just win? Did this just happen?" And then we all hollered and screamed and jumped up and down and hugged each other......it was a moment I hope the Lord lets me remember forever.

We went to the District Championship game against another team that we had not beaten in 6 years. Again, at the end of the 1st quarter, we were down by about 11, and I thought "This is just like Tuesday night....God, please let us win"

The similarities were unbelievable.

Again, with 3 seconds to go, we were down by 2. HA gets the rebound off of one of our missed shots and all they have to do is throw it down to their end of the court and keep the ball away from us. AGAIN, my 8th grader steals the ball and dribbles in for a lay-up. We're going in overtime. Unfortunately, we lost by 3.

I have to say, though, not one of us cried. We cheered louder for that 2nd place trophy than they did for their 1st place. I absolutely love the picture I have of that night. For a shining moment, we were...

ONE.

On the Way to Making School History

I've been meaning to record on my blog just how wonderful the varsity year has been during the 2009-2010 season. Since I want to record details, I'll probably break this into 2 or 3 posts.

Let's begin with our nickname for ourselves: A Team of Firsts.

This "team of firsts" started off pretty good: Summer camp in the western part of our state, and a desire to get better, to BE better than we were. So, all 6 of us that went-2 coaches included-thought we would come back and conquer the basketball world.

Yeah, right.

After a few practices, it became painfully obvious who was committed, and who was not.

This team did something no other team has ever done: begged me to bring up talent from the JV team to help them. After painful turmoil with myself, I decided to honor their request knowing this would bring more obstacles that I'd have to face alone.

I say alone. Not really. I have one of the most awesome assistant coaches that anyone can ever have. She and I have lovingly named her "The Bodyguard".

As soon as I passed out the uniforms to these JV'ers I asked to play up, I am informed that I am breaking a rule by doing this. Instead of asking these NV's (New Varsities) to turn in their uniforms, I was honest with them and told them what I'd learned. I was totally surprised when every single girl decided they'd sit the bench for the rest of the season instead of leaving the team.

I have to say that the parents of these NV's were very cooperative and supportive of these girls and their decisions. And, for that, I am forever grateful.

Asking Forgiveness

I'm not at peace with myself today.

I handled a situation a little harshly and now I'm having to "fix" it. Like it can be fixed. Saying "I'm sorry" just won't cut it. But, it's all I can do.

Admittedly, there is fault on both parts. Both of us agree on that. I just feel like that by trying to be the one who admits fault first and apologize, this means that I'm the only one in the wrong. And that just isn't the case. But having dealt with this other party before, I know what's coming.

I hate this feeling.

***************************************************************************************
God is so gracious.

I called the other person involved and they showed so much kindness. Kindness I didn't expect, and probably didn't deserve. God was so right when He says to humble yourself, ask forgiveness, and try reconciliation.

This feeling, I love.

Shifting My Focus

Another season has ended.

My JV girls had a wonderful year, and ended last night in the district championship finishing 2nd. I'm so proud of what they've done. This is a team that 2 years ago only won 2 games. They finish this year 21-4 with a trophy. Hard work and committment pays off.

So this morning, I cry on and off again. :) I'm just like that. When a hard, stressful season is done, I sit and cry. The strength that carried me through is all used up, and I decompress. No sadness, just "done-ness".

But, I'm not totally done. Now it's the varsity's turn.

With all of my focus on them, we play today, then start our district tournament on Tuesday. I'm believing for big things. For favor, for fast feet, for shots to fall, and for unity among the team and their parents. That last thing is the biggest of all.

Along the way, God is teaching and showing and working. I have to admit that it concerns me that I can't feel Him, but I take comfort in the fact that He's there anyway, and He is moving. There have been lessons taught to these girls that I never thought that I'd teach to anyone their age. :) But what's so neat is that they are open to it!

And that is what my coaching is all about.

To God Be The Glory, great things He has done!