I had never coached anything before, but I've played basketball. Oh, have I spent my days in the gym. And I loved it! My daddy was a basketball coach, and when I was younger, I loved to go with him to all the games. When I was a little older, I took pride in being his little stat keeper. And I felt so special when we took our daddy-daughter Wednesday night trips to Lubbock to watch the Raiders or Lady Raiders play.
Oh, I loved playing basketball. But had no idea if I would enjoy coaching it. So, this year... I had the opportunity. Coaching basketball in China... who would have ever thought!?
High school girls... I'm not really sure how to relate to high school girls. But I was one once. So, I said yes. We started practicing in November, and last month we traveled (by airplane!) to our basketball tournament. This was a big deal for me because I had to leave Emily for THREE DAYS. If you know us, you know that's a big deal for us both. But I felt completely comfortable leaving her with my great friends. :) They are awesome.
Our first couple of games, I honestly wasn't sure what I was doing... I'm not really a yeller or a screamer... And I couldn't talk to the refs because, well.... my Chinese just isn't there yet. So, I kinda just stood there. I tried to act like I knew what I was doing. But I really wished that I could just play instead.
But by the end of the tournament, all my moments spent by my daddy's side paid off. I was comfortable. I was yelling and screaming with excitement. And I got a friend who could speak Chinese to talk to the refs for me. :)
And my awesome team pulled off a 3RD PLACE! Woohoo, go Tigers!
I took a class at church once that talked about "putting our sin to death" or the mortification of sin. And when we are trying to overcome our struggles, we need to replace our habits with something that "brings us life"-or vivification. And basketball... is definitely one of those things!
I will definitely be doing it again next year!
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