TJ and basketball

Okay, so my friend Melissa just brought home a baby boy. I remember when I brought mine home--he was so sweet. Just a bundle of potential that overnight grew into a bundle of curls!

Then just about a week later he grew out of those curls and into the girls! UGH!!! And now...he's totally into basketball. I dont know what possessed him to choose basketball for his sport. Could've been the bloody nose he got when he played baseball (or the swollen lip that made me think he looked like Cindy Loo Hoo). But, no matter what made him choose this sport (that only allows 5 players in the game at a time)-it's his choice.

And tomorrow he goes to try-outs. Just the word makes my stomach lurch. Try-outs...fertile soil for damaging a boy's ego forever! Last year he begged us to take him to Velocity or D-1 to prepare for this ordeal. We were too busy, and he was too laid back. He went to try-outs and got cut (the first day!). I'll never forget how sick that made me. OHHHHH, my dear Melissa--just you wait.

Fortunately the coaches invited him back to be team manager. They loved him--let him practice with the team and before the end of the season, he actually played. But, he'll never forget how it felt to "be cut." I don't have the time to go into all of it right now, but God had a tremendous plan (that culminated with his coach accepting Christ). We're all great friends even now, and that coach is TJ's number one fan and encourager.

Unfortunately he no longer coaches the middle school team. None of us know this new coach. But, here's how TJ handled defeat. After playing with the team last year he begged us to participate in camps this summer. We put him in camps (5 of them!). Then when school started, he got us out of bed at 5AM every morning (Tom and I take turns--he gets Monday, Wednesday and Friday...I take Tuesday and Thursday), and we go to the rec center for him to shoot and practice. Then, on most afternoons, Saturdays and even Sundays between church TJ plays basketball at the rec center.

Now it's time to see if all this hard work will pay off. He's nervous, I'm nervous, Tom's nervous. I think his last year's coach is even nervous!

So, I'll let you know how this all plays out. If you think about it, just say a prayer for my TJ -it seems like just yesterday I wrapped him in a blanket and swore I'd never let anything hurt him!!! But tomorrow I'll tell him how great he is, how proud I am and off he'll go...into the lion's den of middle school basketball

TRY-OUTS.