“The more you practice, the better
you get.” I kept telling myself that during the first practice of the boys’
basketball team I am coaching. “The more you practice, the better you get”. I
kept telling myself that…because at the time I was beginning to question that!
Since that first practice, I’ve
experienced God speaking to me through the decision of two boys on the team.
Both came into the season with little basketball experience and low levels of
skill. One of the boys (I’ll call him Buck) was quite receptive to my coaching.
He didn’t enjoy the repetition of skill building drills, but he worked hard to
do them. He shot the ball from the same spot again and again and again…working
on his form, but missing the hoop badly. The other boy (I’ll call him Jack) had
a similar skill set, but was not receptive to my coaching. He shuffled through
the drills with half effort at best. At times he quit and feigned an injury or
took an extended bathroom break.
We’re about half way through the
season now, any guesses what’s happened? Buck hasn’t exactly turned into Le
Bron James (he needs a better coach for thatJ), but he has gotten
much better. At our game this past weekend, he scored his very first point. The
team and the crowd cheered wildly. It was a beautiful moment. Jack…well, Jack
has not gotten better. He has not scored a single point. Buck now enjoys our
practices; Jack still doesn’t.
“The more you practice, the better
you get.” I think that’s true. I think that’s true with basketball and I think that’s
true connecting with God. I’m enjoying our church wide commitment to read the
bible at least ten minutes a day…some of the time. Some days the ball goes in
the hoop and it feels good! I connect. I hear and I feel heard. But some days
it feels more like an air ball. The passage is confusing, I’m not focused, or
any number of reasons. But as I’ve been doing this daily habit for a number of
years, the “makes” have gone up and the “misses” have gone down.
“The more you practice, the better
you get.” As Cheryl mentioned in her blog last week---it’s not because God will
love you more than He already does; it’s because you’ll get to know Him more
than you currently do. Don’t give up, it’s worth the effort!
No comments:
Post a Comment