One Team, One Goal, One Mission... SIX!

THESA Varsity Girls took their SIXTH National title and we were there to see it!

These girls are an amazing basketball team, playing against the best teams in the state of Texas during the season, and finishing with domination at the both the State and National Homeschool Tournaments!

They were led by Moriah Jefferson (ranked as the #2 girl in the nation, #1 guard, and headed to UConn this summer on a full ride!). If you ever have the opportunity to watch this girl play, you should take it!  She is an astounding point guard who can handle the ball with jaw-dropping dexterity!

While Mo is certainly a stud, this team of ballers has plenty of other talent on the floor as well as the bench!

They were a delight to watch!

Congrats, Riders!  Well played indeed!

THESA Riders Basketball... YAY-UH!

February AND March flew by in a whirl of BASKETBALL. 

We spent the week before last in Springfield, Missouri, for the 2012 National Homeschool Basketball Tournament! Wes was unable to go, so the three of us had some serious quality time together. It was priceless!

These girls had a FANTASTIC year finishing THIRD in the state tournament, and SIXTH in the National Tournament! They played in the gold ball division (the highest division in their age group) and really did well. 

Did I mention that all but ONE of their games was at 8:30 AM? YES. I SAID EIGHT THIRTY IN THE MORNING!

It always took them the first period to wake up! These girls are NOT MORNING PEOPLE! 

A super sweet friend showed up to support (thanks, Emzy! :D), and here's what we got when we asked them to get up against the wall for a picture!

It was a long, exhausting, phenomenal week of more basketball than you could ever hope to see!! But, with a couple dozen Krispy Kremes and lots of laughs with friends, we managed to survive!

Both Baylee and Jordan got all-tournament nods at the state tourney, and Abbee took the Christian Character award at Nationals.

It has been a crazy couple of months, but I must admit that when the season FINALLY ended last Sunday, I had a touch of post basketball season blues. I'm sick like that.

Having some time off will be nice, but we are going to miss all of our basketball family!

Tired Heart

It's 7:30 AM and I have been awake for two hours.

TWO.

HOURS.

My sweet Emma took off on a road trip with some friends to reunite with her BFF Lexie!

Those two have face-timed every single day for the last three weeks or so planning which bags to bring, what necessities should be in each bag, and where to purchase the same exact word search books and sudoku puzzles so that, even though they will be in separate cars for their individual 8 hour treks, they will be doing the exact same things!

Seriously, Emma's excitement could not be contained.

Until last night.

Around bedtime, of course, Emma began to come to terms with the gravity of the situation. When she arrives back home Sunday evening, I will be gone. The big girls and I are headed to a basketball tournament for the week, and Wes and the littles are staying behind.

Emma was struggling a bit with the 10 whole days that I won't see my mom thing! I rubbed her back while she sobbed into her pillow.

I assured her she didn't HAVE to go! ;)

Then, this morning as she snuggled up beside me AT 5:30 AM, she said...

"I'm really excited now! That was just my tired heart talking last night!"  
And, with that, both her tired heart AND her tired little body said goodbye with an completely excited smile on her tired little face!

Viral Videos and Baby Girls

I don't know if you've seen the KONY 2012 video floating around Facebook. It went viral in all of 10 minutes or something like that! It has also stirred up some controversy regarding the use of funds by the non-profit behind the video, Invisible Child.

None of this has much to do with my post except that Wednesday night, instead of going to Bible study like I usually do, I stayed home. I really had no valid excuse. I just didn't want to go. So, I didn't!

Instead, I lounged around and watched American Idol with my kids. (almost as spiritually enriching as Bible study, I know!)

Afterward, I was checking up on Jordan's FB activity when I noticed she had posted that KONY 2012 video. I asked her what that video was about, to which she replied, "You have to watch it!"

"I don't want to watch it. I just want you to tell me what it's about."

She grabbed my phone, and tapped the video so that it would begin playing.

That's when I noticed it's almost THIRTY MINUTES LONG!!

"I don't want to watch a 30 minute long video, Jordan! Just tell me what it's about!!"

In the meantime, the video began. And, Emma snuggled up beside me and watched as well.

In case you have no idea, the video sheds light on a man named Joseph Kony who for several of decades has kidnapped children across Africa to fight in his rebel army. It highlights, in particular, a Ugandan named Jacob who was a victim of Kony and watched as his brother was murdered right in front of him.

Heart wrenching doesn't begin to cover it.

Anyway, about mid-way through, the video froze up and we couldn't finish it.

I sent everyone to bed and headed that way myself.

About thirty minutes later, Abbee and Emma walked into my room. Abbee explained that Emma really needed to tell me something.

Emma had buried her face in my bed.

Once I convinced her to talk to me, I discovered she was sobbing.

She told me that she had just realized how selfish she is. She said she knew that she had so much and those kids have so little, and she didn't deserve to have such a good life when there were people whose lives were so tragic.

Then, she told me she wanted to know God. She wanted to really know him and she wanted him to help her not be so sinful.

Wes and I talked with her for a few minutes, and then I asked her if she wanted me to pray.

She said that she wanted to pray.

And then...

Emma, through sobs, confessed that she knew she was a sinner. She asked Jesus to forgive her and help her learn to follow him and trust him. She prayed for the Ugandan kids, and that God would help them too.

Here's the beautiful, awe-inspiring thing: God used half of a viral You-Tube video to stir Emma's heart to repentance. The Spirit worked in her and revealed to her her need for the cross, for the gospel. In that moment, I saw the mystery of the gospel manifest in the heart of my baby girl. And, all I could do was praise Him.

The next morning, I asked Emma if she understood what had happened last night. She replied, "I became a follower of Jesus."

I LOVE that she said "became." 

Passive voice. 

Because SHE had NOTHING to do with it! 

She was the receiver of the most precious gift: the gift of forgiveness and righteousness given freely by the One who paid it all.

To God be the glory forever!

Here's Where the Rubber Meets the Road...

We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be. 

-C.S. Lewis

I saw this quote yesterday at Life in Grace.  It pretty much sums up how I'm feeling after hearing that Wes will soon no longer have a job. 

There is very little we know besides that. All that is certain is that at some point in the very near future, we will have no income.

I have spent the last 24 hours reminding myself of God's goodness and sovereignty in this. 

And Lewis' sentiment is EXACTLY what I've been wondering. How painful is this going to be?

Because, honestly, though I am certainly tempted to doubt, I truly believe that God will absolutely do the best for us. But, I'm no stranger to the pain that is often involved in His best! 

So we are hunkering down here, seeing an opportunity to walk by faith. (Which is SO MUCH HARDER than walking by sight!!)

I know it's no coincidence that I have just begun memorizing the book of James. 

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have it's full effect, that you will be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."

James 1:2-4

Or, perhaps you can see the irony in our Bible lesson this week: God Controls All of the Bad Things.

I taught that lesson to my children as I waited to hear the news we knew was being announced Wednesday! I knew God was preparing me. I knew the news would go into the "bad things" category.

But, here is what else I knew. God is not concerned with my comfort. He's after my heart. He wants me to love Him, worship Him, and live fully for Him. All things are from Him, through Him, and to Him for HIS GLORY and not mine.

So, my God will do the best for me. Only, His best will be aimed at my affections... not at my comfort.

I call this the "rubber meets the road" kind of faith. We talk about it; we study it; we teach it. Now, we get to live it.