Basketball & Snickers. Just Believe.

     I am so blessed by some of the connections I have, especially blessed by my connection to Madison, Mississippi. Two weeks ago I took off on my summer adventure. Camp Leader for RAMP for Metro's youth for the first of the week then jumping on a flight to come to Mississippi to help out THE Terre Jasper. THE Terre Jasper is the Children's Pastor for Pinelake Church in MS, she was also my youth leader at Bellevue for my entire Middle and High school years. I came to MS to visit, but also to help out with her Kids Week. My life is forever changed.
     I have grown up in church and have been on plenty of mission trips and helped out with numerous camps an I have found that it's normally one child that changes my life. And that's exactly what happened this week. His name will remained unmentioned. But he was not my easiest child, he was actually my most difficult. He didn't behave, he had a bad attitude, and he didn't have a respect for authority. All three of those things clash BIG time with me. After the first day I was pretty frustrated that he was on my basketball team with 6 other 2nd/3rd graders. The Lord spoke to me while attempting to punish him and told me to not give up.
     I began to disect and pick apart his actions and behavior. After he bit my assistant coach, I decided it was time to chat. I began to ask him about his home life.... and it finally hit me. He was always acting defeated because he grows up in an atmosphere where no one believes in him. Tears were at the edge of my eyeballs and instead of making him sit out, I made him hug me. Not a short hug. But a hug. A hug from your g-ma that hasn't seen ya in a while. I hugged, hugged, and hugged the poor child. He looked at me and said, "Miss. Brennen, why you hugging me!?" And I told him I loved him and believed in him.

Everyone needs someone to believe in them. Everyone needs someone to love them. 

     That's what this precious child taught me. I ended up bribing him to behave. I have no idea if that was the correct thing to do, but he was amazed that I would spend a dollar on a yellow snickers. Bless his heart, he couldn't make it the last day and didn't even get it. But, I hope that I left him with something way better than a Snickers. (You know that's gotta be good.) I pray I left him with hope and that he knows someone believes in him. Even if they live in Ky. You better believe that on our last day together when he improved  17 points on his "HotShot" score I was jumping up and down like a proud momma.

Who are you believing in? Who was the last person you hugged and told them how much they meant to you? Reach out. Three days of playing basketball with a child who doesn't behave changed my life.

Learning.

     For the first time in a while, I am in a place where I don't exactly know what I'm doing. I don't have it all together. I'm in a constant state of learning and also in a constant state of messing up. I'm not used to being "administrative" all the time. Granted, I am fully capable and can do it well and have experience. But most of the time only with one event, not six.  I am on a new adventure of learning how to be all the roles that I am in. Leader, servant, admin, worshipper, barista, etc, etc... And it's difficult. But what I am learning is that I have to learn. I have to be teachable. Or else, I will not prosper in my roles.
     In Proverbs 14:6 (MSG) it says, "Cynics look high and low for wisdom- and never find it; the open-minded find it right on their doorstep!" I can not be the skeptical Brennen. My life will not work like that, I will be frustrated and angry all of the time. I have to be open-minded to new ideas, new ways of doing things, and new processes. Being teachable is one of the most important things in my walk with God. If I am not teachable then how will I ever grow?
     To be teachable also means you have to be willing to "unteach" yourself some things as well. With learning comes unlearning. And this is where I struggle. Because it becomes an internal battle. A battle of the mind most of the time for me. I have to take thoughts captive, replace them with truth, and act in truth. I have to make my mind up that I am going to learn this new truth. Your internal lifestyle determines your external actions.  What you decide in your mind will come out. It's just a truth.
     It's a lifestyle of surrender that brings freedom. Surrender to everything that once was and allowing God to redefine it for you. Some things from the past will still remain, because it's still truth, but some things will be replaced with something far greater. Soak it in. Soak it up. Live it out. Inside to the outside.