a few good things at our house:
last week was strenuous!! abe and sadie both tried out for their school basketball teams. the try-outs were intense. sadie had open gyms for a few weeks and then two, two and a half hour long official try-outs. abe had two open gyms and three official try-outs. i planned on helping them train this summer but with abe in the hospital and most of the summer recovering, we had different priorities. when school started, abe said he still wanted to try-out. we had two months to prepare and i knew the competition would be tough. the thought of driving to provo all the time for coaching seemed overwhelming and i've been trying to make family dinner time happen as much as possible, so abe started training with a boy on the high school team twice a week. i hoped that would prepare him enough and hoped heavenly father would make up the difference as we tried to put family first. i took sadie to provo a couple times right before try-outs to get her confidence up cause those coaches are awesome. the week of try-outs came.
as a mom you just want your kids to succeed. i wanted them to walk away feeling that they did their best and also know their worth does not depend on making a basketball team. my nephew sent a letter last week from his mission in korea. i loved his advice to his younger brother:
"Toby, good luck with basketball tryouts! I will pray for you! Whatever happens, Heavenly Father has a plan. Whatever you do, use it as an opportunity to serve Him and He will help you with it. You're great at that. Keep up the good work with school. It can be boring sometimes, like SUUUUPER boring, I know, but the harder you work the more fun it is. Missionary work is the same; the harder you work, the more fun it is. You are doing great!"
we had family night about his counsel, 'whatever you do, use it as an opportunity to serve Him and He will help you with it.'
i hoped before try-outs to help them see that if they made it, great, use it to serve. and if not, there is something else to do, another way to serve God. the main reason we are here is to choose the right and to serve God.
i knew they felt something during the lesson, but when it ended, they both said, "ya, but we still really want to make the team."--haha! they got the point and i knew it, but they had worked hard and both really wanted it.
i was SO concerned about them. i dropped abe off to one of his try-outs and sat in my car and said a prayer for him. i mean a real prayer. i was sick with worry. abe still gets winded sometimes and i really wanted him to have energy so he could do his best. i remember staring at the ugly brown brick on the school and worrying. i then had the thought to look up and so i did and the blue sky was so big and beautiful. i had the spirit come over me and tell me to look at the big picture and i felt this overwhelming sense of calm. i knew they would both be ok, even though i didn't know what that would look like. i was extremely grateful to know that Heavenly Father allowed me to feel calm and know that He has a plan for my kids. i tried to remember that throughout the week. it also reminded me of another time that i knew Heavenly Father was going to help us, but I didn't know what it would look like. i was grateful that we were waiting to see if they would make it on a team and not waiting to see if abe would make it out of surgery....that was worse. i'm grateful that Heavenly Father helps with big and not so big things...and sends calm.
sadie found out first. it was posted on the office window at school before class. it was all i could do to wait and not run in the school in my pajamas. she made it!
abe made the first cut and then had the last try-out, where they would cut nine more players. they were all good players. he waited up pretty late, but finally went to bed. sadie and i saw the list pop up around 11:30 pm and i was so excited for abe-- he was on the list!!
the next morning he saw that he had made the team!
the week before try-outs, the kids all got their report card.
sadie and abe both had the goal to get 4.0's and they worked hard! they both emailed teachers, made arrangement to retake tests and do everything they could to accomplish this goal. i was worried about abe going to middle school following a traumatic summer. he has risen to the occasion, is staying organized and has been super responsible. he wakes up early every morning to do homework. i have been so impressed with their desire to do well.
sadie knew she was on board for her 4.0
abe had to retake one math test to try to bump up his math grade (he is in a very difficult math class that moves really fast) after he took the test he didn't think he would make it, but when he pulled up his grades he was so happy to see that his work paid off. work hard and good things happen!!!!
loved the comments on his report!
kai and max are also working so hard. kai is very conscientious and wants to do well. i am impressed with max too because his teacher speaks only spanish for half the day. he doesn't get frustrated and he is optimistic always!
again this week, i feel so grateful for these kids and to be a part of it all!!!
