Even Less Time

We just returned from quick driving trip to Florida from Illinois.  This week I am coaching and my daughter is playing in a high school basketball tournament that plays 4 days in a row, 1.5 hours NW from our high school.  At same time I am trying to get into work before 7 a.m. each day to get some hours in at my client before my contract there ends.

Just babbling to let you know why I've dropped off, especially reading and commenting on your sites.  I missed some events in your lives, and I will catch up, and I will keep you in my prayers in the meantime.

I took this exhaustion I've felt the past three nights as clear sign that I should try to just renew the contract at 20 rather than 40 hours a week for the remainder of the basketball season!

That will give me time not just for the wonderful blogging community that I am blessed to be a part of, but also more family time, prayer and reading time, and just . . . . you know . . . the possibility of keeping my sanity.

Did I mention my daughter was lead scorer tonight and we are now the only undefeated team left in the Christmas tournament?  I get a kick out of the fact that the public school that bridges two farming towns in Illinois unabashedly calls it a Christmas rather than a Holiday tournament.

Or did I mention that I love coaching high school basketball and these wonderful girls more, I suspect, than Bobby Jones enjoyed playing golf?

Beyond the enjoyment there is a spiritual richness to coaching in a Christian school.  We pray before every bus trip, and our game ending cheer, win or lose is, "FOR HIM!!".  We also end in prayer, and often incorporate scripture verses into the practice ending prayers, with different girls volunteering for this as chance to practice their faith out loud.

There is also the fact that some of the team members and their families are going through hard times right now.  None of this is kept hidden--whether it is unfaithfulness in a marriage, "My Dad did some stupid things", or a father going into the ER, or need to raise money for a child's surgery.

Everything is mentioned and everything is raised up in prayer.  Our faith and love are part of our everyday experience and this is the richest part of the experience for me, and I think also the girls realize how wonderful it is too.

It is truly a blessing from God to have the privilege to do this.  It is also a miracle to reflect how He orchestrated it, and provided for me to have a client that used to keep me up nights and working weekends give me an assignment that is very easy to balance between 5-6 day a week practice and game commitments and 7 day a week family responsibilities . . .

Well, until this week where it is exhausting, but providentially so.