Excitement and anticipation begins to build at our house around the end of October, and it has nothing to do with Halloween. We get fired up when the official opening day of college basketball practice arrives. Our family loves Fighting Illini basketball!
When the boys were growing up, game days were almost like holidays. We arranged our schedules around the basketball schedule, and we tried to watch every game together. When they were small, Brady, Brandon, and Brock would put on their jerseys, grab their nerf basketballs and the laundry baskets, and they would play up a storm while watching their favorite players on TV. After the games, if it wasn’t too cold, they would run to the machine shed and shoot hoops, practicing the moves that they just saw Kendall Gill or Dee Brown execute. As the boys left home to attend college, we watched the games with our phones beside us, calling to talk about fabulous plays and last second shots.
Game Day has calmed down considerably now. Brad and I don’t put on our jerseys or shoot hoops during the game, but we still love our team. There is one well-known announcer though who tends to get my blood pressure up. If you are also a college basketball nut, you may know who I am talking about. In the past, it didn’t matter who our team was playing, the only thing this guy wanted to talk about was his favorite team, the Duke Blue Devils or North Carolina. Do you know who I’m referring to “BABYEEEE!” ?
This season he has aggravated me for a different reason. Instead of Duke, North Carolina or another team, it seems to be every sentence he utters begins with “I”. He only wants to talk about himself! I was griping about it to Brad one night during a game, when God used Dick Vitale to convict ME! How many times do my sentences start with “I”? How many times do others wish I would quit talking about what I want, what I think, what I want to do? How many times do I make every situation all about me?
Some of the ladies at our church have just begun a new Bible study on the book of Esther. Wouldn’t you know it, I’ve been convicted again! This time by King Xerxes, an ego-maniac showoff who passed an edict affecting all the women of his kingdom just because he was embarrassed by his wife. Everything revolved around him.
Conviction from our Heavenly Father can sometimes come from the strangest and most unexpected places, can’t it? When God “speaks” to me, I try to listen even though I hate that awful feeling of disappointment and shame. And once again, I am so thankful for grace, forgiveness, compassion, and the love of my Savior as he continues to do a work in me.
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