Your Worth

My son (now in 9th grade!) recently joined a city basketball league team, with his friends. While they have been playing together at our homeschool co-op for several years, none of them is especially good, and this is the first occasion they've had to play as a team. They lost their first two games by wide margins, and my son's experience reminded me of my own.

Ever since I was Kylen's age, I've loved playing basketball. Trouble is that I've never gotten very good at it, and that has always bothered me. Even as an adult who still plays pick-up games almost every week, I often come home disappointed in my lackluster performance on the court. I like to think I have many other talents, but despite the fact that this is my favorite sport, I cannot seem to improve. And that really bothers me, to the point that I risk seeing myself as worthless.

But as a born-again follower of Jesus Christ, I know better. The Bible teaches us that we are all of great intrinsic value to God. This means that my worth does not hinge upon my accomplishments, or the number of accolades I've received over my short existence. While our society bestows greater honor upon its sports, entertainment, or political heroes, God "is no respecter of persons." That means winning a championship or finding a cure for cancer earns you no more "brownie points" with Him, than if you came in last place or got dropped out of college.

He knows that you can do nothing of real importance without Him, and just to prove it, He usually picks the lowliest of the low to show Himself strong through. Who was Abraham, before God told him that He would make a great nation of him? Who was Moses, when God called him to lead His people out of the hands of Pharaoh? Was David not the youngest of many brothers, when God had Samuel annoint him the second king of Israel? How could He choose a lowly manger as His first throne, on that first Christmas day?

Yes, Christmas is the reminder that He valued each one of us enough to die on the cross for us, even before we even drew our first breaths! He has a plan for you, and He will do great things through you, despite your shortcomings. In fact, it is through those very weaknesses that His strength will shine!

Merry Christmas!

I Played Against John Stockton... AND BEAT HIM!

For those of you who don't know who he is, John Stockton is one of the greatest basketball players to ever grace the hardwood. Probably the best player the Gonzaga Bulldogs ever had, Stockton was drafted by the Utah Jazz NBA team, in 1984. Spending his entire pro career there, he amassed an impressive list of accomplishments. He was voted one of the NBA's all-time best 50 players, led the league in assists, was an All-Star most of his career, and alongside "The Mailman" Karl Malone, led the Jazz to consecutive trips to the NBA finals (both times barely losing to Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls). He retired several years ago, and although we live close to his hometown, I lost track of what he's been up to.

Well, last night, I took my son to Laser Quest, while my wife attended a choir concert (totally not my thing, and although I offered to endure it, she said she would have a better time by herself... who am I to argue???). In case you don't know what Laser Quest is either, they're a chain of establishments where you play laser tag. You play in this maze-like arena, equipped with a laser gun and sensors. As you tag other players (and get tagged yourself), the computer keeps track of everyone's scores. At the end, you get to see how well you did. It's great exercise and way less painful than paintball.

Anyway, so we played one game, and as we got in line for the second, I spotted him. John Stockton himself was there, with his wife and kids. I suspect it was their first visit. I don't do well talking to strangers, much less famous strangers, so I was content to just glance over at him once in a while, and not ask for a picture, autograph, or say anything stupid, like "Wow, you're one of my favorite players!"

When it was over, I paid attention to see what his callsign was, and although I was disappointed that we apparently never tagged each other, we were both in the top half of the scores, with me edging him out by a few points. I guess I'll have to be content that even though I did not have the guts to chat with him, I can claim that I was able to best him at something... although if it was a one-on-one game of hoops, he would have mopped the floor with me!