Enjoy Yourself, Respect Others

This past week, I spent many hours watching a basketball camp that was put on by the Harlem Globetrotters. This camp had over 300 children in it, some in the morning sessions and some in the afternoon session.

My original intent was just to sit in for a couple minutes and then leave but while I was there, what I saw and heard held my attention for the entire week. I was there almost as much as the children attending and I did not mind one bit.

This camp was not intended to be a wild, loosely run camp. It was designed to be a camp that helped all the children who attended to be better people by the end of the camp and equipped with what they needed to continue being successful (or start being successful) in life. It was designed to teach them how to get along with other and to, of course, learn new or better skills about the game of basketball. The playing of basketball was secondary; learning how to enjoy yourself and respect others was first.

Everyday while in their initial circle, the first thing they had to say were the two rules of the camp, "Enjoy yourself and respect others." They spent time talking about them and repeating it everyday so the vision of the camp would be clearly understood and practiced. All week long, I saw this. Of course, there were times when some of the kids did not do what they were told but there were consequence either just for them or the entire camp. The consequence to be "suffered" would be ten to twenty pushups or laps back and forth in the gym. This would soon drive that particular point home and they would rejoin their teammates and continue playing as though nothing had happened.

I watched them as they enjoyed themselves. Each child worked very hard to do what they were told. The one thing that stuck out in my mind was how they persevered but smiled at the end of any particular physicial activity or learning session. They were truly enjoying themselves, even though some parts caused them to struggle. They were sore but came back on the next day and the next day and the next day and completed the entire week in the camp. They had to be patient and wait for others in front of them to do what was required and they had to forget any of their problems and encourage their teammate.

"How do I go through life?", I asked myself. Am I enjoying myself? Am I encouraging others in spite of what might be happening in my life? Am I showing others the respect that is due to them? Watching the children (ages 6 through 16) gave me reason to pause in this day of job layoffs, staff reassignments, high gas prices, higher food prices, more bills than money to pay them. It was hard for some of the youth to do some things required. It was difficult to put one leg over the other, bend over and count and then reverse that. However, they kept trying, they kept doing it and by the end of the week found they could bend more and reach farther than at the beginning. In their continuing to try to go through this portion of life, they found if they just kept trying and enjoyed themselves, while respecting and helping each other, they came out a winner because they were able to focus on something and someone other than themselves.

Am I happy? Most of the time. Do I respect others? Most of the time. Is that good enough? No. This needs to be what happens everyday in my life. Is it possible to do? Yes. It is very possible to enjoy yourself daily. All you have to do is realize that if you are reading this blog or breathing or walking or eating, driving, shopping, talking, you are enjoying yourself. Whenever you speak to someone you encounter, you are respecting others. When you help someone else or sacrifice for others, you are respecting them.

Another question I asked myself was, "Did I take this week to help mask other things that are going on in my life? Did I use this time to ignore things that needed to be addressed? The answer is "YES". Some days, I, like you, have to deal with things that make me want to holler. Many days I have the "silent scream" going on inside me. There are times that I just wish I could fade away from problems and situations. So to crowd out those things that are unpleasant, I occupy myself with other things temporarily. This includes things like watching the basketball camp for one week when I know I need to be working hard on other things. Now that I know that is not possible, I have decided to try to live each day like it is my last day and ENJOY MYSELF AND RESPECT OTHERS!

The children reminded me of a valuable lesson my parent instilled in me. When it is going to stretch me more than I want to be stretched, when I have to keep going because others are encouraging and counting on me, when I ache so much from the pain but I can not complain, I have to keep going and I have to enjoy myself. I have to tell myself to enjoy it because that is is a motivator. Having fun is a great motivator to help people persevere. Showing others that I care about them and have respect for them as people is a great motivator for them. There is a double blessing in enjoying yourself and respecting others.

I want to thank the Globetrotter coaches, Coach Buckets, Coach Wildkat, and Coach Moo Moo (because he likes to drink milk). I want to thank them for not only what they did for the attendees of the camp but all of the adults who sat on the side and watch were able to be blessed with the "circle talks". I want to thank the coaches for being so respectful of the children and caring so much to spend and entire week doing two sessions a day. Thank you, Coaches, for reminding me that I need to enjoy myself and respect others.

In God's Presence

On Sunday, my pastor asked us to sing the song, "Hush, Hush, Somebody's Calling My Name." We sang it just above a whisper. He then asked the entire congregation to just be quite and get in the presence of God. He said that some of us had just been busy and needed to settle down for a little while.

I closed my eyes. Immediately, I was crying. I could see myself entering a room and the Lord was beckoning me to come and sit on His lap. When I got on His lap, I cried and began to rock myself. He put His arms around me and was just gently patting me and saying, "Shhhhhhhhh." I just kept rocking myself in His arms and He was trying to get me to settle down. I was explaining to the Lord thatI was really tired because I had been doing so much. I told him that I had been going here and there and that there was so much left for me to do..... He continued telling me, "Shhhhhhhhhhhh." It seemed the more I talked, the more I cried and the harder I rocked.

Then, I heard my pastor say that we should just be still, be still. The next thing I knew, my body was perfectly still. I was in the Lord's arms where I felt safe and secure. The Lord told me that He knew all about what was on my mind. He told me everything is going to be alright. I instantly believed it. No doubts.

For a brief moment, I was allowed to hear what was going on in our Sanctuary. I heard a baby cry and it just seemed like everyone in there was praying that the Lord would touch the baby and suddenly the baby stopped crying. There was a silence in the Sanctuary. This stillness was a great time for me. I felt I could just release and relax. The Lord told me again that He knows all about everything on my heart and mind. That was all I needed at that moment. I cried. The silence of the release was overwhelming for and to me. I have not been inwardly touched like that before.

Does this mean that I have totally arrived? By no means but it does mean that another step in the right direction has been taken. Oh, to be in the arms of the Lord and to feel Him "Father" me.

Blessings on you.

Relaxation

Relaxation. Is that a word that is sometimes foreign to you? Are you the type that is on the go constantly? I am and I need to learn how to relax.

I fill my life with a lot of activities on a daily basis. I find myself asking why. I have had to really think about this. I came to several realizations that I'm sure you already know.

Being really busy with other things means that I will neglect myself.

Being really busy with other things means that I will neglect my home and things that need to be done in it.

Being really busy means that many things are left unsettled that need to be taken care of. Often things get lost in the "shuffle" or "list".

Being really busy means that I teach myself how to care less about me and more about others. This is not a good thing.

Being really busy means that I neglect my time with the Lord. THIS IS DEFINITELY A BAD THING!!

Being really busy means that I realize how difficult it is to change my habits. I say habits because there is absolutely nothing that makes me have the schedules I have established except habit.

I am going to change. I am going to start thinking more of myself. I am going to start taking better care of home, rather than other people's places. I am going to work on my business. It's my bread and butter (literally) so I need to devote a whole lot more time to it.

I'm going to take time for those friendships that mean so much to me. I am going to continue being there for them and hope they are there for me when I need them. If I get myself together, everything else will fall into place. It begins with me taking the first step to renew, re-establish the right relationship with the Lord and grow daily. This is a constant, daily activity that I crowded out of my life on a lot of days but am putting back in and keeping it there.

Do you relax and renew your body and life? If so, let me know how you do it. I'm always willing to learn.

Have a day that is centered around God. Be blessed.

Friends

Friends are important to me. I don't have a lot of them because by it's very definition, most people I know do not fit into that definition. Therefore, I have a lot of associates and acquaintenances. But friends, they're special.

Friends warm my heart. They bring a smile to my face everytime I'm with them. They inspire me. They educate me and they even help me get over those rough spots.

I don't like to spill myself onto them by discussing all my issues but I know that if I ever ask them to just listen to me, they will do it.

Sometimes my heart is so burdened down that I am screaming on the inside. If I hear the voice of my friend, it will calm that scream down. In fact, it often silences it because my friends will say something that I need to hear, something that God is trying to tell me through them. I appreciate them. They are closer to me than most of my family. I thank God for them, and my family, everyday. My prayer is that they really do know how much I love and appreciate them. I am sure that the Lord has let them know.

So, to any of my friends who are reading this, thank you soooooooooo much. You mean the world to me. I love and appreciate you and I hope you know that. I hope that in this lifetime I have somehow blessed you like you have blessed me. I hope that in the lifetime you have felt the appreciate of your friendship. I feel so very special to have a friend like you.