When Kelsey was six years old, I signed her up for her first season of recreational basketball. It was coed, and the children were adorable. After sign-ups at the gym, some of the children wanted to stay and play. We weren’t in a hurry. It was fine with me if she played for a few minutes before we headed home. She disappeared through the gym doors, and I chatted with some of the other Moms just outside.   I took my time, and a few minutes later I went in to watch. When I walked into the gym, I noticed the children had gathered a full ten players. They were smoothly moving the ball up and down the court.

I was amazed that somehow these children seemed to have a grand understanding of the game at such a young age.   I watched as they were under one basket and then suddenly one of them would break away from the pack and take the ball down the court to the other end, most often taking a shot. I was impressed. There was a little passing and a lot of running. Anyone happening to walk by would have shared my opinion. However, after a few moments of watching them, I realized something wasn’t quite right.

On the way home, I just had to ask Kelsey a few questions about her basketball game. The first thing I asked her was how they chose their teams. She said, “We all play; we only have one team.” That wasn’t the game of basketball I knew. I was confused. I said, “If you only have one team, why do you use the entire basketball court?” She said simply, “Because there are two baskets.” Well, OK, then. I guess that kind of made sense; at least it made sense in a six-year-old sort of way. I then asked her, “So how do you decide which basket you shoot into?” She was very mater-of fact about it. She said, “Whoever has the ball decides what basket to shoot at.”

The basketball game the children were playing didn’t have the complex rules that we know the game to have. They had their very own way of playing a game that made perfect sense to them. I realized none of them knew what they were doing, but all of them were having the time of their lives. No one was keeping score. Not one of them cared what those crazy lines on the floor meant. They moved in mass around the court, not caring where the ball went or who had possession of it. Obviously, traveling was not an issue because it didn’t matter how many times the ball bounced when moving it from here to there. Sometimes they just carried the basketball as if it were a football. And when they happened to be close to a basket, whoever had the ball would shoot. It wasn’t about points, possession, or floor time. It also wasn’t about winners or losers. It was all about having fun. Basketball made simple.

What a great lesson. Sometimes I wonder if we make our lives too complicated. Do we make things harder than they need to be?   Sometimes we’re faced with situations where we haven’t learned the rules yet. Or maybe we have learned the rules, but we haven’t developed the skills to get to the goal. Other times we have to make the rules up as we go along. Whatever the game, if we keep praying and keep our eyes on the goal we’ll get there eventually. God wants us to be successful. He wants us to be happy. Sometimes it may feel like all we’re doing is chasing the ball around the court, but that’s OK. All we need to do is get close to the basket and shoot.

We don’t have to know all the rules, and we don’t have to know all the plays. God will take care of that part.  Philippians 3:14 says, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

 All we have to do is get in the game.  We can be happy and content just to have the opportunity to play.

 But godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. – 1 Timothy 6:6-7

 Wishing you joy and peace,

 Lorrie