"12th Lamb" Baaaaasketball

For those of you who know me, you know I rarely cry.

Okay, you caught me, Elle Woods. I actually cry all the time. In fact, I'm crying tears of joy right now! That's what I do, though. I cry tears of joy. It's as if my heart can't contain the sheer joy that wells up inside me so it expresses itself through streams of tears...and by streams I mean people have mistaken my face for Niagara Falls and offered me a wad of cash for an up-close, personal view of Canada's most famous natural attraction.

With that being said, I played in my last "12th Lamb" Intramural Baaaaasketball game last week. We lost 41-48 in the championship game, and I cried...tears of JOY! For those of you who know me, you know how much I love basketball. I live it. I breathe it. I could play every single day and not get tired of it. I love everything about it - the sound the net makes when you swish that 15-footer, the sound of basketball shoes squeaking on the gym floor, the sense of satisfaction you feel when you block somebody out, crash the boards, and come down with that defensive-rebound. 

When I was just a little girl, I knew there was a reason God made me passionate about basketball. As I matured in my faith and began learning the importance of walking (or running) with beautiful feet, whether I was wearing basketball shoes or bright-colored Keds, it became my constant prayer and my heart's deepest desire to glorify God through the game I love. There are two things I dream of doing when I grow up - becoming a talk show host and running a summer basketball camp! Believe it or not, this is the first time I've told anyone about that second dream! I've always kept it to myself...which I find funny because it doesn't sound near as "crazy" (I use that term lightly because I don't think it's a crazy dream at all) as wanting to be a talk show host! Hahaha! Anyway, I am constantly relating life to basketball (that's just how my brain works) and I would absolutely LOVE to use those metaphors to simply teach kids about life through the game of basketball and how we can glorify God while running up and down a basketball court!

There's a famous quote that encourages us, "Play for the name on the front of the jersey, not the back." Don't get me wrong, I believe it's vital we be the best representation of whatever team it is we're playing for - whether it be the White Oak Ladynecks, Sigma Phi Lambda, or Texas A&M University. However, one thing I've come to realize is that the names on the front of our jerseys are constantly changing, but there is One whose name remains constant and is never changing. God is the One whose name we should be striving to represent at all times, both on and off the court.  

I cannot begin to express how much "The 12th Lamb" baaaaaaasketball team has blessed me this season. As I pulled the team aside after our "loss" tonight, I immediately began sobbing. I could not have asked for a better group of girls to play my last intramural basketball season with. I don't care what the score said, I feel like a winner, because playing with girls who love the Lord and seek to glorify Him through each pass and layup is priceless and a memory that will be engraved in my heart forever. A memory that, to me, is worth much more than an intramural championship. We didn't just play together, we prayed together. These girls understood that the real victory didn't take place on a basketball court. It took place 2,000yrs ago when Jesus Christ gave His life for ransom and died on the cross for our sins so that we may not perish but have eternal life! 

It's one thing to play on a team filled with girls who are as passionate about basketball as you are. However, nothing beats playing on a team with girls who are passionate about the LORD and want to glorify HIM while running (okay...maybe it was a slow jog at times) up and down a basketball court. 

Did we fail at times? You bet we did! However, I've come to learn that if just one person saw Jesus through an opponent's actions on the basketball court, that is all that matters. 

To my team - thank you. Thank you for making me laugh in the middle of the game even though I was already having a hard enough time breathing on my own without the extra wheezing. Thank you for showing up early and staying late. Thank you for giving every ounce of yourself on the court. Thank you for sharing your love of basketball with me. Thank you for walking with beautiful feet, both on and off the court. Thank you for encouraging your teammates at all times, whether we were up by 3pts or down by 37pts. Thank you for playing with me, but most importantly, thank you for PRAYING with me. Thank you for making my last year on "The 12th Lamb" Intramural Baaaaasketball team one I will remember for the rest of my life. I am so proud to call you my teammates, but most importantly, I am proud to call you my sisters in Christ.

We were undefeated after our first game! The other team may or may not have forfeited...but we'll just keep that between us!

Semi-Finals: I would like to give a HUGE shoutout to our "Team Moms" for showing up early and staying late, leading our stretches, helping us warm up and get our heads in the game, creating sideline cheers, and providing post-game snacks! We could not have survived this season without them!

We were blessed with the opportunity to represent Texas A&M in the Lonestar Intramural Showdown at UT! We walked into the gym expecting it to be REC courts. Instead, we found ourselves in their volleyball gym with cameras and broadcasters everywhere. They aired our game on the Longhorn Network...and we got KILLED! Hahahaha!

I got to represent #23 on the court one last time!

You can't visit Austin without taking a picture in front of the "I love you so much" wall! The 12th Lamb loves [basketball] so much! We had these t-shirts made for Austin. If you can't tell, it's a picture of a lamb holding a basketball and it says "The 12th Lamb" at the top with a galaxy background because Hailee is obsessed with outer space.

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17

I looked over mid-game to discover our Team Moms and the officers leading our crowd in cheers. There's never a dull moment when they're around, and we could not have done it without them!

Sigma Phi Lambda 2014-2015 Officers: Whether we are sitting on my living room floor or "dogpiling" in the middle of the basketball court, I have always felt loved and supported by these girls, my best friends. I can't imagine life without them.

I'm going to miss these girls more than you know. They haven't just been my teammates the past 3mo...they've been my teammates for the past 3yrs and I can't thank God enough for them! HE HAS TRULY BLESSED ME BEYOND MEASURE! In the words of Mr. Feeny, "I love you all. [Practice] dismissed."