Lessons from the Gym

A friend recently introduced me to her local recreation center, so the other morning I headed there for a walk. The walking track is an elevated balcony overlooking a huge basketball court. This morning there were two boys' games going on as I walked.

Even though I prefer to think and meditate when I walk, I couldn't help but observe the scene below me. The boys were all about 11-14 years of age, and while they've mastered the fundamentals of ball handling and shooting, it was obvious they have a long way to go before they're ready for the big league. Their biggest problem? Every time one of them got the ball, they went for the basket. They haven't yet learned the meaning of teamwork. Their passing game was shabby at best; the few times they did pass, it was more of a desperate attempt to get rid of the ball than part of a plan to score.

While we can overlook the immaturity of young sportsmen, I marveled at the parallel to the Christian life. It's so easy to focus on "the hoop" and neglect the team aspect. It's so easy to get wrapped up in our own doings that we forget, this Christian life is a community thing. You can't do it alone. We need each other, with all our accompanying strengths and weaknesses, to help us on the journey. So why do we try, again and again, to do it alone?

I was reminded, as I watched those young boys, that just as a skilled passing game comes with practice and maturity, so it is with Christian community. It's something we have to learn, and that we only get good at with much time and effort. But when we do, everyone wins.

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephesians 4:15-16

Slow Cooker Ham & Bean Soup

I got a hankering for this the other day to go with some homemade bread (yes, the bread machine is back in business)! I tossed the ingredients together in about 5 minutes.

3-4 carrots, peeled and diced
4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic
2-3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 can low sodium chicken broth
1 can water
1 can great Northern beans, undrained
1/2 tsp white pepper (black will work)
1 lg. bay leaf
2 cups diced ham

Put ingredients in slow cooker on High for 3-4 hours or low for 6-7 hours. Enjoy!

A Kid and a Kite

Even though fall is my favorite season, of late I've come to realize how much I always enjoyed spring. I think that's because of my dad's enthusiasm for the season. He's the one who made a big deal out of Groundhog Day, and he's also the one who taught me to fly a kite.

When I was in second grade, I entered a kite contest sponsored by the local Lion's Club. I remember entering at school, then going home and telling my dad we needed to make a kite. All the kids were talking about their elaborate designs but my dad and I decided to stick with your basic diamond-shaped kite. In 1972, I was really into black and yellow and the whole Smiley face idea, so we spray-painted the thing black and then spray-painted a big yellow Smiley face in the middle.

Come contest day, I quickly realized my kite was not a thing of beauty, compared to the Chinese dragon kites and box kites the other kids had constructed. My hopes of winning anything were soon dampened, both by the site of all the other kites, and also by the damp chilly weather, a typical Pittsburgh spring day.

Kid after kid attempted to get their clunky masterpieces off the ground without success. At last my turn came. I knew how to fly a kite. I took off running, holding the spool in one hand, and the kite in the other, willing it to catch a breeze . . . and it did. Higher and higher it went, the lone kite in the sky that day. The smiley face had become a smug grin, matching the grin on my dad's face and mine. Our little ole' plain paper kite had won the big one!

Tonight Mike and I took his nephew on his first kite flying adventure. I, the master kite-flyer, took great pride in patiently instructing the youngster in the art of kite-flying. We gave it our best effort but the wind just wouldn't cooperate and we couldn't get it more than 50' high. Nevertheless, it brought back great memories of one of the biggest days in my life as a kid. The day my dad and I won the kite-flying contest!

I still look forward to flying a kite every spring. What about you? Did you fly kites as a kid? Do you ever do it now, as an adult? If you have kids, why not give it a try now that spring is finally here?