Last night we went to Jacob's basketball game at Valley Catholic. It was a great game! We ended up winning in OT by one point. At halftime, however, I found myself irritated & frustrated because Jacob was the only player who hadn't been put in by the coach yet. At this point I was wishing I had a more vocal son...that he would stand up for himself and mention to the coach he hadn't played yet. Well the second half went the exact same way...and with 3 minutes left in the game we had lost our 18 pt. lead and were now trailing by 3. We had 2 guys foul-out and the coach finally put Jacob in with 2.04 minutes to go. We ended up going into overtime and winning.
Now, all that to say I was sad for Jacob cause he hardly got to play - and he LOVES basketball & his team. But, when I inquired about the reason he didn't play he replied, "Mom, coach just forgot to put me in...it was an intense game and he just wasn't aware." I asked him why he didn't speak up and he said that the coach gets frustrated when the players complain about playing time. He also said that one of the boys who fouled out (a boy who has a reputation for a bad attitude) sat down next to Jacob, after fouling out, and started complaining about the referee's "bad calls" and began moping & muttering about how we were sure to lose now. Jacob promptly turned to him and said, "Look, I haven't played once this entire game, but I have sat here and faithfully supported our team anyway...so you have 2 choices, dude- you can either sit here and have a bad attitude and bring everybody down, or you can choose to support your team. But frankly, I don't want to sit here and have to listen to your whining!"
Now I don't know what that boy thought about what Jacob had to say, but I almost cried when I heard those words....I'm crying now, even as I'm typing them out. I am so proud of the man he is becoming...the man God is shaping him into. He gets it! He had a better attitude than I did, that's for sure.
This is one of the things I am so captured by in Jacob....he is utterly unconcerned with titles, recognition or earthly acknowledgement. He would rather have the spiritual blessing & Christ-like character. Glory to God! I am so thankful that God is faithful to will & to work in my children's lives and accomplish His transforming work by His Holy Spirit.
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