My husband and I got our hugs and kisses from the grandbabies as we prepared to leave our son and daughter-in-law’s house one night last week. As we walked out the door, our five-year-old granddaughter, Anna, said, “I’ll see you on Saturday!”
Not, “Will I see you on Saturday?” but “I’ll see you on Saturday!”
Anna is playing basketball on a team made up of four-year-olds and five-year-olds. Their games are an absolute hoot with double dribbling, triple dribbling, quadruple dribbling, and even runs to the basket with nobody dribbling the ball.
The baskets are lowered to a more-appropriate height for the little ones, and they only play half court with two teams on each half of the court. The looks on their little faces when they get a basket is priceless.
I love how each game starts. The children go into a room and then their names are called over the loudspeaker with all the drama of a major league basketball game. They are big stuff as they run to center court.
After their names are announced, my favorite moment happens. The kids and coaches gather at half court, get down on their knees, and pray before the game starts. I love that!
And then after the game, the coaches take the children to another room, buy them something to drink, and then have a Bible story and memorize Bible verses together. Isn’t that cool?
I can’t tell you how much I enjoy their games. It’s refreshing to see parents, grandparents and siblings out early on Saturday morning to cheer for their budding basketball stars.
Most of the children have never played before. A few of them already show talent but the majority of them are clueless about what to do, with hilarious results.
Anna’s daddy (our oldest son) is one of the coaches for the team. There are two coaches for each team and they are out on the court with the players for the whole game, scooting the little superstars into position, reminding them when to run down the court–and that they shouldn’t be guarding their own players when they try to shoot a basket.
When one of the little ones fall down, the coaches pick them up, make sure they aren’t injured, and wipe away tears when needed. It’s really sweet.
I hate getting up early on Saturday morning, but I wouldn’t have missed seeing Anna’s first two points and the huge smile on her face after that as she ran down the court, her sassy ponytail swinging from side to side.
Which brings me back to what Anna said as we left her house a few nights before. “I’ll see you on Saturday!”
We’d been to her first two games, and because we’d been there before, there was no question in her little mind that we’d be there again.
Last Saturday as we sat on the bleachers watching our precious girl, God showed me something. You know, so many times in our lives as Christians, we forget to trust Him–we forget that the God who’s been there in the past will be there for us in the future.
He’s the God who has cheered us on even when we didn’t do a good job. He’s picked us up when we fell, kissed us with grace, and wiped away our tears.
He doesn’t expect us to accomplish things beyond our level of spiritual maturity and patiently teaches and guides us every step of the way.
So the next time the game of life gets extra rough and you’re facing something difficult, just look at your circumstances and say to God, “I’ll see you there,” knowing with complete confidence that the God who’s been faithful in the past will be faithful whenever you need Him.
But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. (2 Thessalonians 3:3)
