I Think I’ll Pass

At our house, we’ve been having a little March Madness of our own.

Team Mom and Jack vs. Team Dad and Charlie. There’s nothing quite like a friendly game of basketball among family. And by “friendly” I mean absolutely no mercy!

Elbows flying. Sweat dripping. Aggressive fouling between grown-ups. Fist bumps, cheers and grumbles.

And it was down to the wire with a tied score.

Charlie got the ball, stared a hole through his brother, and ferociously charged the basket. Then, as fast as you can say “Sorry Charlie,” we were on that kid like wet on rain (I told you about the no mercy).

He didn’t back down. His eyes were on the prize, even while up against a wall. It didn’t dawn on him that the player who towered over all of us was on his team and right behind him with arms wide open.

Eventually, his dad calmly said, “Don’t forget, buddy, I’m right here if you need me.”

Jack and I pulled out the win for that game, and they came out on top in game #2. Daylight bid us farewell and we headed inside to put up our feet and rehash some “sick plays.”

As the night went on, the excitement of our b-ball extravaganza faded, but my husband’s words stayed with me.

“I’m right here if you need me.”

“I’m right here if you need me.”

We all have a Father who speaks those same soft words. He doesn’t run over and grab the ball from us, or yell “I’m open!” He gently invites us to pass to Him.

We could spend a lifetime blocked by the tenacious defenders we are all up against. But when we include Jesus, He knows exactly what to do.

A dear friend has consistently been my role model for passing life’s challenges to God. She trusts Him with the great big scary things, right down to the daily navigation of her busy schedule. Before I had a clue what it meant to “give it to God” (and honestly I’m still figuring it out), I would take my cues from her and start to put the pieces together.

While in the trenches of parenting multiple teenagers, she prayed daily for any questionable choices her kids were making to be brought to light; she couldn’t address something she didn’t know was happening. Nice pass! She would do all that she could, with His guiding hand, but there was still a whole lot remaining that was out of her control. Rather than worry, she put her trust in God and let go. And He was faithful. Always faithful.

I am constantly seeking to surrender more fully. To naturally pass before driving to the hoop. To be prayerful instead of fearful. To let go and let Him handle it. To accept the play that He calls even if it isn’t what I have in mind.

As I strive to grow in this area… I made a plan! I have a small daily planner with a few lines for each day of the year (a simple notebook or app could work too). Each morning, I’m going to write down a few things that I choose to give to God – circumstances out of my control, challenges I’ve tried to manage with little success, concerns too big to take on alone. Writing it down is a step toward letting it go.

My hope is that committing to a realistic daily practice will lead to deeper trust and lasting peace.

Want to try this with me? If you do, I would love to hear about how it goes. Please comment or click on “contact” to send me an email. I will definitely report back in a few weeks as well.

Wishing you an awesome week as we head into April! If you’re into the real March Madness, have fun watching the final games. Go Wildcats!

Give all your worries and cares to God for he cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7