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I don’t know if I ever blogged about the fact that my son plays basketball. He was a natural who started playing ball spontaneously when he was only 2 years old . He loved the game and he seemed very interested in the game and what it was about. It was not a shock to me when he tried out for the basketball team and made it each year. He spent his first three years playing at a smaller private school transferring to his new school in the fall of 2013.
I wanted him to have a better experience with school sports so it was a pretty simple decision when his school closed that I would enroll him into a school with a larger basketball program. Peyton tried out for the team as an 8th grader and was a starter and by the end of the year he was playing some with the High School team . He had a wonderful coach that year too and he poured some great things into Peyton and not just Peyton , we watched as all the guys on that team grew and developed as athletes . We were well prepared to enter into his Freshman year. In the 9th grade he was a starting player on the Varsity team, it was a marvelous feeling to see your Freshman son get a chance to play on the High School team . He was the only black on the team but for a while that didn’t make any difference. He was enjoying the process . And then he entered his 11th grade year, same team , same coach , only thing that was different was that there was a new freshman on the team . And this Freshman had friends in high places. Well not just friends a Dad in high places and a wonderful last name to go with it. His last name managed to bench Peyton for the majority of his 11th grade year.
We spent many days upset praying and crying about the situation . See no one really realizes this but your 11th grade year alone is what sets the atmosphere for your senior year. It makes you think about life a little more because you realize you have college near, what do I want to be , how can I become successful, can I possibly get a scholarship for college? But all of this can’t happen if you don’t have the right people in your corner backing you up. Sometimes it really does take an entire village to raise a child and most of that village better be positive and proactive . We used both approaches, talking to the coach, asking questions, encouraging , praying , fasting , you know all the things that real parents do . I say we , as in my parents and myself . And for some time Peyton question even returning to the team his senior year. One night during the game he just walked off the court. I watched the tears swell up in his eyes. He stopped talking about playing ball in college, he even stopped watching basketball on television . He was totally over the call for Basketball.
At the end of school an email came thru …the basketball coach had resigned. He was no longer in the position as head basketball coach . What did that mean for Peyton ? Well his dreams of playing ball in college has dwindled. I was slightly afraid that he didn’t want to play ball this year and was secretly praying that he would come back with a fresh perspective. I walked into the gym after school one day last week to find my other son and just noticed Peyton standing and looking somewhat unconcerned and a little displaced. He had an interview with a recruiter who asked him a simple question , what do you think about Basketball, his response , I had a bad experience last season and my idea of playing basketball has changed. I needed a broom and a dust pan after I heard him say that , My heart crumbled into a million pieces. I had big dreams for him , I saw him in a place that he can no longer see for himself.
There are dream killers all around us , whether they do it consciously or unconsciously it happens. So what do we do ? First of all like I say all the time …you have to know who you are and what you are supposed to do on Earth. You need a positive support team , someone to cheer you on even when they don’t see you at your best. When they only see the potential in you and know that you can do better and be a star. Sometimes these dream killers are motivation to you to let you know that you can do better and you will succeed. But again everyone is not wired the same so its always best to be a support, when someone can’t see that the glass is half full. Dream killers try to stop your flow, they try to end your motivation they try to kill your dreams but once you recognize them for who they are you can stop and say I shall live and not die and declare the works of the Lord. I have often heard the preacher say, who’s report will you believe? I will believe the report of the Lord, his report says I am an achiever, I am the head and not the tail.
Speak positive things over your life daily , allow people to speak both things that may hurt you but will build you. Character is everything, purpose is fulfilling , never allow an individual to kill your future and above all…Don’t be a Dream Killer. I’m excited to give you an update on this year with Peyton, I’m only speaking positive things and we are guaranteed positive results.
Speaking Positive
Embracing the Future
Basically…Tesha
