The best news I have heard in years came last week- Piper and Hayden have moved back to Houston from Atlanta and will be playing on my basketball team this year! This is about their family It's from January 27, 2013.
Somehow, ESPN missed the story but there's quite a bit happening with the NFL Pro Bowl today and the Super Bowl next week. Not to mention the Australian Open was going on in tennis and Tiger was leading a golf tournament. And, I forgot, there were quite a few upsets yesterday in NCAA hoops like Syracuse going down and Louisville losing for the third time in a row. Truthfully, I only found out this morning and of all places, after worship services. Piper made the winning shot yesterday in her game with only six seconds left on the clock! It was at the Bellaire Rec League instead of Madison Square Garden or the Toyota Center but that's just a matter of publicity and not importance. You see, Piper, a WCS second grader, was on my camp team last summer so forgive me if I take a vested interest in her clutch moment. This morning, her folks described her style of playing as methodical. As a coach/fan, there's a word I like better for Piper's athletic prowess: Money!
As I mentioned at the outset, the Super Bowl is only seven days away and the big story line is the matchup of coaching brothers, Jim and John Harbaugh. There will be much delving into their family background including their father, Jack, a well-known coach in his own right. But the Harbaughs have nothing on Piper. You see, her oldest sister, Devin, was my WCS student assistant coach several years ago and did you know Devin paid for a playground with her own money at the Namwianga Mission in Zambia for the toddlers my niece, Meagan, takes care of? And then there is older sister, Haley, who was supposed to also be my student assistant until a class scheduling conflict but who recovered nicely to be selected as WCS Homecoming Queen in 2011. Then, of course, is barely older sister, third grader, Hayden, who:
A. whomped me in tetherball giving me a blog topic last March..and
B. has informed me she WILL be my assistant coach one of these days...and
C. does a near perfect Taylor Swift impression every day at our summer basketball camps.
You see, Piper didn't make it one her own. Her mom and dad and sisters have been there every day and every step of the way, guiding and encouraging and celebrating her successes, including the game winning shot on Saturday. That's what families do. I think it's interesting that two key characters of the Old Testament, Joseph and David, both came at the tail end of the family tree (even though Benjamin was younger than Joseph) and even though there were struggles, family mattered in shaping these two giants of the Jewish faith. Both David's and Joseph's brothers doubted their sibling and each one's respected calling. We're told that even members of Jesus' own family did not believe in Him at first, in spite of prophecies and miracles and appearances from angels. Well, Piper never has to worry about that: her fan club sat two rows behind me in worship service this morning. And it won't matter if she never makes another basket in her life.
Applicable quote of the day:
"In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future."
Alex Haley
God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com
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