Tails, I Win
I was leaving the school building this afternoon to go swimming when I poked my head into The Wildcat Store, which is where all our WCS school supplies, uniforms, spirit wear, etc. is purchased by our students and their families. It's undergoing remodeling and I was really impressed by what I saw! The layout of the store has been completely rearranged, there is new paint, and a fitting room has been added. But the real reason I entered The Wildcat Store was who I saw inside. Lisa Berglund was working with the assistance of her soon-to-be seventh grade daughter, Jenna. Lisa is the store manager and Jenna was on my basketball team this past year. (I penned a blog about Jenna two weeks ago which you can read if you care to at: https://stevehawley.blogspot.com/2012/05/resemblance.html .) We talked for several minutes as Lisa told me about the big project and our construction team, the Ramirezes, who can do anything. I enjoyed myself as I always do in the presence of this mother-daughter combo. Lisa is kind of everyone's mom- caring, compassionate, always knows what to say and what questions to ask. Jenna? Well, one reason I love coaching Jenna is that I invariably laugh in her presence and that is one valuable commodity in this often heart-wrenching world.
As we talked, and I'm not sure how it came up, Lisa told me a story about Jenna I had not heard even though it involved me. On the first day of school, Jenna was registering for classes as a new student- the Berglunds had just moved to Houston from Colorado. She was down to a choice between being in chorus or being in basketball and I take it she was not enamored with either option. And so, they flipped a coin and Jenna called tails and she ended up starting her career on the basketball hardwoods. And the rest is history, or at least the opening paragraph of the first chapter of her history.
We talk in class of several times in the Scriptures where a game of chance played a major role in the story of Jesus. Zechariah was chosen by lot to burn incense in the temple on the day when Gabriel announced the coming birth of John the Baptist. The soldiers gambled for the clothes of Jesus at the foot of the cross. Matthias was selected by lot as well, after prayer, to replace the departed Judas as an apostle. So there are Biblical precedents to flipping a coin. And it's just basketball for Jenna, no big deal. But I maintain it may be a big deal. I, Lord willing, will have three seasons to influence Jenna one way or the other and coaches can have huge impacts on the lives of youngsters. She is much more likely to become close friends with the other young ladies on the team and these friendships can last a lifetime. I pray every morning for every girl who has played in our program, both here and at Friendship Christian School in Tennessee where I coached previously, so Jenna will be prayed for every day until I die. And I've preached the weddings of close to ten brides who were part of my teams so that gives me a fighting chance to be the one who will ask Jenna if she takes a certain young man for the rest of her life. In fact, right before I dropped in on Lisa and Jenna, I was in my classroom, laying the groundwork on my ceremony for the October wedding of Charlotte, another former player who still calls me 'Coach.' So, in my way of thinking, that flip of the coin is pretty important. Jenna would have been a standout in chorus, I'm sure, if she called heads, but we'll never know. Do you know what Proverbs 16:33 tells us?The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.
My interpretation is that the Lord wanted Jenna to play on our basketball team and that for whatever reason, it mattered to Him and it mattered to Jenna. He wanted her to be a shooting guard instead of a gifted soprano. I just hope Jenna remembers that the next time she gets mad at me: it wasn't my decision.
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