Blog post #12

This is a picture of Mom and I after one of my games... enjoyed having her here, it was about 2 months ago but seems like yesterday, time flys...

The weekend of June 18 and 19 started a tough 3 week stretch of double headers, where we played 6 games in 16 days...
The first game was on June 18 we played the Perth Redbacks... it was a tough way to start the six game stretch by loosing 86-87... we were ahead the whole game and just lost it down the stretch... I finished with 24 points and 9 rebounds...
the next night we played at the Cockburn Cougars... It was a good night for us, kinda tough to play double headers but it was nice to get right back at it after loosing the night before... we won pretty easy that night 104-82, I finished with 24 points and 3 rebounds...

The next weekend we continued with double headers by playing on Friday at home vs Eastern Suns, a team that defeated us earlier in the season... We defeated them this time around 120-103... I finished with25 points and 9 rebounds...
The next night we traveled up to Stirling to play the Senators and we beat them in a sloppy fashion... We nearly let them back into after leading the whole game, it was a big learning experience for us, learning how to finish games better, winning 95-88... I finished with 24 points and 5 rebounds...

On Sunday June 27 after waking up, going to church coaching my WABL team, I was fortunate to be able to preach at the Sunday night service at Lakeside... I preached over Hebrews 11-12:2... was another great experience and loved the opportunity to share God's word with so many people... its also online on the Lakeside website, I will put the link on here for you to check out if you want...
http://lakeside.asn.au/index.php?option=com_docman&Itemid=132

The next weekend we had yet another double header, playing at Rockingham on Friday night... we played well this night and were in control from the beginning, winning 133-97, I had a career night scoring 50 points and having 8 rebounds...
the next night we played at home vs Kalgoorlie Giants, it was a hard fought game and we came out on top winning 101-90, I finished with 26 points and 3 rebounds...
after the weekend was over the league awarded me with the player of the week honors...

The next day was the 4th of July, was a great day of celebration... I woke up really early and went fishing on the ocean with a couple buddies from Lakeside... the Plenty brothers took me out on the ocean to see the sunrise and maybe catch a couple fish... we ended up catching a couple fish, but just hanging out with those guys was more important... here is a picture from that...


After fishing and help the guys clean up the fish... I went home, gathered myself and went to the Chegs house for a 4th of July get together... It was a great time becasue most of the AIA guys came over and we got to hang out for the first time in a while... we sat around had great food and drink and celebrated our nation in another coutry... great time of fellowship... here is a picture of the brothers in Australia...


this is it for now, up to this point in the blog there is only 2 weeks left in the season... lots tp talk about but that will be for another time... just want to leave you with one thing...

Matthew 5:19-Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

In my classes this verse has come up a lot... It really hit me today that we have a poor few of the Law of God, the Jews love the Law, that is why David in the Psalms says I delight in the Law and think about it all day and night... so much to say about this verse and the law but the professor in my classes puts it this way, the Law is grace to us, it leads us in the way God wants us to interact with Him and others, there is nothing evil about other than it exposes our sin and ultimately our need for a Savior because we fall short... that is were Jesus comes in he is the fulfilment of the Law, and I have hope in that because He lived the life I could not live and died the death I should have died in my place... Praise be our God and King and His Law...

Much love,
Ben

Blog post #11

Friends and family, this is gonna be long will try and keep it short...
First off, the picture is of my host family and a couple others, we have dinner every Monday night at my house... From left to right in the picture is Bobby Kempf, have mentioned him before he is a friend from the US playing in the same league, Simon Lokan, he is from South Australia playing for Lakeside, my host brother Micheal, he works as a personal trainer, Rachel, Micheal's girlfriend, Jane, my host Mom, she deserves much thanks and praise for putting me up, giving me a place to sleep and cooking food and being someone is always there, thanks you Jane!! then next is Luke Payne, he plays with me at Lakeside and is a good friend, he is from South Carolina...

The date I last reported goes all the way back to the end of May, a lot has happened since then...
on May 29 we played at Wanneroo, it was a tough night, we ended up loosing the game 103-97, partly because we didn't have Luke who was out that game with an injury, we were down most of the game and came back in the 2nd half... I finished with 35 points and 11 rebounds...
the next day my WABL team had to play down in Bumbury, which is over an hr drive south of Perth... was a bit of a long trip but enjoyed seeing the countryside and listening to a sermon on the way down there while drinking some coffee... also was able to visit and hang out with my friend Trey Clarkson who plays on the team down there... here is a picture from a tower overlooking the ocean with Trey...


The next weekend of June 5, we played at home vs the Geraldton Buccs, we won that game, 98-94, it was a tough game I finshed with 22points and 8 rebounds...
the next day I went down to Harvey, WA with my friend Casey Crevalone and his family, it was about a 2 hr drive to get there... it was in the country, on the farm they raised sheep and oranges... loved every second of it, we went down there and helped work the sheep, we docked their tails, put tags in, gave shots, and put bands on the males... also got to eat a ton of fresh oranges and had a bonfire at night with some of my buddies and the family from down there... great people!
here is a photo of me with the people we were helping...


The next weekend of June 12 we played at Perry Lakes, where my friend Bobby plays... I was not sure if I was gonna play in that game, I really hurt my ankle the week before, eventhough it didn't stop me from working sheep, haha... it was really swollen and in a lot of pain... but I fought through it and our team ended up winning 104-85, we played great as a team... I finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds...

more to report later.. still have a month to catch up on...

One thing to think about... Just a quote my friend said to me yesterday...
"it's easy to act like a Christian, it's hard to react like one."

Much love
Ben

Blog post #10

Friends and Family,
Here is the continuation from my last blog, this blog with tell about the days when my Mom came to visit...

Mom arrived on Thursday around noon, I know she was exhausted from the long trip here, so we came back to my house, got her settled in and let her shower and relax... Thursday are a pretty busy day for me, I have practice with my WABL team(Picture at the top), team time with my team, and then practice, which after this practice we had set up for the game we had the next night...
she planned a good time to come visit, we played 4 games in 2 weeks, which is a tough schedule but works well for the spectators...
The first game of the weekend was against the Cockburn Cougars... I didn't play a ton of mins, for one because I was in foul trouble and fouled out but also my back was still bothering me form the week before, it just felt really stiff... we ended up winning 106-95, I finished with 19 points and 5 rebounds...
The next night we played on the road at the Perth Redbacks... the game the night before must have loosened up my back, because it felt great... It was a great night for our team, we played really well as a unit and to be completely honest I shot the ball really well... we won 112-95 and I finished with 46 points and 12 rebounds... I want to give a shout out to my teammate Jarrad Prue who finished the game with 30 rebounds, the most amazing rebounder I have ever played with and one of the best I have ever seen...
The next day was my day off, like usual on Sunday's I coach my WABL team, this week it was at home so I was able to take Mom to church at Lakeside... then after I coached mom and I met up with my friend Casey and went down to Fremantle, walked around a bit then grabbed some food...
On Monday, Mom and I went to the Perth Zoo... really enjoyed going there, it was great to see so many native animals, and it was crazy because the Roos are just walking around the you can basically just go up and touch them... Mom took a ton of good pictures and enjoyed the zoo a ton...



On Tuesday I went to the gym and worked out then we went up to Kings Park... Kings Park is one of those places in Perth that is a must see... It has a great view over the city, lots of great paths to walk on, trees and plants that are so different to what we have in US, just an overall great place to walk around...

Wednesday we went around Fremantle again to hit some the things we missed... then we went up to Cottesloe Beach for some fish and chips and to check out the sunset... it was great, such a beautiful night, only one problem was the amount of seagulls around was ridiculous, like I thought they were gonna gang up and steal our food... I know my sister's would not have been to pleased to be sitting there so close to so many birds(Kirst, haha)

On Thursday we kind of took it easy because it was the same thing as the week before with coaching, team time, training, and setup, and I wanted to rest up my legs a bit for the game the next day..

On Friday we played Williton, who beat us just a couple of weeks before this... I did not want to loose to them again and by beating them it would put us on top of the standings... It was a dog fight, one of the most physical games I had played in... we won the game, thanks to some fine play by my friend and teammate Luke Payne who scored 39.. We won 104-93, I finished with 27 points and 4 rebounds...
Just want to quote Dave Preston, who is an amazing man, close to my heart, the man is the chaplain of our team, runs our team time often and has become a dear friend... Dave, "Man who tames tiger, is no pussycat".

The next night we played at East Perth, for those who don't know they are the team with 3 guys who are 7 foot or taller... again this was a really physical and hard fought game and we came out on top, 85-76... I finished with 25 points and 5 rebounds...

The next was Sunday and basically did what we did the Sunday before, went to church in the morning, then coached my team after that... leading to a bit relaxing and letting Mom get her stuff packed up... that night we went out to eat with the Chegs, they are the family I stayed with when I arrived and where Luke is staying, the are wonderful people and enjoy being around them, also am thankful that they help feed and take care of me while being so far from home...
Came back after dinner and let Mom get her stuff all packed up, because she had to fly out really really early in the morning, her flight left at 5:45am so we got up and got there plenty early...
It was tough to see her go, so thankful for the time we got to spend together and that she was able to take some time get away from Victor to travel and spend time with me in a land far far away... Glad she got to meet many of the people I interact with daily and put faces with names... I know it was a big sacrifice on her part to come down here but for me it was a pleasure having her down here...

my next posts will be from after she left til up to date... thanks again, hope you enjoyed it... Gonna leave you with this....

In Gen 1:27- So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
As humans we are made in the image of God, we are image bearers of the Almighty... Just walking around Perth and for me visiting countries all over the world I can see the vastness of God... It blows my mind that all these people from different tribes tongues and nations all the the image of God... To me that points to the goodness of God, every person is important to Him, not one is without His mark...
Francis Chan has this great quote,
"Isn't it a comfort to worship a God we cannot exaggerate?" -Francis Chan

Much love,
Ben

Blog post #9

Friends and Family,
Been a long time since I have written on here so it could be long... Sorry for the delay, life just got busy and it hasn't been a priority... but I'm back to it... this next post will be my time before my Mom came down to visit and during and post visit... lots to do, thanks for your patients

My last post went all the way back to April, and it was after a loss to the Eastern Suns... the week after the we had a double header, Friday and Saturday April 30th and May 1st.... On Friday night we played Mandurah Magic, that my friend Casey Crevalone plays on, he is another one of those Athletes in Action guys that I meet with weekly and have become close friends over the time here and going back to the fall tour last fall... Anyway, we won that game pretty well off, 118-72 and I finished with 35 points and 9 rebounds...
The next night was the big test tho, we played one of the top teams in the league the Williton Tigers... they are one of the most physical teams I have ever played against, and it was an all out battle... the game was very low scoring, neither shot the ball very well and it went down to the wire... what led to our demise was the we only scored 6 points in the 4th quarter and shot 35% for the game... we lost 69-62, I finished with 14 points and 9 rebounds... after the game I was just beat up, both physically and mentally, really disappointed in how it turned out but I went to bed that night thanked the Lord for allowing me to play the game to suffer a little because though that stuff I get to know Him better... went to bed woke up the next day for church and a new week began...
The next week was a normal week of activities keeping myself busy with classes, workouts, practices, and studying... we played at Kalgoorlie on that Saturday, May 8... for those who don't know where Kal. is, it's about 6 hrs inland from Perth, and is home to the largest gold mining pit in the world... will have pictures of it on the post... I really enjoyed the trip there, enjoyed getting to see the country, aka bush, of Australia... the country we drove through to get to Kal is such a vast open country with a lot of nothing, I found it beautiful, but a lot of people think I am crazy which is fine... I did enjoy getting to see the farm land and all that the openness of the Australian bush consists of...
It was also great to get out to Kal a day early, to see the sights and get prepared for the game the next day... Also was fortunate enough to visit with my friend John Vaudreuil who plays out there and is another one of those AIA guys... got to visit with him and see where he is staying, was thankful for that...
The game was hard fought, we won 100-94... So glad we could come out of there with a win despite the fact that I thought I was gonna be done for a while... In the first half of the game I got hit against the wall and hurt my back... played most of the game in pain and finally couldn't play anymore with 5 mins left... the guys fought hard and pulled it the win... I finished with 21 points and 4 rebounds...
after the game we drove back to Perth, it was a long trip back, bc my back was so sore.. I was suppose to coach my young kids the next day but someone filled in for me, thankful for that... I woke up the next day visited the physio and was able to visit with my buddies from AIA that afternoon... got to talk, catch up and pray for one another... despite being hurt it was a great day...
That leads me to the week when my mom arrived... She arrived on May 13 and was here for 10 days, they went by really really fast but they were enjoyable... more to report on the next blog...

Just want to leave you with one thing... Been thinking a lot the last couple weeks, where do I find my joy... This morning I was reading in the book of John 15:8-11 and Jesus says

8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full

So this morning Jesus spoke to me saying, find your joy in Me, following Me, being obedient to My words, loving Me and people, and staying close to Him... I continue to be puzzled by myself, because I know these things to be true but continue to find pleasure and joy in things of this world, whether it's watching to much TV, movies, food, talking about basketball too much, relaxing to much... what it is, those are good things, but I can elevate them to god things way too often... I pray for myself and you that strive after obedience to God, give Him the glory and your joy will be full... that's true hedonism, finding pleasure and joy in the God of the universe not of things in this world...

Shalom,
Ben

Blog Post #8

Family and Friends,

Here is a picture of my friend Bobby and I, from a couple of weeks ago when we played his team...

Probably going to be a little shorter this week... was a busy, and the week went by really fast... I hope everyone is doing well.. please fell free to email me any concerns or prayer requests, it would be an honor and delight to pray for anyone... ben_beran@hotmail.com

This week we played one game on Friday night April 23 at Kalamunda Eastern Suns... I knew it was going to be a tough fight... We were on top of the league standings before the game, so that means every team is going to be gunning for us... esp this team, bc we have a lot of connections to these guys either through players or coaches...
with all that aside they had been having a tough season, but have the talent to be a good team... A couple of their players had been hurt and are now back, making them full strength... with all that said, it was a battle...
after the first quarter we were up 30-21, we came out really well got after it right away...
at half time it was 62-51... the end of the third it was 91-85... we had chances to put them away, but didn't and it would cost us in the 4th...
we ended up loosing 119-114... we struggled to stop them in the 2nd half... they have one of the best players in the league and he had 41 points...
As you can imagine I was really disappointed after the game, we had it won and just didn't finish well down the stretch... I personally made a lot of mistakes and know it's going to be a game to learn from... just had to get back to work this week and get ready for a big upcoming weekend...
I finished 34 points and 7 rebounds...

this week I really kept busy with studying and preparing for the weekend...
I took a couple tests for my classes, haven't got the results back yet but know I did well on them...
Also along with studying for the tests, I spoke on the Sunday night service and gave a sermon on the word Shalom... it was a great experience and am really thankful for the opportunity to share and preach the Gospel... I guess they put it up online, here is a link for anyone who wants to listen to it...
http://lakeside.asn.au/index.php?option=com_docman&Itemid=132
I was nervous at first and I know I talked really fast... I just pray that in spite of all my failures that the word of God shined through and that the message was clear to all about the Shalom we have because of what Christ has done on the Cross...

I did have a great weekend... Saturday after the Friday night game, I got up early to see the sunrise, read and have a little coffee and get ready to go out on the water with a friend from Lakeside... He owns a boat and wanted to take Luke and I out... we did a little wake boarding, which was a blast... even though I could never get up and ride... maybe next time... It was just a beautiful day tho, sunshine, calm waters, and most all great people...

Back to Sunday... After the Sunday night, I went and hung out with a couple buddies that came up to listen to me preach... these are the same brothers that I do Bible study with once a week... was really thankful to see them and hang out with those guys...

all in all it was a great week... Have a tough few weeks ahead, with double headers and a long trip out to the middle of no where for a game...

want to leave you with one thing, Colossians 1:19-20... Didn't have this in my sermon but would have fit well...
19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

So this Jesus is God, as it says in vs 19, and the fullness of God dwelt in Him... so when you read or see Jesus, that is God in the flesh... on to verse 20, so we as humans are separated by God, bc of our sin nature and that we sin by choice, are separated by God... and bc of that Christ came to reconcile us back to God... reconcile means to make things right, restore a broken relationship... so through the cross of Christ we have restored fellowship with God, by placing your hope In Jesus and giving your life to Him we have restoration... and we are accepted in His sight as sons and daughters of God...

Shalom,
Ben

Team Huddle, our new jerseys are sweet, especially compared to the lightning bolts, haha

 

Blog Post #7

Friends and Family,

Sorry it's been a couple of weeks since I have last written to you... I have had a very busy, couple of weeks... summary, 2 games, a couple basketball camps, a couple fun weekends of activites and friends to meet up with...

I have been craving biscuits and gravy for the past couple of weeks... which causes a problem when you are in Austalia, because they don't have that here... also what they call biscuits is what we call cookies... so to say do they have biscuits and gravy sounds a little odd to them... so today I decided to embark on a journey to see if they had what it took to make B&G in austraila...
First, at the store they don't have the grands biscuits in the grocery... So I had to make my own, looking up a recipe on the internet I made my own biscuits... then I was looking for sausage, they don't have pork breakfest sausage in stores here... so I had to go with the next best thing, but probably better anyway, bacon...
needless to say when it was done it was a hit from both American and Aussies alike... its only a matter of time before it comes a custom down here, haha...

The Friday after Easter we played the Perry Lakes Hawks... my good friend Bobby Kempf plays for them, but he is out right now due to some knagging knee issues... Hope he is back playing in a couple of weeks for his sake, I know it's hard to not doing anything and being in another country... for those who don't know I hurt my knee last season in Germany and was out for 6 weeks, it was a long hard six weeks, but the Lord was faithful during that time and grew closer to Him because of the hard times...
back to the game... so it wasn't much of a game, we lead 34-19 at the end of the first and just kept control of the game the rest of the time... they didn't play great but we came out with a lot of energy and got right after them from the git-go... we ended up winning 117-78... I had 27 points and 13 rebounds...

the saturday after the game, i didn't have anything going on so I went with Bobby down to Fremantle to see some sights... we went to a few of the tourist places, and since its a sea port they have a lot of things about boats there, like museums and things of that nature... but also in Freo they have a shut down prison that you can tour... so we did that... its a pretty cool tour but also really eery...
I really wanted to watch Shawshank Redemption after touring the prison... one of the best movies ever made...

on sunday, April 11 I woke up went to church and then starting in the afternoon for the next 3 days we had a basketball camp at Lakeside... they have a league here called WABL, so these kids will play in that league and I am a coach of the 14 and under boys team, it's great opportunity to be an influence on some kids and meet a bunch of new people...so kids, coaches, and supervisors brought sleeping pads, clothes and gear for 3 days of excitement... I had to stay over for 2 nights and was busy most of the day with the team and working out when I had the chance to... i wasn't really looking forward to it before it started, but as most things go, once I was there and saw how great the opportunity was to be with a bunch of kids and be around the game of ball and share life with people, basically I was humbled quickly and enjoyed the days with my team and people at the camp...

So the camp ended on tuesday at 4 then had practice at 6 that night... so i was shot at the end of that, came home went to bed and woke up on wednesday and helped out at a basketball camp that the Perth Wildcats were putting on... earned a little money for working there and that night went out to eat with Allie Fredricks and her friend Frank... I still find it crazy that I am on the other side of the world and have so many friends here and especially one that I grew up with... the saying is true, it really is a small world...

Had a game on that Friday verses the East Perth Eagles... the crazy thing about that team is that they have 3 guys that are 7 foot or taller... one guy is 7'3", I'll try and get a picture up of us, I am tiny compared to him... we had a game plan to run them and just out work them... turns out it worked right from the beginning... our team is in pretty good shape and we run well, and guys that big can't do for 12 mins a quarter let alone 48 mins a game... so jumped out to a pretty good lead 34-24 at quarter time... then at half were up 56-43 and we finished really well and won 106-84 and our starters didn't play much in the 4th... i finished with 12 points and 4 rebounds... didn't play that well, but did what the team needed me to do to win... our gaurds had a hay day, was great to see them play well...

The day after the game, I woke up early to help a group of people that were going to serve at a families home that just lost their father in December... the church was getting together to help finish some of the repairs to the home and help paint and just fix up some things around the house... was a great opportunity to see the community of beleivers at work... also that passage in James 1:27, helping widows and orphans, that's true religion, it's expressing the relationship I have with Jesus in a real way to others... I don't say any of this to boost myself... I was honored to help out a family and show the love of Jesus to people who are hurting in ways I can sympathize with...

to end the weekend, I went to church on sunday morning and then drove down to mandurah with Bobby to meet up with my AIA guys, it had been a couple of weeks since we had seen each other, so it was great to catch back up with them... we got together and talked about ball, life, studied the Bible and prayed for one another... was a great time of fellowship and was a great way to end the weekend with some brothers...

My prayer lately for myself and to people I meet with and pray with has been "open the eyes of my heart or their heart." I know the song and so do many people, just never knew where i came from or really what it meant... It comes from Ephesians 1:18 and it was penned by the Apostle Paul who was praying for the people at Ephesus and around the world...
Ephesians 1:18-"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints"
I guess what I was getting to is that my prayer is to know Jesus more everyday and that is my prayer for you... that's the gist of the song and this verse, what Paul is saying I pray you understand the hope you have because of Jesus, what He has done for you, what you have coming to you, your inheritance by being a son of God, by knowing Jesus you have that hope, we have been redeemed by Jesus, our relationship has been reconciled back to the Father by Jesus, we get heaven because of what Jesus has done, our sins are forgivin because of what Jesus did on the cross and rising again to new life for us... Open the eyes of our hearts to understand how great it is to have Jesus, we get heaven things of this world won't and don't meet up to that because it's where Jesus is... It's perfect...

Love you all, have a great week...
Ben