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