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