However, once the season started the practice time switched from Saturday mornings to Wednesday nights. Our whole family is involved at church on Wednesdays. K, P & R attend (and enjoy) children's choir while my husband & I participate in a couples' small group. I let our coaches know that this schedule was probably not going to work for us--but due to difficulty securing a gym for practice, the Blue Tigers continued with Wednesday practices. The coaches were understanding and P is still allowed to play in the games on Saturdays.
Thankfully, P hasn't really noticed that he is missing practice. We have definitely noticed during his games that the gap between his skill level and that of his teammates is widening by the week. Ultimately, my husband and I decided that church trumped 5 year old basketball--especially since it was an activity that involves all five of us.
Keeping one's word (and therefore honoring commitments) is a big deal to me, making this decision more difficult. We did, however, commit to Wednesday night activities first and they are developing our spiritual lives. First things have to stay first.
As we discussed it we came to the conclusion that we are setting a precedent with this decision--giving in for a sport at 5 will make it very difficult to backtrack in the future. I am mindful that we are entering a stage of parenthood that will bring many more of these types of precedent-setting decisions...and it makes me tired. :-)
As we discussed it we came to the conclusion that we are setting a precedent with this decision--giving in for a sport at 5 will make it very difficult to backtrack in the future. I am mindful that we are entering a stage of parenthood that will bring many more of these types of precedent-setting decisions...and it makes me tired. :-)
6 comments:
I am so proud of you! To set God above things like sports is a hard thing for parents to do. Someone once told me that there is only one thing that we can take with us when we die and that is our children. This person was trying to tell me how important it is to put Christ first in my life and make it a priority in my children's lives as they grow. You are doing just this. While he may have been a little behind the other kids in sports, he has gained so much!
Amen. Read Chariots of Fire- it's a short read and such an inspirational story, but my high school track coach had us read it because Eric Liddel refused to run his Olympic trial because it was scheduled to run on a Sunday- so, he entered and ran in a race that qualified on another day, and not only qualified for finals, but broke a world record. It's a classic book about a man who lived by faith- an excellent story to be able to use with your kids one day- it made an impression on me at the age of 17- I still remember that lesson and Sundays are still sacred days.
We faced this a couple of times with our son. The first was Little League where a tournament was (because of a weather problem) moved to a Sunday. Our son was the catcher for the team. We told them we would be there after church. The couches pleaded with us to make this the exception to going to church. We said told them no but would be there as quickly after church as we could get there. Turns out the game did not even start until half an hour after we got there.
The second occurance was of my son's choosing and I was so proud of his decision. He played basketball for high school team (private, christian school) and they had practice every Saturday morning. My son was also on the church youth leadership team and one Saturday a month the did a community project. (The whole youth group did the community project.) My son explained this to the coach and felt that as a leader, he needed to be at the community project. He told the coach he would run laps or do whatever the coach wanted to make up for the once a month missed practice. The coach told him if he missed, everybody on the team would be "punished" and would have to run laps, etc. My son chose to quit playing basketball. Big decision because at that school, if you quit one sport, you cannot participate in another sport that year. After he made the decision and explained to the coach once again why his commitment to God and his church had to come first, his coach still told him he could not play. After all was said and done, my son felt great about his decision. Not only did he have the support of his youth pastor (and of course us as his parents), the other teachers at this christian high school told my son how proud they were of him and what a great job he did of keeping his priorites straight. The next year, that coach was "let go" from the school.
Sorry for such a long comment. Just wanted you to know that I think that you are doing a great job. Yes, sometimes it is scarey. I am so thankful for God as He guides us and later our children through those tough times.
pscole3467 at gmail dot com
Pamela- What an awesome story about your son. Thank you for sharing!
J, please go listen to Dr. Snider's sermon from 2/7 on-line at FBC's website. It is about this exact topic and I think you will enjoy it. I was very, very challenged by it!!
I agree with honouring previous commitments. When I was in primary school (about 8 or 9 years old), I wanted to play hockey, but the games were on Sunday mornings. Mum said no, since we had church at that time. I understood that, so I wasn't upset. :)
I believe that it doesn't matter whether it's church or some other activity. If you've committed to it, then that should be your first priority.
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