Time moves quickly doesn’t it? Have you ever looked toward an event for so long that when the day actually arrives, it’s a bit of a shock. You prepare for the preparations. Then you actually put the preparations in place. But you don’t prepare to stop and experience it.

We look back on our May Basketball Clinic and can say with confidence that we gave it our all and even though things didn’t turn out like we imagined in our minds, they turned out just like we think they should have. I can remember Jon and I talking about numbers and how we were nervous that we’d have too many kids, but scared at the same time we’d have none! As it turns out, we had 17 kids participate. While this was far less than we’d hoped for, it was a perfect number for getting to know the kids on a more personal level. All of our Brasilian friends have told us that that was a huge success for the first time having something like this.

The school where we advertised tried to get us to go there and have the clinic during school hours. We really felt like we should have the clinic in the gym where we live. We felt strongly about this and stuck to our guns about it. We felt like the kids would respect us more on our turf and that we could narrow the participation to those kids who were really interested. Since this was our first experience with a clinic in Brazil, we didn’t want to bite off more than we could chew. It turned out really well. Sometimes it’s not about numbers, but the impact you make on those who need it at that time.

We invited the parents of the kids to come have breakfast with us this last morning in the gym and let the kids demonstrate some of the drills we’ve been doing with them. I (Jennifer) talked with the parents about how we wanted to have a sports clinic to build self-esteem and teach the kids life skills like leadership and teamwork. We talked about Proverbs 22:6, ‘Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it”. We explained that together with the parents we could give the children the skills and confidence to face things like drugs and violence without getting caught up in it. We prayed for their families and had a really nice time together.

Before the kids left we gave them their last stars. Each one received an extra gold star to show completion of the clinic. We told them that gold is precious and has a lot of value to man. To us, however, they are more valuable than gold and that no matter what they would always be valuable to God.

As usual, we try to be a blessing to others and they end up blessing us. I think I already miss them. We’re planning our next clinic and throwing around some other ideas as well to continue with the Saturday time with the kids.

Enjoy the photos. Did you know you can click on a photo and see it larger? Alex is working on a video that we’ll post soon.