Basketball in a skirt

This afternoon felt a bit like a Friday afternoon to us. Two of the families we teach have appointments in Kampala tomorrow, so we decided to take the day off school. We will still finish our curriculum and 180 school days, but it is nice to have the flexibility to take off for things like that. Our family is going to use the day to run some errands in Jinja and visit with our good friends, the Lawsons. We are all looking forward to the day! 

Since I had this feeling of freedom this afternoon, I decided to go down to the basketball court with some of the teenagers and pre-teens who live here at GSF. I have gotten to know the toddlers and babies who live here pretty well, but I haven't spent as much time with the older kids. I was excited to be invited to play basket and to have an opportunity to build those relationships. (Although anyone who has played basketball with me might argue that I'm often not as concerned with the relationships as I am with winning.) 

Since David was still working on grading I just took all the kids down to the basketball court with me. Now when I say basketball court, do not picture an American park with an outdoor basketball court. This court is about 1/2 to 2/3 the length of a regular court, so the middle of the court is about a 3 point distance, but without any lines. It is located at place where mud runs off whenever it rains, and it rained today, so much of the court was covered in mud. The backboards are rectangular pieces of plywood that are a little different than the standard shape. I am not saying this to complain about the basketball court. The kids here absolutely LOVE it and are so thankful for a place to play. But as I describe our game I thought you might enjoy picturing the game. Here is a photo.

Everyone just plays as they are, girls in skirts, many people often without shoes etc. So when they asked me to play, the kids and I just walked on down. I had forgotten that I was wearing a full-length skirt with Chaco sandals for shoes and my hair was down. I really just imagined shooting around, but it quickly turned into a full fledged game. 

We decided to play boys versus girls. Two of my female students, Maggie and Emma, who are both good basketball players and a head taller than most boys their age were a part of the group. So we began the game playing 3 girls against 5 boys, and it turned into 3 on 6 or 7 at times. Later some other girls came and joined us which made it closer to even numbers. We tried to take it easy on the boys a bit, but you know...Several other kids just came to hang out and watch.

I really enjoyed getting to know these kids a bit better. Of course, the ones who are my students I know well, but it was good to get to know others who live here at GSF too. Elijah has enjoyed playing basketball with this group of kids often; it is good to see him making so many new friends. I hope Geoffrey will still be Elijah's friend after I elbowed him in the teeth, stepped on his foot, and elbowed him in the chest. Yikes! For some reason he and I kept colliding. None of these injuries were serious enough for him to leave the court. I really was trying not to play too intensely because I was truly there to build relationships. I also thought that playing in my skirt and Chacos with hair in my face on a muddy court might increase the chances of injury. I certainly do not want to tear my ACL ever again, so I was trying to be a bit more cautious. Nevertheless, Geoffrey may not have such fond memories of his first basketball game against Auntie Lisa. 

I am so thankful for this fun afternoon with the kids. It is such a blessing to live here at a place where my children can always find a playmate. The older boys even let Ezra play and passed the ball to him several times. Zeke and Bobby were too busy playing in the mud to want to play basketball and Esther was supervising them.

This week I have really been missing my friends and family who I was with this past month. But today I was thankful that God has provided friends for our family on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. I started today worshiping with my dear friends from our missionary team, and was ending the day with my kids and their new friends. I still have moments when I am really sad (like yesterday), but I am trying to remember how God has so graciously provided good friends. And then there are times that I am just having a lot of fun, like playing basketball in a skirt. 

"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!" Phil. 4:4