Horseback Riding

My dad is AWESOME! He made this video for me last night and just showed it to me. *sigh* I miss riding... The thing is, the place I have been going to is so expensive! I mean, like 400 dollars for five days of riding, and, since I'm only twelve and don't have a job, is a real struggle to make...Oh well.. Enjoy! :D

It's One of Those Amazing Moments...

Amazing is almost an understatement. I cannot believe this... Okay, I'll stop rambling and tell you what's so incredible: 41-39. That was the score of my game at my team's Middle School. We were triumphant... against Buffalo: the city boasting the best seventh-grade school basketball team in our conference. And we defeated them! It came to the last 10 seconds, where Buffalo was desperately trying to intercept the ball when it was passed in bounds and score a basket to tie up the game. But our team managed to hold'em off. We WON!!!!!!!!!!!! *tries to stop shaking with exuberance* Ah, the looks on the Buffalo team's faces when we beat them. They were astonished. It was David and Goliath moment kind of. The team with a record of 1 win and 9 losses taking on a team, flawless and undefeated. When we won, all my teammates when crazy. I'm still going crazy! I'm awed, flabbergasted, astounded- AMAZED.
So enough about my amazement, here's an update on how my mom's doing: She went into surgery Monday and stayed in the hospital overnight. Then late in the afternoon Tuesday, she came back with my dad. She was extremely nauseous and in reasonable pain. On Wednesday, she was feeling a little better, but still just laid in bed and slept most of the day. And today, she's starting to be her normal self again. Although still tired and achy, she's feeling a lot better. Want to know what's awesome though? The doctor's who extracted half of her thyroid said that when they took it out, it didn't look cancerous! I'm so happy about that, but still, it's not a final judgement. The complete report comes Monday I think, so yeah... My family just has to wait and see.
By the way, does anyone know anything about the Bartimaeus trilogy? I'm starting the first book, and I want to hear other people's opinion on it before engross myself in it. Is it bad? Okay? Good? Great? Outstanding?

Namarie,

Jake

At last... Victorious

After eight games for basketball, my team finally emerged as the victor in one. It was an amazing game, and the score was astounding: 69-4. We demolished this team. I mean, it was steal after steal, swish after swish. We were unstoppable! I'm so glad we've finally won. I've stopped making it so the losses are all about me and how I performed, but still, it's kind of frustrating continuously losing. So yeah, I'm exhilarated.
I haven't posted forever so here's a brief update on how Thanksgiving went:
One word, AWESOME. I attended three thanksgiving dinners: One at one of my best friend's (Hunter) house, one with my mom's side of the family, and one with my dad's side of the family. It was a blast and very satisfying devouring so much food. (contented sigh) :D It's crazy cause now Christmas is in less than THREE WEEKS!!!!!!!! I can't wait. My whole house has already been adorned in Christmas accouterments, and our Christmas tree is up in our family room. *rubs hands together in anticipation* It's going to be great.
But amidst all the awesomeness, there's one thing that's troubling me... My mom has been lately having numerous doctor appointments concerning a growth on a section of her neck called the thyroid. Although scanned and scrutinized, the doctors can't distinguish wether the growth is harmful or not. Two days ago, they informed my mom that there's a fifteen percent chance it's cancer. So... It has to be removed. Luckily, they're only removing half of her thyroid and leaving the other half so she won't have to use medications for the rest of her life to perform tasks completed by the thyroid. She's going in Monday for surgery to get the growth extracted to be examined more closely to discover what is causing it. I'm praying it's not cancer... I'd appreciate if you'd keep her in your prayers too. It's pretty scary for her and my family having to wait to find out about something so serious...


Jake

Decisions and Discernment

Since I last posted, I've had two more games for basketball. Each of them a loss. *shrugs* We'll win next time though; I can feel it. I mean, the biggest reason we lost today was because there was this guy who was practically six foot tall and he was really explosive and aggressive. Although my team hasn't had any victories yet, I was promoted to point guard!!! So now I take the ball up court on all our offensive possessions and am pretty much one of the main passing people on my team. I've found it to be a lot of fun, but in a way, extremely challenging. First of all, is the decisions. With a defender in my face trying to swipe the ball while I survey the court, I have to be ready to make a decision swiftly and pass the ball precisely. If I don't, the ball will be stolen, ripped from my grasp, or I will panic and make too quick a pass, going straight to the opposing team instead of my intended receiver. Secondly, if there's no one open, I'm all alone. It's up to me to make some kind of play that will enable my team to recuperate and get a basket. It's difficult. If you hesitate, the person guarding you will seize the opportunity to overwhelm you. By now, you might be wondering why I'm telling you all this... Well, because it's the same way in life: We're confronted with sin and darkness and it does not want us to get past it and into the light or make any kind of pass that enables us to move closer to God. It will try to steal first place in your life from God and attempt to rip Him away so they can gain possession of your heart. And sometimes, we're going to be all alone with sin standing maliciously and deceptively in are paths, discouraging us from doing something, advancing, making a play that helps us grow closer to Him. There's only one decision that will aid us. One that will get us closer to God. But it's hard and blocked by sin. I have to fight through it. I can't just sit there and allow my defender (sin) to come nearer and nearer until I'm buffeted and overwhelmed by it. If I'm not moving forward, I'm moving backwards. In our lives. we all have to make the decision to go towards God no matter what's in the way. The crowd tells you it's not cool. Sin displays before you things that tempt and coax you. Satan deceives you and tries to blot out Him with earthly things. But there's only one choice that will lead to salvation and ultimately, God.

Philippians 1: 9-10. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.

1 John 4:1. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Even though we are confronted by so many spirits, deceptions, temptations, our own evil nature, and even Satan himself; we must be able to discern the one true path. The one true decision that will deliver us safely through any opponent and into God's compassionate, protective embrace.

Jake

Pride and Selfishness

Well, basketball hasn't been as awesome as I anticipated. First of all, my team has lost both of its first games. They haven't been complete blowouts. Today's game was pretty close, but still, we've lost both and it's kind of depressing. Today, I was put in as point guard for my team, and I did pretty good. No big passing mistakes and no one got a steal off me. But in the game, for both my two lay-up attempts, I missed and they were really easy shots. At the end, the score was 26 to 29. If I'd made them, we would've have won our first game of the season. Sitting on the bench and watching as the game came to a disappointing end, I sulked and mentally reprimanded myself for missing the shots. When I got home, I kept sulking, still angry about my performance. And it wasn't until about an hour ago when my mom asked what was wrong that I finally stopped. I told her it was all my fault my team had lost the game, that if I'd done better we would've won, and whole bunch of other complaints about how I played. Then she said it: "It sounds to me like you're just being prideful, Jake."
I was speechless. Me? Prideful? I'm beating myself up for missing two layups! How am I being prideful?
I asked her how, and she replied, "You're only thinking about yourself. How you did. How your game went." In other words, it was all about me. Nothing else mattered. I sulked cause I didn't do great, I didn't impress everyone, I didn't make the shots and win the game. It was all about how I did. It really got me thinking and I realized that I'm like that a lot. Countless times I only contemplate how I'm doing and how I look doing it. And I don't spend one second thinking about anything else. How others are feeling. How others are doing. I'm completely oblivious to everybody else while locked away in my own little bubble where everything is about ME.

Proverbs 16:18-19
18: Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
19: Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud.

I like what it says in Psalms 16:19. It pretty much says: It's better to not do great but be humble and have humility. Then to do great and be prideful. *sighs* I really messed up. Hopefully I won't be as susceptible to pride and selfishness next time but instead, have a humble attitude and be considerate to how others are feeling and not just myself.
Just thought I'd share that...

Jake

Amazing Song

Alright, click here and it'll bring you to a video of the new Switchfoot song: Your Love is a Song from their new cd Hello Hurricane. Utterly awesome. I can't get over it...



Jake

A Team

I'm utterly astounded. Two weeks ago, my basketball started for the seventh grade school team. It runs every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 3 to 5 and is a lot more strenuous than my practices last year, but it's been soooo awesome. And what's better, I made the A team!!! Everybody on the school team (21 of us in all) are divided into two groups. The A team: More experienced, B team: Less experienced. I can't believe it. Everyone there is really good and I missed two vital practices so I thought I had no chance whatsoever. But I'm really glad I was proven wrong. :D It's not permanent though. My position for the year depends on how I do in the games, not just the practices... *takes a deep breath* Hopefully I'll do well. :D
Ugh, I knew I'd regret not doing NaNoWriMo!!! argh... Everyones having a blast (or tearing their hair out) conjuring up awesome stories while I'm sitting around doing nothing... *slaps forehead* Oh well... I hope all your novels are coming along smoothly!

Jake