Being the tomboy that I was, I always enjoyed playing sports, especially softball. My next favorite sport was dodge ball. My least favorite was basketball. I tried, but let’s just say I struggled with it.
In elementary school, we didn’t play basketball that much. When we did, it was for fun and there were no referees or any rules. The middle school was a different story. There was a junior pro league that played on Saturday mornings. I signed up just to have something to do in the winter. To be honest, I thought I would take to it like I did softball or dodgeball. After the first basketball practice, I realized I was wrong. Very wrong.
The first thing we worked on was dribbling. We started out using one hand and then we switched to the other hand. I thought: “I got this. It’s easy.” Then the coach had us run up and down the court while dribbling. Being uncoordinated, that wasn’t so easy for me. I either ran or dribbled. Doing both at the same time didn’t work for me. In all fairness, I wasn’t used to that. In softball and dodgeball, you could run while holding the ball. Nobody got upset. But in basketball, that is called “Walking with the Ball” and it irritated my coach.
Next, we practiced lay ups. That’s where you run up to the net while dribbling. Then you jump and dunk the basketball through the hoop with one hand. As you have probably guessed, I “walked with the ball” as I ran down the court. It got worse. When I jumped and tossed the ball, it sailed over the hoop and into the bleachers. Not being able to stop, I then slammed into the back wall. My coach told me I needed to play on defense as a guard. Basically, I had to stay around one girl to keep her from getting the basketball and scoring. I was fine with that. It was less stressful and dangerous for me and the others around me.
During this one game, a girl on the opposing team was dribbling and running down the court. One of my teammates tried to steal the ball from her. While she didn’t get the ball, she did manage to knock the basketball out of the dribblers hand. It rolled toward me and the girl I was guarding. I managed to get to the ball first. I knew I only had seconds to do something before everybody came at me. So, I turned toward the hoop for my team and threw the basketball. I didn’t even aim. It sailed through the air and dropped down through the hoop without even touching the rim. Much to my dad’s chagrin, I clapped, jumped up and down, and yelled: “Yeah.”
“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?” Jeremiah 32:27 (KJV)
Immediately, I recognized my shot as a miracle from God. You know, I think we get caught up in everyday life and our problems and don’t always recognize the little miracles He does for us. Take a long around for them since there is nothing He can’t do.
A few years later, I experienced another basketball miracle when I was playing with some friends. One of them got a little carried with excitement and threw the ball into my face full force. It was a miracle that it didn’t break my nose. By the way, that was the time I played basketball.

Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.