"The First 5 minutes"

"The first 5 minutes" is a phrase we like to use in the basketball world. It is used to help illustrate to the players that it is important to come out ready to play from the start of that game and not to wait until its too late. It's sort of a way to set the tone for what we want to do on the court. That phrase has taken on new meaning as of late. I have to be at work pretty early in the morning and I usually get to see my son wake up, but it is only for about 5 minutes. I get to see his "first 5 minutes" everyday. I usually get greeted with a big smile and it makes me feel great. It sets the tone for my day and gets me going on the right foot. I also think that "the first 5 minutes can be a way to greet Christ at the beginning of the day. This way we can see how we will be that day. Are we going to be slow and lethargic or are we going to be ready to face the day with the confidence that Christ gives us through his death and resurrection. With that thought I am going to make my first 5 minutes as a measuring stick for each new day, and with God's help I will not be slow and lethargic very often. I want to be "on top of things" so that I do not miss an opportunity to minister to someone who may need it.

So it begins...

We started practices this week at Rochester College. This may be my most favorite time of the year. Everything is new and exciting, players are fired up to get going and coaches are fired up because players are out of shape. Every pre-season I get the chance to build new relationships with new players, its just a fun time for me. Its sort of like a conversion experience for me each new season. I am excited and on fire at first and then there will come a time when I am not so on fire. There are times when I would just rather not be around the gym and the guys and I just want to hide away for a time. I experience those times in my walk with Christ. There are times that I would just rather hide away from the Lord for a time. It is then that I have to find renewal in His love, and I pray that I find that renewal daily and not experience those times of hiding from the Lord.

My prayer each new basketball season is that the Lord puts in my life a young man who needs to see Christ lived out in the world. That Christ would let the young man/men see that following Him is not a life of rules and things that you can't do, but rather a life of freedom and newness and excitement. And I pray that I can be a great light for Christ, and now with a child to care for that I will be a great example to him.

So it begins...

Reconnecting with "Old" friends

I got to re-connect with some old friends last night at a birthday party. Aly, Brooks, and I went to my old boss' house last night to celebrate the birthday of his two year old twin boys. It was great to see some old friends again. I realized how long 3 years is when I saw how big all of their children had gotten. I think the best part of the evening was when we arrived and I got to see a special friend named Lauren. She calls me "Big Brian", although I am not sure if it is because I am tall in her eyes or if I am overweight. I am hoping that it is because she views me as tall (no comments from the peanut gallery here, please). Lauren is 7 years old (I think) and she really loved for me to throw her in the air when she was younger. 3 years ago I could really throw her high in the year. I realized how long 3 years is when I tried to just pick her up. She had gotten so big and tall, I couldn't believe it. But we had a good time getting re-aquainted after her brief moment of shyness.
Lauren's dad and I used to go hunting a lot before I left to pursue coaching, and I am excited to get back in the field with him and others. It was just an enjoyable night. Its good to be home.

4 months old and lovin' life

Here is Brooks at 4 months old. He is such a pleasure to watch grow, and he has such a great personality.

I am getting old(er)!!!

It hit me hard this past Saturday that I am getting older and older. I watched my sister Rachel get married, and I realized that she is all grown up. I always viewed her as my little sister until last Saturday. It wasn't until she was walking down the isle that I realized that she is a full grown women, and a beautiful one at that. I was flooded with memories the whole night of all the things that her and I went through together. I think the fondest memory was when I went away to college. My family had taken me there to move into the dorms and Rachel came with us. We spent the whole day together as a family, and when it came time to say goodbye to her we both began to cry. I wasn't sure at the time why, but now I know what it was. We really depended on each other at the time and we had a genuine love for one another, one that a brother and sister are not normally blessed with. I have had the pleasure of watching her develop into a great spiritual women, again realized when she walked down the isle. She was so calm and collected, or at least she put on a good show, during the ceremony. It was just fun to watch.

It was also a bitter sweet week with her, and I wish I would have talked to her about it, but she was so busy with finishing up the final details. I wanted to tell her how proud I am of her and what she means to me and my family. Until last week I had not seen her in about 1 1/2 years. I really missed her during that time. She had always brought me so much comfort when we were together. But now she is all grown up and married. Her husband Matt, who I met for the first time last week, is a great guy. I can tell by the way that he looks at her that he is in awe of her, and as a big brother, that is what you hope for. The two of them will be such an encouragement to each other both spiritually and physically, and that is encouraging to me. I know that Matt will take care of her now, especially since they will be living in Charlotte, NC.

I was fortunate enough to be able to take Rachel and Matt to the airport on Sunday morning so that they could go on their honeymoon. I was the first to see them on their first full day of being married. I was able to share in some of Rachel's other "firsts" as we grew up, and the one on Sunday will be put up as one of the most special to me.

One last memory for the road. I used to have to get Rachel ready for school when she was in elementary grades. She couldn't have been more that 6 or 7 years old which would have made me around 13 or 14 years old. I used to do her hair and get her dressed in the mornings, because my mom had to be to work at like 4 or 5 in the morning. As I look back on that experience I can't help but think about that movie "When a man loves a woman" with Meg Ryan and Andy Garcia. There was a scene in the movie when the little daughter got her hair done by her older sister. When she was done the little girl came around a corner crying that her hair hurt because of what they had done to it. I can imagine Rachel going to school with her hair hurting, because I am sure that I did not know what I was doing while "doing" her hair. Rachel if your hair hurt I am sorry, but it was all worth it, at least for me. I love you. BTT

Matt, take care of our little Rachel for us, we know you will.

I have made it home.

Well, I made it home safely. The trip home seemed to take longer than it actually was, but I attribute that to anxiousness to see Aly and Brooks. It has taken Brooks a couple of days to get used to me again, but he is coming around just fine. He now smiles at me when I see him and I can even get him to giggle a little bit. It is so good to be home and not have the stress of class and homework. I will be getting my Master's degree sometime in August (I hope). Anyway all is well and here is a three month picture of Brooks.

I can't wait to see you.

Alyson and Brooks,
I can't wait to see you. Being here in Texas has been fun, but I can't wait to see you and hold you both in my arms. I never thought that a month could take so long. I pray for you every night for your protection. You both are in my thoughts as I sit in class waiting to be released for the night. I look at Brooks' picture on my phone first thing in the morning, and all I want to do is hop in the car and drive home to be with you.

Alyson you are great beyond words. You have done all of this on your own. You have taken care of Brooks in my absence all without complaining. I am so blessed to be called your husband and I thank you for your incredible spirit. I can't wait to see you next week. Oh, by the way, you will have to call me "Master" Brian since I will have a Master's degree. Just kidding. I love you. Kiss Brooks for me and tell him his Dad will be home soon.

Messy Spirituality

Ever since I was in High School and I began to really think about my walk with Christ, I have always thought about the following: I don't pray enough; I don't read my Bible enough; I don't share my faith enough; I don't love God enough; I'm not committed enough; I'm not spiritual enough. Those thoughts have been in my head for the longest time. I have always thought that if I am an authentic Christian, then I have to be perfect, as Christ was perfect, but I always come up short, way short. I have associated so much guilt with all of those thoughts, because I feel like I really try to be what God wants me to be. I spend so much life worried about what I don't do instead of what I have done, focused on my imperfections instead of God's fondness for the imperfect.

I have just started reading a book called Messy Spirituality and it has opened my eyes in a whole new way. The book is by Michael Yaconelli. He basis of the book on this question: What if genuine faith begins with admitting we will never have our act completely together? He suggests that imperfection, unfinishedness, and messiness are, in fact, the earmarks of true Christianity; that real Christianity is messy, erratic, lopsided, and maybe liberating.

The book gets into how messed up most of our Biblical heroes were. They were murderers, adulterers, prostitutes, criminals, and lepers. He talked about Noah and his faith and willingness to listen to God to build the Ark. He then mentions that when the waters receded that Noah proceeded to go get drunk and naked. I never really thought about Noah like that, nor had I heard the story told like that. I have to realize that its okay to screw up, and not feel so guilty. I just need to be able to hear Jesus when I screw up, when he says "That's not quite what I am looking for, let's try again". He doesn't say, "That's not quite what I am looking for, get away from me". I guess being so messed up is not such a horrible thing to be as a "Christian".

Just look at this kid!!!

You can't tell me that Brooks does not love to be home with his family. We took this picture the day we moved in to our new apartment.

I leave for Texas on Wednesday and will not be back until around July 10th. I will be gone from Alyson and Brooks for about a month. I will be gone for way too long, but I will have my Master's Degree when I come back. It will be fun to see everyone in Abilene for one last time.

We made it home...finally!

We are in our new home and unpacking. Alyson arrived home on Friday and I arrived home Sunday at 2:00 a.m. We are all doing well. My trip with my dad in the moving truck was fun, but very uncomfortable. The truck was not made for comfort. We both came away from the 26 hour trip with very sore backs. Split the trip up, though not evenly. 7 hours on Friday, and 19 on Saturday. We had planned to stop and sleep Saturday night, but I think that my dad and I both dreaded getting back into the truck again for a third day.
Our new apartment is very nice and I think we will enjoy living here for a short time. I only have a 2 mile commute to work, which in this town is a true blessing (traffic stinks here).

My dad got to meet Brooks for the first time today. It was awesome!!! I will post pictures soon. My dad got so fired up after meeting Brooks that he went and bought a brand new Mustang. I'm thinking it will be a great hand-me-down for Brooks.

Anyway, we are here and settling in. We already miss our friends in Abilene.

One more week.

Well we have one more week left in Texas. I will be hitting the road with my dad this time next week to move all of our stuff back home. Alyson and I are excited, but at the same time it is bitter sweet. We have grown close to several people during our time here and we will miss them all dearly. During our time here we have grown in so many ways, and I wish there was some way to physically stay involved with these special people. There are not words to express what Abilene has meant to me and Aly, we will truly miss this place.

I think Brooks is really excited about all of this. You can just tell by his body language in this picture. Brooks says, "can we go already!"

Brooks is excited!

The Bottom picture is of Brooks when he heard we were going to be moving away from Texas.
The Top picture is of Brooks when he heard we were going to move to Michigan (he actually buckled himself in and said, "what are we wating for?"

Moving on Up

I have recently accepted a job back home at my alma mater. I will be the assistant coach at Rochester College, back home in Michigan. So we will be moving on up to the great Midwest. George Evjen, who was the assistant got a head coaching job at Siena Heights University. I will be taking his place, and I will also be the head of "special projects" for the pleasant family. By "special projects" I mean that I will be fixing things at Coach pleasant house. I don't think his wife Pat trusts him to do these things, so I get to do them. But anyway, we are excited to be going back and being close to our families. We will miss ACU and our friends in Abilene.

...By the way Brooks seemed really excited by the idea of moving to Michigan as well. He had a big smile on his face when we told him, either that or he was going to the bathroom in his diaper.

Joshua Bigby 1983-2006

As a basketball coach you get to experience so many different kinds of kids. You get to build relationships with kids that you grow to love. It is like you almost become a parent to them, just on a lower level. This past weekend I lost one of those kids to a tragic automobile accident. His name is Joshua Bigby and he is from Livingston, Texas.

Josh is a great kid. He is probably one of the most competitive and determined kids that I have had the pleasure to coach. We didn't always see eye to eye, as is the case with all kids. At times Josh could be a very hard headed kid. The one endearing quality that Josh has is that he will give you nothing less than 110% effort. Once he made his mind up to do something he did it without hesitation or second guessing himself. From a coaching standpoint that was not necessarily always a good thing, but you live with it. He had a great passion for playing the game of basketball. Before every game he would just sit there with this look on his face, one that I believe would intimidate the devil. As a coach you knew he was ready to play that night. Whenever you talked to Josh he would look you in the eyes, and answer everything with "yes sir" and "no sir". He is a well mannered kid which I think is a great testament to his parents and his upbringing. In my brief relationship with Josh I found out that he has a great love for the outdoors, hunting in particular. One day I asked him what he wanted to do when he graduated, he replied with, "all I want to do is buy some land and put up a deer stand and just hunt". That is another thing that I love about Josh, and that is his ability to keep things simple.

I went to the Funeral home in Woodville, Texas, which is just outside his home town. While I was there I got to see the great numbers of people that Josh impacted in his short stay with us. They were all sad, but at the same time I detected a sense of pride from them. A pride that came from knowing and interacting with Josh. He had a lasting impact on all of his family and friends. I got to talk to his parents, grandparents, cousins, brothers, sister, and some friends. They all spoke of Josh's love for life, and fun in living his life. Josh will be dearly missed by all who have come in contact with him. I for one am glad to have known Josh, and will always remember him as a great young man.

To the Bigby Family: May you find encouragement and comfort in the memories that Josh left with you.

To Harrison (his little brother): Josh was proud to be your brother, as I know you are proud to be his. Can't wait to see you as a basketball player and hunter.

Free and clear!!!

Alyson has received the results from her pet scan and they have come back clear. That means that she does not have to have any chemo or radiation. We are praising God for his awesome promises. WOW, what a feeling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brooks the Hunter

I love this picture of Brooks. I can't wait until I can take him hunting with me. Actually I cant wait until I go hunting again. I sort of feel like an anti-hunter because I have not been hunting in a long time(almost two years). Anyway, I think that Brooks looks the part already.

more pictures of Brooks

Great News from the Oncologist

Alyson and I saw the oncologist to see what our next step is in treating her cancer. We got great news from Dr. Hirsch. He wants Alyson to have a PET/CT scan next Thursday. If everything comes back negative for cancer, then he is saying that Alyson will not need any Radiation treatment at all. That would be a tremendous miracle for her and our family. Dr. Hirsch feels that Alyson is cured of cancer and that she would not need to take the risks associated with radiation treatment. He will however monitor her closely over the next year. We will go in about every 3 months. We are looking forward to also removing her chemo-port from her arm. What a total miracle this will be when this is all done. God is ever true to His words. We are praising His name daily.

Brooks has arrived!!!!

It has finally happened. Brooks Thomas Thrift has arrived. Both he and Alyson are doing great!!! He was 7 lbs 11 oz. 19.5 inches. He is just a little guy.

Wednesday, it all happens.

Well we went to the Doctor's today to see if Alyson had any dialation. She had none, and we are expecting to go into the hospital on Tuesday afternoon to begin the induction process. Alyson will go in tomorrow around 5 p.m. and they give her some medicine to prepare her body. She will stay all night. Around 7 a.m. Wednesday our Doctor will come by and give her the induction medication. So hopefully by Wednesday afternoon, we will be parents to a healthy little baby boy.

Keep us in your prayers as we come down to the last days of just Alyson and I. Also Alyson's cancer doctor will be called when Brooks arrives so that he can lay out a plan for her additional testing to see what it is that we will do from here. We are hoping and expecting that she will be able to skip chemo-therapy and just undergo radiation. Thank you for all of your support.