January 15

Ryan’s Tennis Game

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:13 (NAS)


My wife and I sat huddled in our car sipping Orange Dream Machine Jamba juices. A sea of green tennis courts filled our front window as the wind buffeted our vehicle. What started as a warm Oregon spring day had been overcome by gray clouds.

The quiet bang of tennis serves and returns cut through everything—the gusts, the cold, even our windows. And we were in awe.

Our 16-year old son was playing on the other side of the fence, just a few feet away. Let me repeat that, Ryan was playing tennis and he was holding his own. We were awed because Ryan has only four fingers on each hand, and he doesn’t have knuckles—at least not where you and I do. But there he was, holding the racquet in two hands, smacking his serve over the net, banging the ball back to the other side, battling the wind and his opponents. It was a close game and we watched in rapt fascination.

You see, over a month ago, he approached us in our living room and said he wanted to go out for tennis. We sat in soft chairs by the big windows and quietly rolled our eyes. Our minds were projecting the likely outcome and my wife’s eyes welled up. “Oh, honey….”

But Ryan was a determined young man who believed in himself and his God. So that day, proud as I could be, I sat in the car as my son taught me a lesson: God wants to do so much more with me if I will open my heart, my mind, my will.


Father, thank You for Ryan and for Your quiet lessons on faith. Strengthen me, Lord, as You have strengthened him. Amen.