DURING THE SUMMER before my last year of college, I loved my job where I got to play basketball with kids all day. This is where the idea first came to me that I really would love to play the sport that was once my first love—again.
After not making the varsity basketball team during my junior year of high school, I felt I'd lost my love for basketball. Any talent or passion that I once had for the game had been drowned by an intense fear of not being good enough; I longed to find that joyous little girl I once was on the basketball court. When I was growing up, I remembered playing basketball for hours in the driveway, never even wanting to come in for dinner. I wondered how I had lost my passion for this sport and why I had lost confidence in myself.
At my job alongside these kids, my willingness to listen to God was reborn as the idea came to explore the possibility of playing college basketball. It was an opportunity that was difficult to pass up, yet past memories of fear and lack of confidence started to rise. I realized, though, that any fear needed to be addressed in order to move forward. One resource that has been of great help to me when I've been anxious and doubtful about my future plans is the article "God's Law of Adjustment" by Adam H. Dickey (Journal, January 1916, p. 559). One of the ideas that really resonated with me was, "God is never defeated, and those who stand with Him will always receive the benefits of a victory over error." I realized there were two directions I could take as I continued to listen to divine Truth: I could either give in to fear or I could trust in God.
