Stretch Armstrong

From very early in my life, I felt like it was my responsibility as a little sister to make sure I played with every toy my big brother ever got to the point of aggravating him as much as I possibly could.  Not only did I take my “responsibility” very seriously, I happened to like many of his toys much more than I did my own.   Many times I would play so rough with his toys, I would end up breaking something and he would get so angry with me!  J

Christmas 1979 was a present year for my brother that I will never forget!  He got a “Stretch Armstrong!”  For anyone not familiar with this nostalgic figure, I included his picture!  Now, to most, he would look like just some other Hulk Hogan type phenomena in a box, but Stretch was cooler than any WWF wrestler we could ever know…even Jake, “the Snake” (I will share my WWF knowledge with you another day, haha). 

Stretch Armstrong was a doll that was about 15 inches tall.  Wikipedia says that Stretch was made of “latex rubber, filled with gelled corn syrup.”  The fascination with him was that when you pulled on his arms and legs, he could stretch from his original size up to four or five feet!  Can you imagine how amazing that was?  I pulled and pulled at him trying to stretch him as far as I possibly could.  Yes, it was cool that he would “stretch” like that, but looking back, I really wanted to know what would happen if he was stretched farther than he could go.  More importantly, because there wasn’t an encyclopedia, like our Wikipedia, now, that would allow me to know exactly what was inside.  Plus, when I would pull and pull to make him bigger than myself, he would immediately begin to retract into his original 15 inch size and shape.

I was sitting in the Atlanta airport on Sunday during a 3-hour layover.  I was alone (of course, in theory, I wasn’t really alone, because that airport is ALWAYS full), but I was travelling without a companion.  I called my friend, Linda, to check in and just to chat.  I was a little emotional because of many factors and after listening to a few sniffs, Linda said something to me that I needed to hear.  “Isn’t it amazing how God STRETCHES us to show us how to depend on Him more?”  That question opened up a conversation that changed my tears of sadness and loneliness into a smile and a feeling that His arms were wrapped around me.

When we hung up, Stretch Armstrong came to my mind.  I would pull and pull on him trying to stretch him so far so he would burst open and I could finally see for myself what was inside!  It’s amazing to me how God stretches us WAY beyond ourselves, and it’s not a test for Him to see what we have inside, but it’s how He shows US what we have inside ourselves.  It’s how we learn to depend on Him to retract us into the shape that HE wants for us.  The fabulous thing about all of it is that if we stretch to the point that we break, He knows how to put us back together.  In fact, He does His best work when we’ve reached the end of ourselves. 

Stretch Armstrong’s arms would stretch up to 4 or 5 feet.  Jesus’ arms stretched out on a cross.  Stretch Armstrong had corn syrup running through his body.  I’ve got Jesus living in my heart.

We're Playing Bas-ket-ball, We Love that Bas-ket-ball

Both of my girls wanted to sign up to play basketball this year.  I had tried to hard not to influence them either way, so when they decided they wanted to play, I was ecstatic!  :)  While I had volunteered the past few years to coach, I had decided at the end of the last basketball season that retirement might be good for me.  Who would have thought that coaching recreation basketball could be so stressful...of course, when you tend to be competitive, stress is always a factor. 

Two weeks ago, Lauren's team was playing a strong team from a different community...somewhat of a rival community...a rival community since I was in the 2nd grade.  Watching from the stands would be a difficult task.  At the end of the first half, I only had about 2 nails left that I hadn't bitten.  As the third quarter began, I could feel the tension rising from the other side of the court where Lauren's coach was standing.  He had spent a lot of time, although no more than usual, yelling at the referees rather than keeping the girls' minds on the game.  While that is my opinion, the referees obviously agreed with me, as the next thing I knew, they were huddled around him and eventually escorting him out of the gym. 

Ever get that feeling inside that you HAVE to do something?  You know, like you feel as if everyone and everything around you becomes a blur and then a huge light comes on with a voice that says, "You better do something."  Okay, okay, maybe it's not that way for everyone, but suddenly, I felt like some unknown force was lifting me out of my seat and sending me over to take care of business.  Well, how could I argue with such a force?  In my high-heel, black boots, I began walking.  I passed the coach as he walked (aided by a couple of guys) out and politely asked him if he minded if I went and helped...as if he were going to change my mind.  :)  There were 7 pairs of eyes glued to me as I got my piece of paper out and told them what we were about to do.  They listened and rallied...it was like a new group of girls had hit the floor.

Over the course of the next week, changes took place.  The recreation officials contacted our community leaders and said, "I don't know who the woman was that came out of the stands to help, but we saw a whole new ballgame for the last quarter and a half." 

This past Saturday was my first game back as a coach, and I cannot begin to tell how invigorating it was to watch the team execute the new style of play they had learned in just a week.  What style is that?  It's a style that my Lady Patriot peeps still understand well, I'm sure.  In fact, I've seen Stephanie B. and Kelly L. enforcing that style this season with their own teams.  It's fundamentals...dribbling, shooting, passing (BOUNCE passes)...and my favorite, HUSTLE...making teamwork inevitable.