congrats jd; congrats steelers

my 11-year-old #1 son, jd plays upward basketball with the healing place kids' basketball league. in the picture above, he's on the right, dwarfed by his awesome coach, 6'-9" jason winningham (great name for a competitor) and his teammate austin wright. now jd's not small - he's a 5'-2" wide body - the wide is inherited from his father, no doubt - and he plays tough inside - gets loads of rebounds - until yesterday he hadn't scored in a game. but he got a put-back yesterday in their win. i love that he loves basketball. i love playing with him and his friends in our driveway on a 7-foot goal. most of all, i love that his love for the game isn't ahead of his love for God - i'd much rather see him excel in his walk with God than make it to the NBA any day of the week.

this morning he got up at 3am with me to help take my parents (dave and jean ohlerking) to the airport for their early flight out to africa to continue their work with children's cup in swaziland. jd hauled suitcases and kept me awake during the drive back from the airport. he's my boy - but not so much boy anymore - becoming quite a young man.

i'm proud to be his dad.

on the other timely note: congrats to the steelers. i hate that seattle couldn't pull it together at the end of each half, but i'm convinced that this was one of those super bowls where the better team was shown - it wasn't a game that was tainted by a terrible call or by a weird injury or even a bunch of freak plays. great game. congrats steeler fans everywhere - and especially to jerome bettis - going out on top.