Laura and I and our entire family want to thank everyone involved who made Saturday's Alumni Games a huge success.  Thank you to the participants, volunteers, sponsors, and all the spectators who came out and supported the Joshua Cantrell Memorial Scholarship and also supported your loved ones as they gracefully ran up and down the floor.  Our hope is to make this an annual event and improve on any areas that need improving and continue to make this a great time for all involved.  We also hope that the spectators were able to get some enjoyment out of the event as well as our players.  We look forward to next year and seeing even more former players out on the floor and according to some suggestions maybe even cheerleaders.  From the bottom of our hearts, we again say thank you for all your support.  It was again made evident to us how special our community is and how much this community loves basketball!

Thank you and see you this weekend at the High Noon for Hope Concert.

God Bless,

The Cantrells and Pratts

P.S. For game highlights, remember to check out Citizens cable as they broadcast the games -- can't wait to see that!

Before I post an update, I have to share that I often feel guilty about not posting on the website as often.  All that we went through last year with Samefight is never far from my mind, though life’s other responsibilities still exist, and I feel strongly convicted to perform many duties these days.  We are working hard to make the benefit Alumni Games and High Noon for Hope Concert successful.  I also enjoy working (along with Desirae and many others) on Relay for Life.  Time permits us to do only so much, I’m afraid, but as always, we still depend on the prayers of many to carry us safely through times that will inevitably be difficult.

The days leading up to February 26^th were just such times.  Though our lives are pleasantly busy and we have much to occupy our minds, my memory still takes me back to our whereabouts at this time last year.  Goodbye was never so bittersweet.  The fact that we knew he was off to a much better place softened our hearts in the final hours and made them easier to bear; but still it was goodbye [for now].

Every once and again, I have found myself consumed in these moments when my memory serves me no better than to think of the hard times.  Over and over again, Satan has tried to get to me by encouraging me to think of Joshua when he was ill.  This week, the reality hit me:  these thoughts are futile because I have absolutely nothing left to fear now.  My child is safe at home and the enemy will never ever reach him there.  That is the first reason why the calendar my husband made me for Christmas this year reads joyfully, “J’s Day! 3:23” on February 26^th.

The second reason we should celebrate this day occurred to me when we made our weekly family trip to Joshua’s “special place” last Sunday.  I reflected on the many trips we have made to the Pratt Cemetery over the past year and remembered that there were many times when I counted, as my one victory for the day, that I was at least one day closer to seeing him again.  It is hard to believe it, but we are now over a year closer to that blessed day!

I certainly hope I do not give the wrong impression--  I value many heaven-sent treasures here on earth, and I truly celebrate those.  It is beautiful when we find that balance between appreciating what God has given us here, and looking so forward to what is also ahead.  I truly believe that your prayers have sent us some of those “God signs” that remind us that Joshua, heaven, and God Himself are never far away.  They truly are not as far away as we sometimes let ourselves believe.