The sweet smell of victory is in Simpsonville, KY tonight (Unfortunately, the smell of victory is of cedar wood chips and stinky donkeys). I kinda smelled like a hamster at the end of the night. Never the less, I (Jared) have never been more proud of an accolade in life than this one. The picture below is of the undefeated
DONKEY BALL CHAMPIONS!
(From left to right: Ken Hyde, Tommy Redding, Matt Garner, Jared Norris,
Donna Beale, Cindy Childers)
Anticipation built all day for a community event that we were asked to be a part of. I have never had such fear and excitement intermingled in my daily emotions. Never before had I been asked to ride a donkey. Let alone ride a donkey while playing basketball. I got to the gym early to mingle with the donkeys. I helped the owner load them up to move his truck, so I could get used to them and them to me. It was all part of my strategy. What can I say? I'm a cutthroat Donkey Ball player. Anyway, we were given instructions on how to ride, fall off safely, and play the game. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we had to sign the waivers as well.
The donkey I'm pulling in this picture is named "Johnny Knoxville." Johnny and I became quick friends. He successfully led our team to victory in the first game by allowing me to ride him and score all 6 points. Just in case you were wondering, most of these donkeys you can't ride! However, Johnny was cool.
The donkey in this picture was not cool. We weren't that close of friends. I don't even know his name. The nerve of him not introducing himself. In fact, the guy who owns these donkeys set me up with this donkey on purpose. So, what did I do? I tried to tame this beast. Jesus did it on palm Sunday. The Holy Spirit dwells within me, so why not give it a try? I have faith, but evidently not enough.
DONKEY BALL CHAMPIONS!
(From left to right: Ken Hyde, Tommy Redding, Matt Garner, Jared Norris,Donna Beale, Cindy Childers)
Anticipation built all day for a community event that we were asked to be a part of. I have never had such fear and excitement intermingled in my daily emotions. Never before had I been asked to ride a donkey. Let alone ride a donkey while playing basketball. I got to the gym early to mingle with the donkeys. I helped the owner load them up to move his truck, so I could get used to them and them to me. It was all part of my strategy. What can I say? I'm a cutthroat Donkey Ball player. Anyway, we were given instructions on how to ride, fall off safely, and play the game. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we had to sign the waivers as well.
The donkey I'm pulling in this picture is named "Johnny Knoxville." Johnny and I became quick friends. He successfully led our team to victory in the first game by allowing me to ride him and score all 6 points. Just in case you were wondering, most of these donkeys you can't ride! However, Johnny was cool.
The donkey in this picture was not cool. We weren't that close of friends. I don't even know his name. The nerve of him not introducing himself. In fact, the guy who owns these donkeys set me up with this donkey on purpose. So, what did I do? I tried to tame this beast. Jesus did it on palm Sunday. The Holy Spirit dwells within me, so why not give it a try? I have faith, but evidently not enough.
This video is me getting bucked off. This was the hardest hit all night for me.
This video is longer, but hang on, I get tossed like a rag doll. You wouldn't think that riding a 3 foot midget donkey would be that bad, but it stings...it stings real bad.
Notice in this one the guy in the blue shirt chasing his donkey all over the floor. Thats Tommy Redding our church administrator, and rebounding machine in Donkey Ball. I just think its really funny to watch him run in circles.
I will end on a good note. This is proof that I actually scored points in Donkey Basketball.
I will have to admit this night brought so much laughter and joy. I had the best time in the world. It's great to have people walk up to you at the end of the night and say, "you made the show worth it." That statement was made in reference to my amazing donkey taming skills. This may be an odd statement as well, but tonight was a great outreach to the community. I pray that God will use Donkey Basketball to help those in our community know that this church truly loves them. When it was all over I literally praised God for this opportunity. God got all the glory tonight for the aches, pains, smiles, laughter, and love that was poured out. The night was worth it! We are blessed beyond belief. In all seriousness, it truly was one of those few times in life where you can say, "It was magical night." Tonight will be a night I never forget, and you better believe I will pass this down through the ages.
For further pictures and videos of Donkey Ball, check out the Hunters blog. A link is on the sidebar at the top.
4 comments:
Ah Jared - Yes, you DID make the show! You should have heard Ryan up in the stands declaring that donkey had you (or something along those lines). It was too funny watching a 10 year old get all kinds of excited over his pastor getting bucked off a donkey. And yes, I would say the owner of the donkeys saw you coming and had the perfect donkey in that last game. I hope you're not too sore this a.m. my friend!
I haven't had a chance to upload my videos yet, the quality isn't too good anyway because I took it with my cell phone (my battery went kaput on my camera).
Anyway, thanks for being such a good sport. The crowd (and the boys) thought it was the coolest!
What a talented son-in-law we have! Who knew that we were gaining a donkey whisperer, not just a son? I'm glad you made it through the game relatively unscathed. If you do that again, we'll have to come see it live! Love you both.
I bet your padonkeydonk hurts after riding that donkey! I wish we could have been there. Only you, Jared, could pull off something like that (and do it well!).
So funny!! How I wish I could have been there! Thanks for posting the videos! Shawnah
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