Brandon Jefferson (Flower Mound, Texas/Lewisville H.S.) was the 2014 NCAA Division II national player of the year and led MSU Denver to the NCAA tournament all four of his years, including the three regional championships. He will be contributing to GoMetroState.com periodically with updates about his experiences playing for one of the top professional teams in Europe, KTP in Kotka, Finland. Jefferson graduated from MSU Denver in 2014 with a bachelor's degree in sport industry operations.]

Here is a link to Jefferson's first blog

Here is a link to Jefferson's second blog

October 7
Weather has been pretty good since I've been here. Been between 14-18 degrees Celsius everyday. If you don't know what that is in Fahrenheit, look it up. When first got here, had to learn Celsius also. Today was the last day the sun would be out. Rest of the week will be rainy, but that's better than snow! 

We have a game tomorrow and before practice we watched film and went over personnel. Recognized a player from college. He went to Winona State. We played them twice and beat them my sophomore and junior year. He's their starting point guard. Will be a great match up and plus his team is our rival. In Finland, they call rivalries a "derby" game. They say you don't want to lose derby games especially on your home court. Entering a new rivalry is always exciting. It's like Metro State v. Mines. Game is always hyped up, but then again, it's just another game. No need to add extra pressure. Pressure should come from within the locker room to perform the best for your teammates and coaches. 

After film, our warm up for practice was playing indoor soccer. We scrimmaged each other for twenty min. If you know me, soccer was my first love growing up before basketball. Played soccer until my freshman year in high school. Played select or club soccer and was apart of the North Texas ODP team. Best players in the 91' class would travel and play other teams from different states. Still love to play and watch soccer. It's really the same as basketball if you know both games. 

After our warm up playing soccer, we rehearsed the schemes that our opponent wants to do and how we are going to take away those actions. The so called "scout team" was torching us and scoring on us and our big man and I got into a heated argument. If you're passionate, you're going to get into arguments with your teammates, but the key is dropping it and moving on. That's what made our teams at Metro State so good. We knew how to drop things as soon as we stepped off the court. 

After practice, went home and relaxed. Received text that a friend didn't believe in God. Don't want to get religious, but tried to help her to realize that God is alive. She's had many devastating things happen to her in life and gave up hope. It felt good to help a friend out and get her hope back. It was the highlight of my day. Suggested that she should check out the movie God's Not Dead. Great movie to watch if you're losing hope. Can't wait to get her feedback on how she feels after she watches the movie. 

Got a text from my basketball trainer from home in Dallas, Texas. He asked how everything was going here and told me that my younger brother (Marcus), my dad, and him had a conversation the other night with my brother. Marcus told them that I was his inspiration and motivation. Felt amazing to hear that. You never know the impact you can have on another person's life. Makes me want to go that much harder for him! Thought to myself for a little while and realized that I'm really doing this for myself, family, and the people close to me while doing it all under God. Every time I feel tired and lazy, I just remember who I'm doing this for and who is looking up to me. 

Jamal and I talk everyday and today we brought up if our teams played each other. Told him we would smack them by 25 easy. He changed the subject real quick to his team playing against Meechie's team. Him and Meech used to go at it back at Metro State in practice. One day after practice they had a one on one game that Coach Bahl orchestrated. The funniest game I've ever seen. 

Finished the night off with a the movie Turbo. Incredible movie about a snail. 
 
Song of the Day: New Edition- Can You Stand The Rain 
 
October 8
It's game day! We had shoot around in the morning where we went over the film of the opponent and got some shots up. The mood this morning felt right. Everyone was engaged and ready to go. Coach had a different demeanor as well. Knew it would be a good night if we executed the game plan.

Lamonte and I meet up to walk to the arena everyday and as we were walking to the game, he asked me if I had the right shooting shirt for warm ups. He pulled out a white one that I didn't bring. So I sprinted back to apartment to grab it. We had to be there at 5:15 and it was already 5:10. Come to find out, I had the right shooting shirt all along. It was raining too so I was kind of mad. Knew I had the right one too because the old shooting shirt they gave me was a night gown on me. It was a XXL. He was laughing when we met back up and all he had to say to me was my bad family. Couldn't really be mad at me because he was looking out for me. I was already sweating before we even got to the gym. 

The arena was packed out and you could feel the excitement in the air for this derby game. We jumped out on them from the get go. Our fans got into it and we were pumped up. We were firing on all cylinders. I even hit a floater lol it was ugly, but it went in. Coach Clark would be proud of me. We went into half time up by 7. The second half, we blew the game wide open. We led by as many as 23. We ended up winning the game by 13. 3-0 is a great way to start the season. We are setting the tone. We still have a lot to work on, but we are starting to get better chemistry. Got MVP of the game! God deserves all the credit in the world. He is giving me the strength to lead the team! Need to continue to stay humble and hungry to get better! Also need to get some of our players healthy. We have three people out with injuries. We are praying for speedy recoveries. 

They gave me another all you can eat wings certificate at one of our sponsors place! 

Finished the night off watching the Transformers: Age of Extinction with Mark Wahlberg. Great film! Also made some rice and chicken. My all time favorite.! 
 
Song of the Day: Chris Brown ft. Kendrick Lamar- Autumn Leaves 
 
October 9
Got up early to go to an elementary school with one of my teammates. We signed autographs and played with the kids. I realized that none of the kids had socks or shoes on. They were bare foot in the gym. They were wanting to get athlete's foot. They didn't care though. They just wanted to have a good time. We had first graders today and they had not learned English yet. When it was my turn to introduce myself, all I said was hello my name is Brandon Jefferson (Flower Mound, Texas/Lewisville H.S.). They all just stared at me because they didn't understand what was being said. Then Heli, the  team mom,  had to say it in Finnish and then all the kids were like "ooooooh" lol

We started off playing tag with them. Then we broke them up and my station was ball handling. They couldn't understand English so I had to demonstrate everything. No words at all. The kids had a great time and that's what it's all about! 

Afterward, went to the arena to get a lift in and met this man named Pente, but he told me to call him Peter because he said that is the closest name in America. He as in his early 30's. He told me that he had been on YouTube looking at different American ways to lift and the difference between kilos and pounds. I was an expert now when it came to converting kilos to pounds now lol he was very interested in the American way to lift. He also asked me about nutrition and what he should eat before he goes to work out in the morning. He said he feels heavy when he eats a breakfast before working out. I'm no nutritionist, but told him that I don't eat breakfast before working our or practice in the morning. They say it's not good to skip breakfast but I feel better during the workout. He was happy when I said that because he wants to start skipping breakfast too. His face lit up. Told me that he would just wait till after working out to eat protein and have a big meal. He told me that he was thankful for us meeting. Peter was a great guy. 

Marco Cummings, a writer for Mile High Sports Magazine, emailed me for a story on Metro State basketball. One of the aspects he's exploring is the opportunities Metro State has given me for after college. 
He also asked these questions:

What was the summer league experience like?
How is the experience playing abroad. What do you like about it and what is drastically different?
How did the coaches at Metro prepare you to play at the next level?
Did Patrick Mutombo  play any role in your career as a role model, coach or otherwise?
What originally attracted you to Metro and how is the program different from others in College Basketball?
What kind of teammate was Mitch McCarron (Brisbane, Australia/Genesis Christian College)  and how do you see him filling the leadership role this season. How would you describe his skill set ?

The summer league experience for me was huge. God is good! Want to thank the Denver Nuggets for giving me an opportunity to be apart of that! It was a great learning experience for me as well. Learned what it really takes to play at the next level and be successful. Didn't take any negative things from the experience at all. Also showed that it doesn't matter what school you went to, if you can play, they will find you.! 
 
The experience playing in Finland has been good so far. Realized this is an once in a lifetime opportunity and that I need to make the most of it everyday while I'm here traveling all over Europe. The drastic change has been the time difference. We are 8 hours ahead of Dallas time and 9 hours ahead of Denver time. 
 
The coaches at Metro deserve a lot of credit for getting me ready for the next level. They instilled work ethic in me. The main things they taught me were being accountable for my actions, being responsible for my decisions, and always have good character. They taught me that basketball is the teacher of life. They would bring in articles and stories that would get us better. Want to thank Coach Clark, Coach Wall, Coach Bahl and Coach Harris from the bottom of my heart.
 
Patrick Mutombo played a key role in my career at Metro. Seen all his accolades and achievements and I wanted that also! Seen his picture in our locker room and on the hall of fame wall everyday and I envied that! He's taught me a lot on the court, but off the court he's taught me how to conduct myself. Always look presentable and show good manners. Showed me how to be a professional! 
 
Knew nothing about Metro State before Coach Clark contacted me. When I visited Metro, seen how bought in the coaching staff there was. Really Coach Clark is the one who attracted me there. He has truly become my role model. He's always been there for me through the good and the bad. We have a father-son relationship. He has taught me a lot on the court, but off the court, he taught me how to become a man.

The program is different because it truly started from the bottom and was built up by great people. Honor, Pride , and Tradition are the three words that are in the locker room and that's really what sums up the program. It's a championship program with high expectations every year! 
 
Mitchell McCarron is one of the most versatile players I've ever been around and played with. He can really do it all and he is a unselfish player. Mitch is a guy that everyone likes as well. He does the right things on and off the court and that's what a team needs in their leader. Know he will step into the leadership role with no problems. He also has Nick Kay to help him as well. Nick is a great player that can bring multiple things to the team. He's a hard worker and will lead by example! Both guys will have the teams best interest and go to battle for the team everyday!
 
Song of the Day: Trey Songz- Gotta Go
 
October 11
Since we were off today and had no game, coach had us do a conditioning test. The three Americans had the bike test today and everyone else did a pool test. 

The bike test was called the Cycle Ergometer. It is a stationary bicycle machine used to measure the power output from the rpm and the resistance to pedaling. The team doctor took our height in centimeters and weight in kilograms. My height in centimeter is 175 and weight in kilos was 77. This test was used to see how fit we were. He broke "fit" into three parts: how fast could we recover, if we got stronger during the 4th period, and reduced injuries. 

We had to always pedal between 70-80 rpm. 
Had to continue until total exhaustion.
The end result had to be greater than 50 ml/kg/min for KTP Basket.
Every two min, pedaling became harder.

He told us we should be past 15 min and when it got to 20 min, that's when it really started to test our endurance. I only made it to 14 min and 15 seconds, but my end result was 53. Was the first one to stop but my end result was higher than the other Americans. They are taller and weigh more than I do so that had a lot to do with it. 

This was a tough test to see where my fitness is at and how much more I can push myself to get into better shape. They told us we will be doing the same test after Christmas break, but for us Americans, the pool test is next and I can't swim!! lol
Afterward, we went to check out our women's team. They come and support us so it's only right to watch them perform. We've became close with the three American girls on the team. They always trying to critique us after our games. If we get crossed up during our game or getting embarrassed by the person we were guarding, they will definitely let us know after the game. Now we have the opportunity to do that to them. It's all in the name of love. We all want to see each other succeed and win games. They won their game by 25. They are 1-1 now. They had a strong performance. Jasmine, one of the American girls on the team, missed a couple free throws so I was on her about it afterward. I still remember when I missed the one in one free throw in the end that could have put that game away in the national championship against Drury in college at Metro State my junior year. That has been in the back of my mind ever since, so I've been practicing free throws more and more. It fuels me so when I get another chance to put a game away, I'll deliver. Coach Clark always told me to use failure as a stepping stone to succeed the next time. Never be afraid to fail and everything you do, do it with confidence. Joshua 1:9 and 1 Chronicles 28:20 are always in my head when I began to second guess myself. Always remain confident and know the God is with you. 
 
Song of the Day: Chris Brown ft. Usher & Rick Ross- New Flame

October 12
Got a lot of much needed sleep today. Sunday is a day of rest. When woke up, walked up the street to the grocery store. Here in Finland, you have to pay extra for the big grocery bags. Decided that I didn't need one and took two little bags. As I'm walking home, both of my bags ripped through the bottom and all the groceries fell out. Reminded me of what happened on the movie Home Alone. Learned my lesson: stop being cheap and pay for those extra big bags. Was walking down the street with two ripped bags with grocery cradled in my arms and people staring at me. I'm giving everyone the "what's up" head nod as they are looking at me like this is normal what I'm doing. Like yes, we do this in America folks lol

Watched Joel Osteen and immediately changed my spirit. Today, his message was about Prepared Blessings. 

Psalms 31:19 says, "God has blessings stored up for those that love the Lord."

It's a message built to enhance the faith in your heart to step into new blessings just for your life. 

Here are some if the notes I took from the message:
 
Prepared Blessings 
. When God laid out the plans for your life, he laid out the right people to be in your life
. God has prepared blessings for us. He is working behind the scenes for us 
. At the right time, God will bring you the blessing
. In your garden, you won't lack anything you need
. God aligns the right people, He puts you into the right blessings to receive your prepared blessing
. Because you love the Lord, God is going to bring you into your blessings 
. God is not limited by your circumstances, when He breathed life into you, he has every intention to give you your blessings 
. Just because people write you off, God doesn't write you off. 
. The blessing God has put on you will make up any curse on you. His blessing will cause you to step into the fullness of your blessing 
. You don't have to worry about someone else getting your blessing, the things prepared for you won't be given to anyone else. When it's your time to be blessed, no one else will take it from you
. What's destined to be yours, no one else can have
. God has you covered, nobody will get what belongs to you
. God has the right things and breaks lined up for you
. There is a place where God has commanded you to be blessed 
. The real question is, will we do what is required to receive our blessings?
. You may be lonely and difficult for a period of time, but God will bring you to light 
. Leave the worry, the fear, the resentment, but we have to be willing to leave our comfort zone and take the leap of faith 
. Your place of blessing can change
. Don't hold onto the old when you know God is bringing you into the new
. When you do what God asks you do to; God will put good breaks to find you, good things will overflow you
. Our blessings have our names on it. Stay in faith
 
It's up to us to take the leap of faith and get out of our comfort zones to receive what God has in store for us.
 
Song of the Day: Twista ft. Faith Evans- Hope

October 13
On the way to practice, Lamonte and I were talking about the past weekend and the events that took place. He asked me if Jasmine (American girl on the women's team) had texted me early yesterday morning and told him yes she did but I was sleeping so didn't reply till later. He said yeah me too, I was passed out so didn't get back to her late yesterday. He told me that early Sunday morning she texted him saying she was super scared because there was a drunk guy that climbed up to her balcony and was knocking on her window. He was talking through the window saying this is where I live and to to let him in. Jasmine said you don't live here. He said well can I get in because my friends took the ladder. Jasmine lives on the fourth floor. Lamonte and I were laughing but we know that isn't cool. The guy was drunk and his friends left him out there. That couldn't have been the first time he climbed up to someone's window. The sun was already out Jasmine told Lamonte so it had to be a joke we thought. But no matter if it was a joke or not, that's not cool. He had to have been super faded to pull some craziness like that. We are glad she has a roommate and everything was okay with them. 

After practice, I tried to heat up some left over food from the past couple nights and my microwave wasn't even heating. Had to stick the food in the oven. That's old school right there. 

Talked to Jamal for a little bit. Told me that he missed the game winning shot in his game this past Saturday. They were up 10 with five min to play. Told me they blew it. The little things caught up to them like missed block outs, missed free throws, and turnovers. That's all the things the coaches at Metro would preach to us day in and day out. That's the recipe for disaster at the end of games. He told me that he missed a floater and then he got the ball back with two seconds left and shot a three and missed. Told him don't even worry about it man. You had the courage to step up for the team and take the game winner. They believe in you. We all miss, just go back to the gym and practice those two shots you missed! Learn from the game and make sure next time, y'all close out the game.

It's good to have friends from college that you still keep in contact with. Metro State basketball wasn't just a team, we are a brotherhood that wants to see each and everyone of us succeed whether it's playing ball or in the business world. Gained some lifetime friends from the basketball program and want to thank all the coaches that brought that family culture to us. Metro State has truly changed my life and changed the way I look at things now. 

Want to thank Dr. Jordan and his wife Ruthie, Joan McDermott, Dr. Liz Friot, Elaine Becks (my mentor ??), John Kietzmann, Steph Begley, Scott Groom, Andy Schlichting, Eric Lansing, Evan Tynan and all the coaches in the admin building. Have played a big part in my life.

Want to thank Professor Duber-Smith, Dr. Colles, Professor Sherwood, and Dr. Nicole Vowles. Y'all played a huge role in my academics! 

The coaches at Metro have played the biggest role in molding me into the man I am today. They all stuck with me. Like to thank them for accepting me into their families. Each coach brought something different to the table that I respected. Can go on and on about them and what they've done for me.

Also want to thank all of our basketball mentors who took time out of their busy schedules to be there for us. Joe Q has played a big role also. Never told him this, but his story about his life has motivated me everyday and shown me the great works God can do in people's lives. Phil Foster and his wife played huge roles with the basketball program as well! Selfless people they are. Going to miss seeing him on our road trips and making us laugh at breakfast in the hotels. Also the parents that would come to our games and support us. They didn't even have a son on the team. They were always there to cheer us on and cook us home cooked meals. 

Like to thank Vince and Joe also. They took us on our hikes each year. We hated them lol, but we knew it was tradition. Thanks for all you've done to the program! Also to the mail man that would come into the basketball office a couple times a week and talk to me. Never knew your name but you made an impact on me. 

Joe Arcese and his wife Sue. You saved Metro athletics. People don't know what you've done behind the scenes! Keep fighting! I'm praying for you!! 

Even met a janitor that I called "juice". He helped me in my transformation over the four years at Metro. He attended all the games at home and critiqued me on what I need to improve on. 

Want to thank all my people at The Regency Student Housing that have been there for me my four years at Metro. Made my living a lot better. 

All the good friendships and connections I've made at school. Want to thank my man Alec Parmenter for all he's done for me. If you don't know him, he's a great guy to get to know!

Last but not least, want to thank Rick for all he has done for me. Had him in some of my classes. He has helped me more than anyone could imagine. If you're reading this Rick, hope you're doing good my man. We lost touch, but God bless. 

Last, would like to thank the people that have been there for me since day one. The people I've taken for granted. The people that has always been there for me through the ups and downs at metro. The disappointments/heartbreaks and still have stayed by my side. Also to the person that would keep it real with me after basketball games and tell me how I really played and not beat around the bush! Just want to let you know it means a lot to me and I say thank you. 

Want to thank you all again from the bottom of my heart. 

Finished the day off watching Money Talks. A classic movie with Chris Tucker and Charlie Sheen. 
 
Song of the Day: Drake- Connect

October 14
Woke up early thinking the package my momma sent me would come at 8am. Never heard the doorbell ring. Had practice too in the morning so I couldn't wait around for it. Thought I would miss when the mail man came and didn't want the package just outside my apartment. After practice, I rushed home to see if the package would be outside my door and it wasn't there. Figured I had missed the mail man. As soon as I get on the toilet to drop the kids off at the pool, the doorbell rings. Rushed to door and it was him. My package was finally here! It had 60 Scooby Doo fruit snacks and 50 Gatorade Whey Protein Bars in it. Cookies and Créme are the best protein bars Gatorade makes! But if you know me, my true love is fruit snacks. Put all the fruit snacks in the fridge. Thank you momma! You're the best!! 

Today we had scout at practice since we have a game tomorrow. All the coaches have been hyped about this particular game for a while now! We are playing the team's old coach. He coached at KTP for the past 3 seasons. He announced he was leaving the team last year before the playoffs even started. He also took two of KTP players with him. A big man and a wing man. He coached KTP two years ago when they went to the finals in the league. All of our Finnish players now in the team played for this coach as well. Also, our current head coach now used to coach that team back when he was 26 years old and they fired him after nine games. They were 5-4 and they fired him. So all the coaches are ready for this game.

A local reporter for the Kotka, Finland newspaper interviewed me after practice. He asked questions about how I like it up here so far and what tomorrow's game means to everyone in Kotka. Asked about the Denver Nuggets also. He brought up the old point guard of the team last year. People have been comparing him and I to each other. Told the reporter that I really don't care about the point guard last year and that I'm here this year to get better each and every day and help the team reach new heights. The reporter told me that this is a special game that all of Kotka is ready to see!

Was on the Internet looking around and came across this story about Kevin Hart and his mother before she passed away. It was an interview Kevin had with Oprah Winfrey. It's an incredible and clever story! Only two minutes long. Here's the link to view it.

http://youtu.be/pSN8k8mRJKU
 
Song of the Day: John Legend- A Million

October 15
Got a text from Dr. Liz Friot as I'm getting ready for the game tonight. She was sitting at the men's first official practice at Metro State! Remember those first practices and the excitement that the season was finally here. Some of my favorite memories of practice is when Coach Clark would be getting onto someone on the team for doing something dumb and I would look at Steph and DeShawn and they would be laughing and shaking their heads. Good luck this season fellas. You know I'll be keeping up with y'all! 

Also got a notification from a friend on Twitter thanking me for introducing her to the Joel Osteen app. She said it's made a huge impact on her life the last few months! That made my day! 

Both teams came into tonight's game undefeated on the season. They were 4-0 and us 3-0. The crowd was hyped for this game! Both teams came out firing. We had the lead the whole game but they were hanging around trying to steal it at the end. In the first half, our big man from America led us. He was dominating the paint. He was ready for the challenge. We went into half leading by 7. I didn't do anything the first half to help the team. In the second half, there really wasn't any defense being played. Both teams were scoring at will. The game got a little chippy as well. The ref told me she was going to give me tech for flopping lol wanted to tell her that I've been flopping since high school and that its a habit. Got crossed up in the third quarter of the game and as I got mixed up, happened to look at Lamonte and he was laughing lol We got the big stop at the end and won the game by 3. I was named the MVP of the game. Got another all you can eat wings at one of our sponsors place! Gave the certificate to our big man Kenneth though. He set the tone for the whole game in the first quarter and he deserved it to me. You know you have a solid tea, when there isn't any egos and selfishness. Each player loves to see the nest succeed! God deserves all the credit. 4-0 now on the season. Have to continue to get better and it starts in practice. 
 
Song of the Day: Drake ft. lil Wayne- Ransom 

October 16
Jamal sent me this article about a girl in college that will never get to play the game she loved, but never worried about her own situation and kept a great attitude. Sad but great read! Makes us be appreciative for what we have. 
http://m.local12.com/news/One_last_game?mobileredirect=true
 
My Kobe's ripped today during practice. Sad sad sad day. All is well though! Shoes have been through a lot of battles on the court.! I'll see if I can super glue them back together though lol
Finished the night off watching the Fab 5 Documentary. The Fab 5 changed the complexion of college basketball forever. 
 
Song of the Day: J. Cole- Nobody's Perfect 

October 17
Today, the other two Americans and I went to a local elementary school for their international day. We introduced ourselves and the kids asked us questions. Questions like how do we like it in Finland so far, our hobbies off the court, the weirdest thing so far in Finland that we've seen. I answered the weirdest thing and told them that McDonald's not having a dollar menu was weird and them not having pancakes on the breakfast menu lol The teachers and kids were laughing. 

Lamonte and Kenneth did a dunk contest for them and I shot 3's of course because when I tried to dunk on the eight foot rim, I got hung. Then they had me play one on one against three of the kids. They all scored on me easily and then talked mess in Finnish to me afterward lol When it was my turn, I went and dunked on them. Showed no mercy. 

Afterward, we signed autographs and took pictures with them. The principle told us that we made their day and that's what it's all about. We had a great time as well. It's always better to give than receive.

We got what we deserved tonight. Lost by one. We disrespected the game of basketball tonight. We went through the motions and the team got us. Give all the credit to our opponent though. They came in more hungrier and took it to us. We let them hang around and hang around and they stole it at the end. A team with confidence is very hard to beat. We thought we would just roll right over them. We weren't executing on both ends on the court. We really disrespected the game tonight and when we do that, we get the bad result. We need to learn though. Can't take anyone for granted. We know what we need to work on and get better at. I missed the game winning jumper. Same pull up shot I've been taking my whole life. It's crazy because Jamal just told me the other day that he missed the game winning jumper for his team also. How it goes sometimes. All is well though. This is an early wake up call for our team. We can't use the excuse that we were tired from Wednesday night's game. How we bounce back from this loss will determine what type of team we are. We will refocus and go back to work. Was just talking the other day about free throws and I missed two tonight and lost by one. We shot 60% from the free throw line as a team. 40% from the field also. It starts in practice. Our practices haven't been very good and it caught up to us tonight. We will get right and re dedicate ourselves to this game we love. It's only one game. We are 4-1 now. Plenty more to go! God is good! 
 
Song of the Day: Chris Brown- Life Itself

October 19
Finished watching Big Daddy this morning. The old Adam Sandler movies are all classics! Forgot how funny this movie really was. After this movie, I watched Heaven Is for Real. It's based on a true story about a pastor who has to work up the courage to tell his son's incredible life changing story to the world. This movie was great! Would definitely recommend this movie to everyone! It's also a book. It's 2010 New York Times best selling Christian book written by the father. It is a must see. Will have you at the edge of your seat. My momma even said it's an excellent book to read.

Heli, our team mom, invited me to her son's basketball game. They played in the arena where we play at. They have better warm up music than we have. They play Bruno Mars before our games. There's nothing wrong with Bruno, but we are trying to win a basketball game, not get our ex girlfriends back lol there warm up music was not edited at all. All the rap songs said every cuss word. As each cuss word was said, I would look around the arena to see if any heard it or caught on to what these rappers were saying. Everyone was just carrying on with their own conversations. They ended up winning by 30 points. It was a good team effort!

Finished the night watching Joel Osteen. The two sermons I watched were about showing honor and finishing grace. Here are my notes:
 
Showing honor
. When you show honor, there is a commanded blessing put back into your life
. Respect authority
. Anytime you show honor, You receive favor
. You will never receive what you aren't willing to give 
. God's power is directly linked to showing honor 
. All will be well with you if you show honor
. Honor should start in our own families/homes
. Give honor to whom honor is due
. No person gets to where they are by theirselves 
. Develop a culture of honor within our families
. Showing honor is a sign of strength
. The more respect you show, the more respect you'll have
. Where there is honor, people will get along 
. It's an act of honor to pray for someone
. A special blessing comes from honoring your parents 
. In order to show honor, we need to swallow our pride 
. The little acts of dishonor that brings division
. 1 Peter 3:7
. If we show more honor, a prayer will be answered/a breakthrough will happen
. When we honor people, we are ultimately honoring God
. Set out to honor someone this week
. Go out of our way to show honor and all will be well
 
Finishing Grace
. Starting is easy, finishing is what's difficult
. Shake off the self pity and keep moving forward in faith 
. Can do all things through Christ
. When you should have got weaker, you got stronger
. God didn't bring you this far to leave you
. Life may put you down, but God will push you back up
. The enemy doesn't fight people who are going the wrong way. He throws obstacles at people who are moving forward
. When the going gets tough, dig your heels in and keep moving forward
. God has strength in reserve for you
. The closer you get to your destiny, the tougher the battles will come
. Nothing you are facing is a surprise to God
. People may try to stop you, but finishing grace will come
. Quit focusing on who is against you, God has the final say
. No bad break can keep us from our destiny 
. Keep your fire burning and passion in your heart
. God didn't breathe His life into you to start the race, but to finish the race 
 
Song of the Day: Drake- How About Now
Drake is the best rapper right now with J. Cole right behind him