If you read my last entry you know that my 9 year old daughter Rebecca wanted to quit her basketball team because she was the only Caucasian person on the team. When we talked about it and she gave it some thought she agreed that she should give them a chance. So when my daughter went to her next basketball practice she made a point to introduce herself to a couple of the girls closer to her height, she complimented other girls about how good they were and even asked if they would show her some of the things they were doing.
Everyone was treating her with such respect and it really warmed my heart. I knew that they were not looking at this short little white girl who to be truthful has no game; they just saw a girl who wanted to learn to play basketball. During practice they took time to show her how to dribble and even helped her shoot from the free point line.
When she got in the car after practice I asked her how she thought it went and she was so excited. She said how happy she was that she did not give up and that we made her think about it before we let her quit. When I asked her what the difference between practices was she simply said I made a friend tonight.
I think that is such an important lesson that everyone could use to learn. You need to make an effort to get to know people who are coming into your life. She learned a valuable lesson too! She learned that she cannot just take a look and get an impression. You need to open yourself up to getting to know the new people who come in to your life.
She also learned a lesson that before she gets to quit anything she has to give me good reasons and then think about it before I allow her to quit anything and that I will not let her quit just because she is uncomfortable.