Hooray for Selena

Meet Selena Waters. She's one of the wonderful kids in the youth group at our church. Selena is a senior at Abington Heights High School. She's also one of the best deacons we've ever had at First Presbyterian.

Last night she started with the varsity girl's basketball team. Her coach didn't think that it mattered that Selena was born with Down Syndrome. Just like her parents, he believed she should have an equal chance to be one of the gang.

The crowd roared when Selena hit her first shot during warmups. They went bananas when she scored the first basket of the game.

Her coach told the newspaper, "Winning basketball games is nothing compared to seeing the smile on her face tonight. And I've won over 400 games, and some big games. But to hear the people cheering for Selena Waters, you can't put that into words."

The coach for the opposing team brought his granddaughter to the game to meet Selena. She has Down Syndrome, too. He said, "I don't even know what the score was tonight, and I don't care. You witnessed something that is life changing. In my thousands of games as a player and a coach, this rates up there as one of the highlights of my career."

And what's the name of the other coach's granddaughter? Grace.

Here is a parable of God's love. The unearned love of God levels every playing field, declaring that God makes winners, not losers. Sometimes we see it. When we do, we spread the word.

You can read the news story by clicking here. Or you can click below and see the news clip. Either way, it was one of those "you had to be there" moments.