Two years ago Oakland Baptist Church opened it's Christian Life Center. It is complex that houses new offices for the church staff, an expanded church kitchen, a gymnasium, a weight and exercise room, and a small room for parties and celebrations.
The gym floor is made mostly to play basketball. There are hoops mounted all around the perimeter of the court. There is also a volleyball net that can be set up so that half of the gym floor can be a volleyball court.
I'm not a basketball player at all. I never have been. I like volleyball but most of the games are pick up games with mostly young kids and it's usually not very organized.
I love playing table tennis. It's a fast paced game that requires concentration, quick reaction time, strategy, and technique.
Not having consistent access to a ping pong table for many years, I longed to be able have the fun I associated with playing the game. My cousin had his own table in his apartment basement in the early 80's.
So soon after the CLC opened I decided that it needed one more thing to be complete, a ping pong table. Motivated by the desire to play again, I offered to buy and donate one to the gym.
But at the time the specific future activities for the CLC were still not set in stone. My pastor suggested that adding table tennis to the gym's activity options should wait awhile.
Since then I have often thinking about addressing the subject of a ping pong table for the CLC again but have either: not had the means of donating one or didn't have the opportunity to talk seriously with one of the church staff about it. But I did make sure they all knew I wanted one.
At the end of last year I got the idea of putting together a talent show of some type (with my ventriloquist puppets and I playing the role of host and emcee) to raise the $300 to get a ping pong table for the CLC.
As I wrote yesterday, this past Saturday, Paula and I played cards with Mark and Patty (Mark is the associate pastor at our church). During the course of conversation I mentioned my fund raising idea to buy a ping pong table to Mark. He told me that the CLC already had one.
I was surprised to say the least. He said that he hadn't said anything to me because he thought I was the one who donated it.
At first I was a bit upset that I didn't know about it. I was sure I'd been vocal with enough people about how much I wanted to play ping pong again, that someone would have mentioned it.
I thought about it and soon accepted that not knowing about the table was just "one of those things" that happens in a church sometimes. Then I became excited about the fact that sitting in the equipment closet in the gym at my church is a PING PONG TABLE!!!
Last Tuesday, I got the chance to go and get back into my favorite table game. I had no opponent to play against. Then I realized that at that point, I just needed to become familiar with the logistics and flow of the game, again. I went to the gym and set up the table.
I played off the upright side of the table for about an hour. If you take away the time I spent chasing the ball across the gym I probably played for about 45 minutes.
I had a lot of fun and it's a great workout; but it can be a bit monotonous. I'm so thrilled to have a paddle back in my hand. But I need competition from an actual opponent. Or perhaps a group of opponents. I'm going to take what I initially considered a negative and turn it into a positive.
I'm going to become a herald for table tennis in Oakland Baptist Church. I'm going to let everyone know that the CLC has a ping pong table and it's open for fun. My first effort toward this goal is to organize a baby boomer table tennis tournament.
I'm going to start by getting permission to announce it in our church bulletin I'll let you know how it goes.
I love playing table tennis. It's a fast paced game that requires concentration, quick reaction time, strategy, and technique.
Not having consistent access to a ping pong table for many years, I longed to be able have the fun I associated with playing the game. My cousin had his own table in his apartment basement in the early 80's.
So soon after the CLC opened I decided that it needed one more thing to be complete, a ping pong table. Motivated by the desire to play again, I offered to buy and donate one to the gym.
But at the time the specific future activities for the CLC were still not set in stone. My pastor suggested that adding table tennis to the gym's activity options should wait awhile.
Since then I have often thinking about addressing the subject of a ping pong table for the CLC again but have either: not had the means of donating one or didn't have the opportunity to talk seriously with one of the church staff about it. But I did make sure they all knew I wanted one.
At the end of last year I got the idea of putting together a talent show of some type (with my ventriloquist puppets and I playing the role of host and emcee) to raise the $300 to get a ping pong table for the CLC.
As I wrote yesterday, this past Saturday, Paula and I played cards with Mark and Patty (Mark is the associate pastor at our church). During the course of conversation I mentioned my fund raising idea to buy a ping pong table to Mark. He told me that the CLC already had one.
I was surprised to say the least. He said that he hadn't said anything to me because he thought I was the one who donated it.
At first I was a bit upset that I didn't know about it. I was sure I'd been vocal with enough people about how much I wanted to play ping pong again, that someone would have mentioned it.
I thought about it and soon accepted that not knowing about the table was just "one of those things" that happens in a church sometimes. Then I became excited about the fact that sitting in the equipment closet in the gym at my church is a PING PONG TABLE!!!
Last Tuesday, I got the chance to go and get back into my favorite table game. I had no opponent to play against. Then I realized that at that point, I just needed to become familiar with the logistics and flow of the game, again. I went to the gym and set up the table.
I played off the upright side of the table for about an hour. If you take away the time I spent chasing the ball across the gym I probably played for about 45 minutes.
I'm going to become a herald for table tennis in Oakland Baptist Church. I'm going to let everyone know that the CLC has a ping pong table and it's open for fun. My first effort toward this goal is to organize a baby boomer table tennis tournament.
I'm going to start by getting permission to announce it in our church bulletin I'll let you know how it goes.
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