I HAVE to give fair warning on this post because you guys…it’s
a long one…and its in 3 parts…we probably should have just wrote a book
instead. WE, yes, WE. My amazing husband will be speaking to you guys too on
this one. What is this blog post? It is our testimony. It is our story of love,
faith, obedience, pain, frustration, brokenness, forgiveness, and FREEDOM!! So
lets get right to it.
2 years. It has been a full 2 years since our (what felt
like) horror began. 2 years ago our sweet baby boy was just born and we were
enjoying our time in Germany while Zo was playing basketball. He was playing
well and my fitness business was partially on hold while I enjoyed full time motherhood.
It was around the New Year when things started to get crazy basketball wise.
Our favorite coach and the guy that brought us to Germany
and helped out so much was fired. Now this wasn’t a shock to many, this happens
ALL the time in the basketball world but we were crushed. He really listened to
Zo, let him play his game; let him showcase what he was best at, all while
incorporating a team mentality. This was tough to say the least. Then a new
coach came and changed things up.
“Off the court we had, and still have a good relationship.
It was the situation that was rough and I think we both can look back now and
just accept that.” (Zo).
So, after a while of losing games the organization fired him
& we got yet another coach. It didn’t work out with him either and the
season came to an end. Zo had a small ankle injury towards the end of the
season and we had just switched agencies. The new agency urged Zo not to play
the final games and to just finish the season on the bench rehabbing.
For those not familiar with how it works I will explain a
little bit. You (the player) work with a licensed agent to get jobs and
contracts every year. The agent is extremely important, they are licensed
attorneys and they work for you on your behalf. They draw up the contracts and
they negotiate with the teams, they also make a good commission off your
contract deal.
Zo made the really hard decision to switch to a VERY large
agency. They have a lot of NBA players and a lot of really good overseas players
and he just decided he would try it out and see what different market offers we
would get. And I guess this really was the starting test of our FAITH.
Zo had a hard time playing the waiting game that summer, we
tried to be patient and understanding but just felt so uneasy. We would hear
from the agent, he would tell us offers, and Zo would say, “Yes, awesome lets
take this.” The agent would come back saying “I don’t think its enough, I don’t
think we should take it, you need more money, just wait, no rush.” We listened,
agreed, prayed, waited…waited…waited…waited. And then it just had to stop. One
night, around 1 am Zo couldn’t go to sleep.
“I don’t know what it was, I was just up. I was feeling
really uneasy and a job offer was on the table that I had to make a decision
about.”
The next morning, I woke up before Zo and Logan and was
drinking coffee watching the news. CNN had reported that around 1AM our time
there was a bombing that killed 150 people. A bomb? Where? In
the exact city, 2 miles from the gym of the team that Zo was to sign to play
at. (The decision had to be made in 2 hours). I didn’t even know Zo had been
awake that night but when he woke up I told him about the bombing and we both
looked at each other and decided no, we wouldn’t go. Zo didn’t know that in the
exact moments he was feeling uneasy, nauseous, nervous, etc. that a bomb was
going off where he was planning to go in the next 72 hours. This was an extremely
difficult decision for Zo as it was almost October and we hadn’t signed a
contract. (Usually we are signed in June or July).
Not only did he turn the job down but he turned the agent
down as well. That day we ended our contract with them and knew that God had
something else in store for us, and this wasn’t it. You see the agent wasn’t
the problem…it just wasn’t for Zo. My sweet husband has ALWAYS taken the humble
route; he has always taken the quiet congrats when he deserves big praises.
That’s just my sweet husband. He wanted to try the big leagues out. So we did.
But it wasn’t for us. The agency is a big one, Zo wasn’t “Lorenzo Williams, 9
year veteran, father of Logan, husband to Morgan, lives in Houston Texas, loves
the Dallas Cowboys, loves Jesus and seafood.” Zo was “player B on list 6 for
sometime next month, and maybe moving to slot R.” That’s not why Zo plays. It
is a job, and of course we are so very grateful, but it’s not JUST a job. It is
where our family spends 9 months out of the year, it’s where we raise our son,
and its where we have to ensure our safety & well being; and at this time
the agency wasn’t concerned with the same things we were.
Back to square 1 and ½ way into season 9 without a job. So
here, our FAITH was being tested so much and our MARRIAGE was too. We had to
stay strong and make hard decisions; we had to pour our hearts to Jesus more
than we ever had in our entire relationship. I had to trust Zo to lead our home
in the right direction and I had to trust his decisions moving forward. In
November, we headed back to Germany to our old team. The fans greeted our
return incredibly well and our sweet nanny Nina came back to us too. If you do
not have kids, I will put it like this. It is extremely difficult to find great
people besides family to care for your children; we were blessed with our sweet
Nina for 2 seasons. Not only was she amazing but Logan’s school was even more
incredible. Logan was so loved by the people of Bremerhaven, we all 3 were, I
will never forget that. The tears when we left will always be stained on my heart,
a piece of our life and Logan’s first moments of life were there and will
always be special to us.
God is good. He brought us back to the familiar, He brought
us back to that same team for ½ the season to show us “look son and daughter, I
have not left you.” It was not easy. Zo’s abilities and game were tested more
than they ever had been in 9 years. It was frustrating, tough, scary,
confusing, and stressful to say the least. At moments we cried out to God
asking if we made the right decision, was it just out of desperation we said
yes, what is our purpose here? Was this the right move?
But Zo and his agent agreed, this was it. For whatever the
reason there was always a little voice saying YES. So we listened.
And then April happened…. our NEW HOUSE happened. We knew
that the condo life was no longer an option but with the past 2 seasons of Zo’s
career, we weren’t sure a new house was the right answer either. But we prayed,
and we were introduced to an incredible financial/mortgage broker that just
really surpassed our expectations and when a roadblock hit he was there to move
it out of the way. I mean really---he worked miracles.
Then with the help of my amazing mom (the real estate guru)
and my best friend Kelli (the real estate agent guru) we found the perfect
house. Now let me tell you this story…
We were searching our local real estate guide for houses
daily. Every day, 9AM I was on the Internet searching. Every day we prayed that
God would lead us to the perfect house for our little family. One day while Zo
was napping I woke him out of his sleep and said, “This is it.” He took a look
and said he liked it and I was just completely in love. So I called Kelli and
she went to take a look and took videos and pictures. I was SOLD…still. She
suggested we put in an offer, it was Easter weekend and many people wouldn’t be
looking at houses so we could snag it. So we did, we put in an offer (lower
than asking price) and they immediately accepted! WHAT? Yes!! They did. My mom
immediately headed to the house for inspections and a million other things that
a “real estate eye” would know that we wouldn’t. I booked my flight home and knew
we had 10 days to decide on this house. I arrived home and then everything went
wrong!
The sellers tried their BEST to get out of our offer and
even came to us saying they wanted to cancel the contract and no longer sell
the home. We started to question day after day (on a time schedule) if this was
the right house. I ensured Zo that this was it. The prayers and answers were
crystal clear. This was OUR home.
And now we wait for Part 2 next week….
-Zo and Mo
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