Fruit for My Seed

Copyright © 2015 Lorenzo Keeler.

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Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-6330-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-6331-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-6332-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014922324

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/20/2015

Contents

Dedication

Fruit for My Seed

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

The Greatest Gift/Conclusion

Dedication

Dedicated to Lorenzo Karon Keeler jr, Kamari Azariah Keeler and all of my nieces and nephews.

Fruit for My Seed

T oday is Sunday, December 2, 2012. It is a beautiful day out here in Victoria, Mexico. It is the perfect day and weather to be out at the local weekly street fair. Rather, today I find myself sitting in my room, reflecting on my past, thinking about the present, and wondering what the future has in store for our family.

I recently returned today from a weekend of hoops that began in Mexico City and ended in Acapulco, Mexico. We concluded our two game road trip last night in Acapulco as we pulled out a hard fought victory over the Guerreros of Chilpancingo. After traveling on our team bus all night and day, we returned safely back here just a few hours ago. Although I am pleased and happy with this past weekend’s results on the hardwood, nothing makes me smile as each day comes and goes, closer to the day I will finally get to hug, kiss, and hold you in my arms. I think about you all the time, son. In just a few short weeks, you will come into this world and be here with your family. It is a privilege and a blessing to be a father. I want to make you this promise now Lorenzo Karon Keeler Jr, I will strive to be the best provider, role model, motivator, friend, and father I can possibly be. I will always be here for you as long as I am living and breathing on this earth.

I once heard a man say, There is no manual on how to be a good father. When I heard this a few years ago it struck me to be true. As I continued on this journey of life and went through trials, learned lessons, and gained knowledge over the last year, I no longer believe that statement to be true. I have gone through my fair share of ups, downs, tribulations, hurts, disappointments, and failures. It was through these challenges that I finally picked up a very exclusive manual and began to learn the lessons, knowledge, and wisdom it had to offer.

In PROVERBS 23:12, God’s Word tells us, Apply your heart to instruction, And your ears to words of knowledge. It all began with me taking action and applying my heart to the word of the Lord. Now I know without a doubt in my mind that this manual, also known as the Holy Bible, is the ONLY road map to peace and an abundant, purposed life. The Bible can lead, guide, and teach every human being on earth how to become GREAT fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, etc. PROVERBS 19:8 says, He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; He who keeps understanding will find good.

Over the last year, I have gained much wisdom and knowledge from God’s mighty word. I realized if I just apply His counsel to my life, it will change my life for the better. PROVERBS 24:3-4, Through wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established; By knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. Applying the Lord’s counsel to our life is beneficial to us here on earth and qualifies us for eternal life in Heaven with our Heavenly Father. I pray I will be on this earth with you for many years to come. I pray I will be here from watching you take your first steps to witnessing you exchange vows with your beautiful bride on your wedding day. The fact of the matter is we do not know when it is our time to depart from this earth. Only God knows when our time is up and when our day is over. I could be here fifty more years or fifty more minutes. Because I do not know, I want to leave you with my story. It is through these events that I have learned valuable lessons. It is through these events that I realized true peace and happiness cannot be found in anything this world has to offer. I want you to be aware of the choices I made and the consequences that followed.

At 27 years old, many may say I am young and have much more living to do. Yes, I am young and I pray I have many more years ahead. However, I am thankful to be alive and in my right mind today. Believe me when I tell you, son, I once traveled on a path full of dangerous activities. I willfully participated in a life of sin and I could have been dead a long time ago. I am thankful for our Heavenly Father’s love, care, mercy, faithfulness, and protection even when I did not deserve it. I will be the first to admit I do not have it all figured out. As a matter a fact, I am still learning and growing daily. However, I do know one thing for certain. Without God in our life and the Holy Spirit leading and guiding us, we are not living.

PROVERBS 9:10-12 tells us, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you. If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you will bear it alone.

Chapter One

I was born on November 5 th , 1985 in Dallas, Texas. It seemed from the day I was brought into this world, man’s eyes already had their doubts and opinions about me. I was born earlier than my actual due date. The Doctors told my parents I would develop at a slower pace than the average child. They said I would struggle in school, be less intelligent, and most likely would not excel in sports. You see lil Zo, man counted me out from day one but God had other plans for me.

Despite what they said about my intelligence and academic abilities, God has always elevated me in my studies and blessed me to succeed in the classroom. As I write this I am just a few courses away from receiving my Bachelor’s degree in Ethnic Studies from California Polytechnic University. I have won academic scholarships and awards since middle school. During seventh grade I was one of thirty students out of 1,000 throughout San Diego County selected to win the Padres Scholarship award. We were honored and recognized on the field with the San Diego Padre players before their game.

The Doctors said I would not excel in sports but God has blessed me with the talent to play basketball since I was a young boy. I remember scoring forty plus points in games as I played for Coach John Snyder at Del Dios middle school. Coach Snyder constantly motivated me and spent a lot of time teaching me the game. We did not lose a single game my entire seventh and eighth grade year. I went on to play varsity basketball as a freshman in high school and excelled immediately. During my junior year of high school I led my team to our first C.I.F championship in school history after making a three pointer with 0.5 seconds remaining on the clock to lift us to victory.

The following year I led us to our second C.I.F championship title in a row and was voted most valuable player in both championship games as well. I won the Valley League player of the year honor multiple times throughout my high school campaign and was voted North County, San Diego player of the year my senior year. I was one of six players from California to be invited to the top 100 players’ camp in Richmond, Virginia in 2003. Other players I participated with and against at this camp the same year were: Jordan Farmar (Los Angeles Lakers), Dwight Howard (Houston Rockets), Rajon Rondo (Boston Celtics), Daniel Gibson (Cleveland Cavs), J.R Smith (New York Knicks), Glen Big Baby Davis (Orlando Magic), and Aaron Afflalo (Orlando Magic) just to name a few. Many of these players are superstars in the N.B.A today.

I went on to eventually sign a full athletic scholarship to play ball at Cal Polytechnic University, a division one university located in San Luis Obispo, CA. I had a good college career at Cal Poly and was one of six athletes in the entire Big West conference to earn First Team All-Big West honors my senior year. This honor followed averaging eighteen points a game in conference play and sixteen points overall that year under the great wisdom, leadership and coaching of Joe Callero. Coach Callero’s knowledge of the game and player personnel put us all in position to be successful. We were able to utilize our strengths and abilities while playing within his system. He is awesome person, mentor, coach, and it was a blessing to learn from him both on and off the floor. I am currently number twelve on the all-time scoring list at Cal Poly with 1,157 points scored in just three seasons of competition. In January of 2010, I was the ESPN top performer of the night after torching U.C Irvine for a career high 38 points to lead my team to victory. In February of the same year, I tied a Cal Poly school record with sixteen free throws in a single contest against the University of Hawaii.

The reason I am sharing this with you, son, is not to brag or boast about myself. At the end of the day, without God’s hand in my life, I would not have been able to accomplish anything. I am telling you this because it is important you always remember God is the only One who has the authority to speak on behalf of your future and destiny. Despite what any one may say about you, it is what God says that matters. The path He has planned for you is what will come to pass as long as you open your heart and ears to His word and obey His instructions. Right now you might be reading this and saying to yourself, My Pops is the man. though you are absolutely right, son, life is far more than just basketball. Our purpose on this earth is far deeper than our jobs, careers, hobbies, etc. You will understand my meaning later, but even though on the court I had things figured out, in life I had it all wrong. I bumped my head time and time again thinking I had all the answers when in reality I had no clue.

Growing up on the west side of Escondido, CA, basketball and school consumed much of my life. Before we moved to the west side of town, the streets and shelters were home for us. Sometimes we stayed in the local Motel 6 for several nights and when the money was out, we even stayed at the local park. From Balboa Park in San Diego to Washington Parks in Escondido, that was home for us some nights. Your uncles were older than me and probably understood the severity of our situation. I was so young and unaware. For me, it was fun when we would sleep at the park. All night access to the swing and monkey bars was always ok with me. I did not have the slightest problem with it. I still remember the days when we would wash up and get ready in the local park bathroom before heading off to school.

After some time, God opened up some doors that allowed us to move into a house on the West side of town. This is where we grew up and called home for a while. From an early age I had a deep passion for hoops. My life consisted of school, homework, and then basketball for the remainder of the evening. Your uncles and I would be outside for hours playing ball in the front yard. Your Grandma bought us a basketball hoop for Christmas and that is where we spent majority of our time. Many of our friends from the neighborhood would come over and play with us as well. I really learned and developed my game from playing against your uncles and childhood friend’s right there on 626 west Tenth Street. I was fortunate to be able to join a local traveling team called Over the Top (O.T.T) coached by my all-time favorite coach, Chris Williams. I am very thankful for Coach Chris being there for me down through the years. He was a great mentor and really took me in as one of his own. He taught me so much about the game and built my confidence up. Coach was there for me both on and off the court. He looked out for me so much. Thank God for the traveling team because I was always gone on the weekends playing in tournaments which ultimately kept me busy and away from the trouble in the neighborhood.