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Families usually handle going back to school in two different ways- sadness about losing time with the kids or thankful for a reason to ship them off, or even both. Kidding, kind of. Either way, it can be a rough transition for you AND the kids. We have a few verses that we would like to share with you that should help ease the family back into the routine of going to school.
Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” We chose this one first because we think it may be the most helpful for both parents and kids. The kids are going into a new year at school with different classmates, different teachers and a harder curriculum that the previous year. Who could blame them for being anxious! Parents, sending your kiddos off into the world to face all of these things alone throughout the school day can obviously make you anxious as well. Understandable. But if we lift up these worries and reservations to our mighty God, he will take care of us and bring us peace. Give yourself and your family peace and present your concerns about the upcoming year as a family during prayer time. Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Even though there is understandable worries about the new school year, this does not mean that we can not go into all of these new experiences with strength. Parents, show your kids that with the Lord on their side, they should have the courage to face whatever may come at them. 1 Corinthians 16:14 “Do everything in love.” John 15:12 “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” We decided to group these two verses together because they mean something quite similar and both are equally beautiful. These seem so simple and sort of a “duh” moment, but we have to remember that school is challenging and sometimes… kids can be mean. We must stress to our children as they take on new endeavors and experience things out of our control to love like Jesus did; do everything with unconditional and abounding love. As we say goodbye to summer, we wish everyone the best of luck in welcoming in the new school year. We hope these verses help your family as much as ours. As always, you and your family are in our prayers. Daniels Family
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With everyone’s kids being so involved and busy with school, sports and whatever else they may be passionate about, it can be challenging to make sure all of your kiddos are staying plugged in at the church that your family attends. Everyone has different schedules so practices, games and rehearsals can seem to conflict with setting aside time to get to church. We know how hard this can be and how discouraging for you and your family it can be. Here are five ways to make sure your children stay active in their church:
1. Sunday school This seems like an obvious answer, but it is a struggle for more people than you would assume. After an entire week of non-stop activities with the kids, plus work and school, it is easy to use Sunday as a day to do absolutely… nothing. We think using Sunday as a day of rest is a great idea! After all, that is how God intended it. However, use Sunday as a day of rest AFTER you rangle all the kids up and get them to church. 2. Wednesday nights We do understand that Wednesday nights can be a little bit harder. Wednesdays are definitely the popular day to schedule things like basketball practice, piano lessons and dance class. Nonetheless, if you can make it, most churches have awesome programs that happen every Wednesday night for girls and boys. For example, some popular ones are GA and RA’s, Cubbies, or Youth Group. These are obviously geared more towards the kids rather than Sunday service, so it may even be a little easier to gather them up and go! 3. Choir Okay, we get it, this one is going to be challenging. This one is not for the faint of heart or those with kiddos that suffer from stage fright, but it could also be an amazing opportunity for some. Most churches nowadays still have a choir that performs on Sundays and holidays. If your child is someone who enjoys singing and entertaining, this is the perfect extra-curricular activity for them! 4. Church camp This may be the most fun part of church that kids get to enjoy. They look forward to it all year and it is the best part of their summer: CHURCH CAMP! Camp usually does cost a small amount of money, but the return is so worth it. For a week, children are immersed in faith and the scripture and truly learn what it means to live like Christ did. On top of that, they meet kiddos from all over the state or country from other churches and make lifelong best friends. You cannot beat the memories and experiences your children will make and have from summer church camp. 5. Vacation Bible School Vacation Bible School, or VBS, only caters to children up until they are about 12 years old, but is still a great opportunity for those with younger kids. VBS is a week long event held at the church, usually for half the day, that is themed and uses that theme to teach the campers all about what it means to be a Christian. Trust us, we understand that making time for IT ALL is hard, but God made you a parent for a reason… because you got this! No matter if you can manage to achieve all five options, or just a few, you are doing your children right by them and the Lord and that is something to be thankful for.  As most of you know, we held Antonio Daniels Basketball Camp last week, and what a blessing it was! The campers and staff had an unforgettable week learning the game of basketball and the value of teamwork, as well as what it is like to balance fun and hard work. When thinking of the week we just had, a specific bible verse comes to mind. “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17 Scripture speaks to our lives so well and Colossians 3:17 is no exception. We believe we are serving Christ through word and deed at camp, teaching our campers not only the game of basketball, but how to live through faith as well, with our words and actions. As we look at the second part of the scripture about giving thanks, that is exactly what we try to instill through camp. We want those around us to understand that nothing is possible without God and that we owe Him thanks in ALL things, for HE has made every single thing we love and enjoy about this life, possible. And after we give thanks and gratitude to our God, we must give gratitude to you guys, as well. To our campers, thank you for being AWESOME and making camp possible every year! Thank you to all of our selfless food sponsors that kept our campers happy, healthy and with a full tummy all week! To all the parents who trusted us to teach and serve their children, we love and appreciate you! We were overjoyed to share our love of fitness and faith with them and hope they learned as much as we did teaching them. After another successful year of Antonio Daniels Basketball Camp, we are humbled and incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve our community.  As camp continues and our campers continue to learn, they also continue to eat! Antonio Daniels Basketball Camp has been a wonderful experience this year and we are exciting to continue to provide our kids with healthy lunch options that fuel their hearts and bodies during the game of basketball.
Carrabba’s Italian Grill is another one of the sponsors that was gracious enough to feed our hungry, healthy campers. Carrabba’s was founded in 1986 by Johnny Carrabba and Damian Mandola in Houston, Texas, where the original Carrabba’s still stands. Richard Hernandez, owner of the San Antonio restaurant at 12507 I-10 W., started as a server and bartender and now owns his own franchise location. Hernandez says the best part about running his business is being able to care for people and the community. “We donate to a lot of different organizations and we promote from within giving our staff the opportunity to grow in our company,” Hernandez said. Hernandez is a devoted Spurs fan and said he participated in camps such as Antonio Daniels Basketball Camp all the time as a child. He is excited to serve our campers and will be providing penne pasta and homemade meat sauce with sourdough bread for lunch. “We will always be here to serve you and our community,” Hernandez said. Thank you, Richard and Carrabba’s, for being so giving and supporting our family, our vision and our campers. Sponsorships for lunches at Antonio Daniels Basketball Camp are one of the many factors that make our camp successful. When Gigi Alonzo, owner of WT Café, offered to sponsor lunch for our campers, we were delighted! Her familial values mirror ours and we are proud to have her as a sponsor.
WT Café started when a mom of three from Florida was not happy with her kids’ school lunches and wanted them to eat healthier meals. Alonzo has franchised in San Antonio for four years now and is located at 328 North Park Dr. Gigi learned to read labels for GMOs, preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, etc. and joined the health food movement. Alonzo says her favorite part about running her business is cooking in her kitchen and when students come by to tell her they enjoy her lunches. Alonzo is a big fan of the Spurs and is excited to support Antonio Daniels and her nephew, Cash. WT Café will be serving whole wheat spaghetti with meat sauce and a Greek yogurt Caesar salad. “I am fortunate to be able to give and even when money is tight for me, I know that $20 that I might spend on dinner out could mean a whole lot to someone else. So, I give whenever I’m able to,” Alonzo said. Thank you, Gigi, for taking your healthy recipes and providing nourishment for our campers. We are so grateful for your giving spirit and can’t wait to see you at camp! When choosing who will sponsor lunches at Antonio Daniels Basketball Camp, it is important to us to choose businesses that we feel reflect the same values we hold dear to our hearts. It is exciting to say that we did just that when Perico’s selflessly volunteered to feed our beloved campers.
Perico’s is a Mexican food restaurant with two locations at 10820 Bandera Rd. and 1439 E. Sonterra Blvd. Perico’s is a sweet story of a hard-working UTSA graduate and his love for his family. Russell Reyes, owner of Perico’s, said the name of his restaurant pays homage to both of his abuelas. “The ‘perico,’ aka parrot, reminds me of my abuelitas because they both had talking parrots when I was growing up,” Reyes said. “In 2002 we secured the land on Prue and Bandera Rd. People thought we were crazy opening a restaurant in that area of town. We opened that same year and the rest is history.” Reyes and Perico’s are excited to support and contribute to the next generation of athletes and live by their company Bible verse - 1 Peter 4:10. “Our company verse is ‘using our gifts to serve others,’ so giving to the community gives us the opportunity to use and share our God-given gifts with others,” Reyes said. Thank you so much, Russell and Perico’s, for serving your community and Antonio Daniels Basketball campers with love like Jesus. We look forward to seeing you at camp!  For every physically fit camper we have at Antonio Daniels Basketball Camp, we also want healthy campers. This is why it is so important to us to find healthy sponsors for our kids lunches at camp every day. When Zedric’s offered to sponsor a day of camp, it was a no-brainer!
Zedric’s offers healthy, chef-prepared meals for those on-the-go and in need of an easy alternative to cooking dinner. Zedric’s has been providing the San Antonio community with their nutritious, meal-prepped breakfast, lunch, snack and dinners for eight years and now serves three locations: Stone Oak Crossing, Quarry Crossing and the Colonnade. Thank goodness Head Chef and owner, Zach Lutton, realized food was his true passion. He attended the Culinary Institute of America in New York, moved back to San Antonio and realized the city was in need of fast, healthy options. With the help of his brother and mother, Zedric’s was born. According to Lutton, most of the Zedric’s team is from San Antonio and value how special the community is. “The Daniels family know that kids need to eat well-balanced meals to run basketball drills and play all day. It's not always easy to eat healthy while on-the-go. At Zedric's, we're all about making convenient food that's good for you but tastes good too,” Lutton said. “We’re excited to introduce kids and their parents to our nutrition-rich food that fuels the body to do the things kids love but is also easy for parents to prepare.” Campers will be served turkey wraps with a whole wheat tortilla, thin sliced roasted all natural turkey breast, sliced American cheese, sweet seedless grapes, Texas grown mandarin slices, and Zed’s famous Peanut Butter Chocolate Chew. We are so thankful for Zedric’s contribution to camp and know our campers will love them too! Sign up for their newsletter for coupons and special promotions here.  At Antonio Daniels Basketball Camp, we feed all of our campers that attend. We want to make sure they receive a meal that is going to keep their little bodies in great shape and full of energy for the activities they participate in while at camp. When we found out that Chick-fil-a would be sponsoring lunch for a day of camp, we were delighted! As most know, Chick-fil-a operates with values that closely mirror our own. The Alon Town Center Chick-fil-a location, at 10503 NW Military Hwy in San Antonio, will be the location that sponsors lunch. Ryan Roberts, owner of the Alon Town Center location, is excited to help out with camp and serve our kiddos. Roberts’ favorite aspect of running his business are the people and said he is most thankful for his team and leaders. “Antonio and his family are always in our restaurant eating and spending time together as a family,” Roberts said. “Those family values are so important and I know that those values are emphasized and instilled in the youths at the basketball camp. So we see this as a very worthwhile partnership that we are happy to be a part of.” Campers will get to enjoy the famous chicken sandwich at camp that day. Roberts said they love the positive impact they get to make when his restaurant serves its community. “By giving back to the community, we get to live out the vision of our founder, Truett Cathy, which is to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that has been entrusted to us,” Roberts said. “Getting to be this extension of Truett and the rest of the Chick-fil-A family in our area of San Antonio is very rewarding.” So thank you Ryan, not only for the delicious chicken sandwiches, but also for running a business that matches our beliefs and feeding our healthy, hungry campers with a servants heart. We will see you soon!  We all know what summer means: vacation. Vacation means food, fun and making tons of memories. Even though taking a trip is a time of relaxation and no worries, this does not mean you cannot practice your health and wellness habits just like at home. Why not continue to work on your vacay body during vacay, right? Here are five tips to help:
1. Airbnb versus a hotel. Some say this idea is the holy grail to staying healthy on vacation. When renting an Airbnb instead of a hotel, you will be in a house or an apartment with a full kitchen, so instead of eating at restaurants for every meal, you can prepare a few yourself. This controls what foods you are eating and your calorie intake for the day. 2. Get creative. Whether it means bringing a few small bands or balls from home, or simply using the open space of your hotel room, get creative and find a work out space. Find a simple fat-burning workout to follow on YouTube or maybe a relaxing yoga routine to make sure your health is just as good after vacation as it was before. 3. Use the time change to your advantage. For those who travel to a destination where they find themselves in a time change or struggling with jet-lag, use the early or late hours to get a workout in instead of tossing and turning in bed. This way, you burn your calories for the day and help your body to get back on a time schedule. 4. Ditch the taxi. While exploring the new city you have found yourself in, consider walking from place to place instead of calling a cab or an Uber. This way you are getting all of your steps in for the day and seeing absolutely every sight there is to take in on this new adventure. 5. Plan exercise into your agenda. Even though you might have your trip planned minute to minute, there are ways to incorporate exercise into all of the fun plans. For example, maybe include a scenic hike into the plans one day or visit a monument that keeps the entire group on their feet. With these tips, now you and your family can take on your vacation with no worries. It’s time to have a fun, healthy summer AND vacation! |
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AuthorsAntonio Daniels Archives
August 2018
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