Soccer Player in the Making

Soccer Player in the Making 

     I am now determined to be a pretty good soccer player. As I prepared for the day ahead of me, I asked the Lord to get me out of my comfort zone. Coming to Africa was definitely out of my comfort zone but I want to continue to grow everyday that I am here.  Obviously, this is a very new and different culture that I have entered and there are a lot of things that are not comfortable for me but I don't want to shy away from what's in front of me and miss out on great opportunities. So I asked the Lord to get me out of my comfort zone and I had no idea what the Lord had planned. 

    After spending many hours outside working on the disc golf course, I was asked to go help with the girls soccer practice. Let me just start off by saying, I do not and have never played soccer. I don’t feel like my feet are coordinated enough to play without falling on my face or kicking the ball in silly directions. In order to build relationships though, I willingly join the girls and agreed to just sit and watch as they went through some drills. They then started a game and asked if I wanted to play. I said I wasn’t very good and probably shouldn’t, to which they replied that it didn’t matter and I should play anyway. I remembered then what I told the Lord this morning. Playing a sport that I am unfamiliar with alongside people who are not speaking the same language as me is definitely out of my comfort zone. Because of that, and because of the community that I saw surrounding soccer, I join them in the game that they love. It was a lot of fun and thankfully, I survived without falling on my face but I did have some silly kicks. 

    As soon as the game was over, a door was suddenly opened. A group of small kids began to surround me and mostly just stared up at me. I then began to ask their names and inquire about the pictures that they colored which were folded neatly in their hands. They responded with big smiles on their faces. I’m pretty sure the smile on my face was bigger though. They thought it was also a funny game to poke me then run away laughing. I enjoyed every second of it. Their happiness is truly contagious.

    I am going to have to grow in a lot of ways in the next 3 months. I am now determined to be halfway decent at soccer by the time I leave. I’m sure that I will be pushed out of my comfort zone daily. I didn’t come here to be comfortable though. I came here to do what the Lord wanted me to do and most of the time that can be a little uncomfortable and I am okay with that. Day 4 and I am still in love with Macha.