Lesson #3

DEFINITELY OUTSIDE OF MY COMFORT ZONE HERE!!
So, another thing God taught me while I was in Africa: It's OK if I don't have my whole day planned out to the minute because things will come up. I've learned not to be so anal and time/schedule-oriented. People commend me all the time for being so organized and always having things planned out far in advance, but you know what...that part of my personality has always been more of a burden to me. This goes right along with me being so routine oriented. I never liked being so stuck in my routine that I almost couldn't function if something came up and interrupted my daily routine. Well, I had to get over that pretty much as soon as I landed in Africa. Nothing was planned ahead of time, nothing was ever on schedule, and things were constantly changing. The whole time I was there, I kept on thinking about how I couldn't wait to get back to the states and get back into my routine, despite that fact that I knew I didn't like being the way I was. But, that was how I had been my whole life and that was what was comfortable for me. Little did I know that God didn't have it in His plans for me to fall back into my little routine when I got back from Africa. All along, He was preparing me for exactly what I'm going through right now in Charlotte. I was thrown in head first coaching 100 kids ages 12 and under without having any training or 'learning the ropes.' Yes, I have a lot of experience coaching swimming, but I have been out of the sport itself for 5 years, and unfortunately, swimming and rowing don't really complement each other. I didn't know my way around Charlotte AT ALL and most of you know how terrible I am with directions. Also, I had to borrow a car from some people on the team the first week I was here because I didn't have mine. Now, don't get me wrong, I was so grateful they loaned me their car, but the seat would not move forward b/c the gears were broken. It was set far enough back to seat a 6' person comfortably...So, not only did I keep getting lost, but I was sitting on the edge of the seat with my legs fully extended to reach the pedals. Anyway, without going into too much detail, I think it will suffice to say that my life is mass chaos right now. But....despite the fact that I still have yet to get into a set routine and I'm still getting used to having a real job, I'm OK with things being uncertain and I actually like it! I think God prepared me well for what I'm going through right now, and even though it made being in Africa really tough, I learned how to set my eyes upon Him especially when my world is in disarray.

2 Things Seen only in Ghana:
1)Women carrying a baby on their back, balancing a massive bowl of fruit or bread on their head, and maintaining perfect balance while dancing an African jig and not breaking rhythm
2) Showing the Jesus Film in a village on a portable TV running on a loud generator because, obviously, the villages have no electricity

GHANA VIDEO - CHECK IT OUT!

Go to this link. This is the short video and sadly you have to be on Facebook to see it. A longer one is coming later...
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=634543083462

Lesson #2

I know, I know; I should have posted this several days ago...I wish I wasn't so bad about posting on my blog. I just need to try to make a habit of it. Anyway, here's the 2nd thing God told me while I was in Africa: When He tells me to give my burdens to Him and allow Him complete control of every aspect of my life, He will always pull through with something far better than what I thought was best for me. In Proverbs 19:21, it says, "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." It is funny how I can think back on so many circumstances throughout my life where God's plans have been completely different than mine and I fought and fought against Him because I thought my plans were best for me. However, His plans prevailed, and thank goodness they always do because only He knows what is best for me. For example, in my previous blog post, I mentioned how I thought it would be best for me to take the job in KC, but obviously, God had a better plan for me. Now that I have been in Charlotte coaching at MAC for 3 days now, He has done nothing but confirm my obedience to His call for me to come here. I absolutely love my job! This first week was definitely overwhelming because I flew into Charlotte early Wed. morning and I hit the ground running with my first practice on Wed afternoon. Despite being really scattered and a little stressed (OK maybe more than just a little stressed) with my first few days of practices, I immediately fell in love with my kids! I coach 2 different groups of kids, and between the groups, I have close to 100 kids (ages 7-12). I am living with a family who also swims for MAC, and I don't think God could have put me with a more amazing family! They are awesome Christians; they live right on the lake; they have 4 wonderful kids (1 is away at college); the mom and I have so much in common and she's just as active as I am; they are really involved in their church and missions. The father travels to India several times a year because he is actually training a an Indian pastor in hopes that he will be able to start a church where he lives. I could go on and on about what a blessing it has been to have them in my life. They have welcomed me in from day 1 as part of the family! God has also blessed me with a solid group of Christian co-workers, and a lot of the parents of my swimmers are as well. Each blessing is a constant reminder that God's plans are always far better than the plans of my heart.

"2 things only seen or done in Ghana:"
1) Open breast feeding...with no shame - women would just feed their babies with no covering anytime, anywhere, even on the front row at church. This was really hard for the guys on our team to get used to. Especially, when it happened during church services, right in the middle of their message.
2) Roosters crowing...constantly - each morning, I woke up at 5:30 to the sounds of multiple roosters crowing outside my window. But, they didn't just crow as the sun was coming up, they would crow without ceasing at all hours of the day. Maybe that's how often we should be praying...