Monday, August 31, 2009

Want More Details?!!! :)

Well, I figured I couldn't publish the post below without giving a few more details about the guy God brought into my life when I was least expecting it! Don't worry, I got Adam's permission to talk about him (I did ask you didn't I, Adam?)

You may not know this about the swim team I coach for, but even though we are an age-group team, we also have an Elite program where Olympic-bound swimmers can train with one of the best coaches in the world - Coach David Marsh (he's my boss). You can learn more about it by visiting our website at www.swimmaccarolina.org (good PR, right?)Well, Adam swims for the Naval Academy and he decided to come to Charlotte this past summer and train with Coach Marsh. The first time I saw him on the pool deck, I thought he was pretty cute!!! Another coach introduced me to him, but I don't even know if he remembers that because I'm pretty sure he came straight to practice after waking up from a nap. A week or so later, I went out to eat at Cabo Fish Taco with another coach and one of the other Elite swimmers who had invited Adam. For those of you who know me well, you know i'm obsessed with chips and salsa, and I especially LOVE salsa on salads as dressing! Wow, my mouth is definitely watering as I'm typing this...Anyway, Adam was going to be late and he had already eaten, so we went ahead and ordered from our waiter, who looked exactly like an overweight version of Johnny Depp. At Cabo Fish Taco, they have this fresh corn, bean, and chunky tomato salsa, but they're kind of stingy with their refills. Well, Johnny Depp had to refill ours several times because we were devouring it. Then, I asked him for an extra bowl of it to use as dressing on my salad. From the way he acted, you would have thought I had asked him to donate me one of his kidneys! Thankfully, he brought me an extra bowl despite his hesitancy. Well, I excused myself from the table to go to the restroom and while I was there, Adam showed up. As I was walking back to the table, I realized Adam had sat down in the seat across from me, and was DIPPING A CHIP IN MY EXTRA BOWL OF SALSA, which was specifically for my salad! I sit down, Johnny Depp (the waiter) walks up with our food, notices Adam eating my salad salsa, and let me tell you...he was NOT happy! He straight up asked me why Adam was eating my salad salsa...I didn't know what to say; I just looked at Adam holding the salsa-laden chip in midair and started laughing! And, it just so turns out, that Adam is as obsessed with chips and salsa as I am!

The experience at Cabo Fish Taco was what started our friendship as we continued to hang out. We got to know each other better through...
*Going to church together
*Going to the NASCAR race together (even though I was the 5th person he called) *Watching movies on the big screen TVs at the various houses I housesat for this summer
*Taking a spontaneous road trip through the backwoods (no offense, Allie) of Mathews County, VA to visit one of my best friends and on to MD to surprise his dad for Father's day

*Watching Harper's Island w/Greg and Emily

*Wakeboarding or jet skiing on a weekly (sometimes daily) basis
*Cheering him on as he kicked butt at the swimming World Championship Trials with a 10th place finish in the 200 Fly and 7th overall in the 200 IM (do NOT read any further until you click on the link above to watch the amazing video!! Lane 3 from the bottom of the screen is the lane to watch!!)
*Sharing how God had brought us closer to Him through similar struggles we had faced in the past couple of years, and realizing we were both scared to death about starting a relationship because of said experiences;
*Taking a leap of faith to pursue a relationship with each other, and trusting God to guide it and strengthen us, despite living 7 hours apart and not knowing God's plans for our rapidly emerging individual futures.
*Being OK with the unknown because of God's promise in Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you; plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Friday, August 28, 2009

Yes, I Know It's Been a While...

SO, here is a run down of what's been going on in my life since...May (wow, 3 months since my last post); Time sure flies when you're having fun! I had an incredible summer, but I definitely wasn't looking for things to do: between coaching twice a day, training for my marathon in October, babysitting, housesitting, and wakeboarding, I stayed pretty busy. Despite running around like crazy from one thing to another, God still managed to teach me several things. For me at least, I think He teaches me the most when I least expect it...

**I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I felt God was leading me to begin thinking about going to grad school for Occupational Therapy...well, I'm most certain of that now, I'm just a little unsure where He wants me. There are no OT schools in Charlotte, so inevitably I have to move. One of the biggest things I learned in Africa last summer was that I needed to relinquish all control of my life to God. I still struggle with that daily, but I'm becoming more and more cognizant of when I begin to make a decision without fully consulting God. So, I'm applying to several different OT schools around the US and praying that God will open or shut doors into the programs as I receive my acceptance or rejection letters. I honestly don't have a preference where I go to school, so I actually feel comfortable handing that decision over to God. I mean, I wouldn't really want to move to North Dakota or Nebraska or somewhere like that, but if God wants me where the winters are freezing cold, then I'll just have to accept that and hopefully get over my Seasonal Affective Disorder. Either way, I'm genuinely trying to be open to whatever path God sends me down, because I realize how much easier it is to follow His will when I allow Him to take the lead. I will update more on this when I start the whole application process within the next month or so.

**After a year and a half of waiting, wondering, and denying God's gentle voice that it wasn't in His plans to last forever, I accepted the fact that the relationship I had with Matthew was just a period of immense spiritual and emotional growth for me, and realized it was time to continue on with my life. It was a hard decision, but as soon as I made it, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Until that point, my life had been almost stagnant, even after my move to Charlotte. Part of me wanted to get on with my life, but there was a bigger part that just couldn't stop denying the fact that things were over. I have said this before, and I will continue to say it for the rest of my life: I wouldn't trade the time Matthew and I were together for anything. Part of who I am today is a direct result of the things God taught me through that relationship. It all made perfect sense to me last weekend when I visited Joshua Harris' church. He said that God puts us through trials, tribulations, and suffering to show us how much He loves us. It is in those tough times that our hearts are most vulnerable and moldable because we fall to our knees and cry out to God for help and comfort. He brings us closer to Him and teaches us the most during these times, even though we may not realize how much we have learned until He brings us out of the pit. We should definitely praise God for His blessings, but we should be even more gracious for the things He teaches us through our pain and tears!

**God answers our prayers when we are least expecting it....much like how you can stare at the night sky for hours in hopes of seeing a shooting star, but are unsuccessful until a random evening you happen to glance up at the sky at just the right moment to catch a glimpse of the thing you had watched for and anticipated for countless hours...Back in May, God brought the most amazing person into my life. At this point I definitely wasn't looking for a relationship, and it took a while of developing a friendship with him before I realized I was attracted to this guy. Prior to meeting him, I had given up hope of finding anyone in Charlotte who met/exceeded my standards, and I decided to just stop worrying about it and let God do His thing. Well, He did just that... After trying to ignore my feelings for Adam a few times early on in our friendship and talking to God about it, I finally allowed myself to accept the cliche that there was "another fish in the sea" (which was something it took me a year and a half to believe), and God brought him right to me! We have been officially together for almost 2 months after developing a friendship that began in May. Not one day goes by where I don't thank God for Adam and thank Him for giving me the assurance that His timing is perfect!