Really Lord. Are you Sure??

This is a picture of Tater and Tot in Birmingham for an indoor tournament last year. It was Tot's first tourney experience.

So today was just a normal day. No funny or cute Tot or Tater stories to share so I will just share something that has been on my heart for awhile and it now has me asking, "Really Lord? Are You Sure?"

So for anyone that might browse through this and not actually know me or my hubs let me just tell you a little about our hobbies. We LOVE sports. We play soccer, softball, volleyball and tennis (I am awful at tennis but I play to humor my hubs and in-laws). Now when I say that we play soccer what I actually mean is that we LOVE to play soccer. When Chad and I dated we were on at least 3 soccer teams. I played women's league, Chad played men's league and we both played outdoor coed and indoor coed as well as church league soccer. That's a lot of soccer, I know. Now having played soccer and knowing a lot about the game when our church was in need of coaches for the youth league they called Chad and I to coach teams. That was at least four years ago when we started coaching up at church.

Let me take a second and brag on my last seasons church team and my assistant coach (Mrs. Joy Ligon). We were undefeated AND won the tournament what what!! I couldn't have done it w/o Joy. She is amazing!

Now back to my point. So through coaching at church I met and coached the daughters of an amazing family. The Mom, Mrs. Deb, called me up a few months ago and told me that she was getting together a homeschool competitive soccer team and that the coach wasn't going to make practice that day and could I help out and run practice for them. Only because I love them I said yes. I packed up Tot and we went to run soccer practice. Little did I know that I was about to become the sole coach of the team b/c the other coach was too busy to commit to two practices a week. What I found out in the practices to come was that the players were mostly former or current basketball players with one maybe two true soccer players. The rest were BRAND new to the sport. Do you know how difficult it is to take girls that have grown up playing basketball and tell them that they can't use their hands and that they have to learn to run a different way? Not easy.
Although these girls are amazing girls, they are not the best soccer players. They have gotten a ton better through practice, I must give them credit. Now the Lord has really been working on me and telling me to clear my plate of "things". I really hope it is because He is about to use me in some way and not so I have more free time. I tried telling Mrs. Deb that I couldn't be the coach anymore because I'm just too busy but through this and that I just couldn't shake this team! There are days when I leave practice and I am thinking to myself, "do I talk a different language, do I stutter, are the lights on in their heads" and then there are days when I think they actually get it and I have made a difference in the way they learn and play soccer. Bless Tater's heart b/c I know he probably thinks I am crazy when I come home one day praising the team and the other day I tell him I am throwing in the towel and that these kids are un-coachable. Unfortunately today the Lord shifted my heart. I say unfortunately because I know this is going to be a tumultuous relationship. The Lord just confirmed in my heart that this is what I need to be doing. I have wanted a way to invest in the lives of young girls. Last year I helped get a soccer tournament together for high school girls as a way to share the gospel with them. I absolutely loved it! Since then, I have thought about teaching high school sunday school again or doing some other form of volunteer work with youth. But today, right in the middle of practice, the Lord showed me that I have no less than eleven girls that I can invest in and are looking to me for direction. Not just direction in soccer. I can use that time with them to direct them to the Lord and His love. I can show them how to deal with success or defeat on and off the field, what it means to be part of a team/family. So here I write at 11:20 at night and I am still asking God, "Really Lord, Are you sure??" because this is not something that I desire myself to do. Weird thing is that even though I don't want to do this, I feel a peace about saying yes. If you think of me in your prayers at all please pray that 1) I don't ruin my witness while coaching 2) that these girls come to know Christ as their PERSONAL Savior 3)that I don't go grey early because of this :@) Till Tomorrow, Much Love!