Integrating Faith and Sport

I’m writing this on Wednesday night (hoping to post it on Thursday). Our entire team is finally here and everything has started full force. We had one guy miss a connection flight so arrived two days later than the rest of the team. And Paul and Nicole Huggins joined us today as well. They are AIA Staff from Ottawa and have come to join us for six days to take the team through a seminar that’s called “National Training Camp” or “Integrating Faith and Sport”. We had our first session tonight and four Paraguayan athletes were able to join us. I got to sit in the back with them and try my best to translate Paul speaking.....for those who know Paul know that he’s a fast talker...a passionate talker...and uses a lot of slang. Hahaha. It was a great challenge and the girls seem to have understood the basic gist of things. And finding out that I really need to study up on my Bible names in Spanish too, they can be quite different and I definitely don’t know them all.

As we walk through these classes this week my blog, at times, may seem more like a personal journal as I chew on what we’re learning each day. But I what you guys to know what God is doing in me over the next 11 days I have left in Paraguay.....ok so here it goes. Tonight’s class was on the “Audience of One” challenging the athletes to think of why they play and who they are playing for. I’m trying to put this in perspective to my life, not being an athlete (you’re surprised I know, but I don’t do sports). But really the basic theme of the talk was “Am I a wall or a window” when people look at me do they see me, what I can do and who I am......Or am I a window to who God is....do people look at me and see Jesus? Do I live my life in a way that stands out to be something desirable or different? Do I genuinely love those around me as God does? Do they see that? If I am living my life in the way that God has set out for me, people around me should sense HIS love, they may not know what it is, but there should be something different about me. Right now in my life I know I am falling short on this big time. No one is perfect, we are all so far way from perfection. That’s what amazes me most about God, we are so far from perfect, we screw up on a daily bases, He knows we’re going to screw up and even hurt Him, yet He loves us! When we go astray He patiently waits for us, gently sending us reminders that He’s there, waiting and loving us. He will always take us back.

I know there are things I need to change about the way I’m living my life, it will be a week of mulling through that with God and figuring out where I need to change. One thing I know for sure, I need to spend more time reading my bible. God’s love letter to us, God’s instruction book on life. God’s letter showing us all human screw ups in history yet He used those Screw ups for amazing things. I know He’ll use me too, I just have to be willing to let Him.