As an amazing mix of Turkish Bulgarian music makes its way from the neighbors backyard to the porch I am sitting on, I am filled with joy, exhaustion and the reality that this is my life, this is going to be my life for the next six months. What a privilege, what a lovely gift, what a challenge! At this moment, I would love to share a glimpse of a really fun thing that has been happening in my life over the past six months…
FUTBOL!!!
That’s right friends, whether or not you’re a kid or an adult, city slicker or country, this paradoxically simple yet highly technical game is for you. I have learned how to wipe out on the gravel and the mud and the concrete and enjoy this game despite the fact that most of the eight or nine year olds I am playing with are ten times (okay maybe a little more) better than me. Yesterday, after a huge cultural blunder of trying to explain kickball to kids who haven’t really been exposed to baseball before, we pulled out the soccer ball, split into teams and were set for the evening. This has been a pretty consistent theme on the race so far and I love how this game transcends culture and yet still shows a slightly different face in each setting.
Honestly, as much as I’d love to write a blog about how amazing it is to be able to share a moment with someone in which I can share the love of God through my actions even if I can’t with my speech, that would be rather fake. The truth is that I genuinely enjoy playing soccer and it isn’t just about doing something I have to do. It is fun! Even when I am exhausted or the kick I just blocked really hurt, I am enjoying the ability to embrace this life that God has given me with all that I am. It is just like playing guitar and singing. My mind and heart and body are all working as one in this beautiful, miraculous way that only God could orchestrate.
I felt a little guilty about writing a blog about how sometimes it isn’t about “ministry” and “evangelizing” and “wow, a smile can tell someone so much about Jesus even if my words can’t”, but how freeing is that! I love running down a field or picking out a new song on my guitar and reveling in the fact that God made me to be able to do these things. I am delightful! My fingers can move quickly across the frets on the guitar, the nerves in my brain firing and muscle memory doing its work as my heart, soul and mind create a song. Psalm 139 doesn’t even begin to touch on the mystery and loveliness of being made and enjoyed by God!
As I write this, caught up in the exuberance of thinking about Jesus, my creative, mysterious, strong Savior and how He actually really enjoys soccer as well, I am reminded of watching a little girl I nannied learn to walk. Every time she made it a few steps there was this huge grin on her face, often ending in a couple giggles of joy and wonder. I can only imagine the thoughts that were flying through that precious, little mind.
“I can move like this! Mommy and Daddy move like this too! The world is different from up here!”
And then maybe a second of nothing after the overwhelming enormity of all these beautiful discoveries and then the joy and wonder.
That is how I feel when I play soccer.
Life Updates:
My mornings are filled with…gardening! We have been pouring our manual labor and creativity into our hosts’ garden and it has been super rewarding to watch everything take shape.
My evenings are filled with…Playing soccer and many other games in two different Roma gypsy communities. This provides our hosts with the opportunity to build relationships not just with the kids, but with the many adults who stop to watch.
I have been reading…1 Timothy as I explore and try to understand more about spiritual authority and my place within it.
I really enjoyed…our adventure day at the beach on the Black Sea. This beach was so orderly and calm in comparison to the surfing/party culture that I experienced in Costa Rica. Both were really lovely in their own way?
