El Salvador has been a great month for me, it has been filled with love and laughter. Life is outside all day long (From personal experience, the sun is hotter in Central America!) and it has allowed me to share my love of sports, specifically basketball. Basketball and English class has been our main ministry this month, five days a week I get to play basketball with local school kids for gym class.
When I initially heard that I would be coaching basketball I was so excited, my mind immediately started pulling different ideas together, most of them based of my college experience. Day one came, I knew the practice plan and I was ready or so I thought. Practice did not go according to plan, we were constantly changing things around to fit the needs of the kids and space available. For the little 4 year-olds we played Duck Duck Goose but then the older kids we made passing games. What started out as a great plan turning into changing on the fly, fine great, I can adapt no problem. Now throw in the language barrier and ask me to teach the new idea/game because the coach wants me to. Now I am in panic mode trying to catch up but being totally overwhelmed.
Basketball ministry quickly turned into something I dreaded and had to remind myself daily to be happy and excited for the kids. It was a chore, something I didn’t want to do, I loved the time with the kids but my experience with basketball prevented me from having fun in the loose environment. College taught me to perfect my movements in basketball, to perform the same skill over and over until it was without fault. The same goes for the practice plan, things didn’t change all the time in college and they weren’t changed without me understanding the whole thing.
MAN DID I STRUGGLE! I could tell my face showed how unhappy I was with all the changes even though I tried my best to conceal it with a smile. I was constantly frustrated with the coach for putting me on the spot then correcting everything I did and said. I took daily ‘breaks’ where I would slowly get a drink just to calm myself down and remember that it wasn’t about me. That’s the thing, it wasn’t about me. It isn’t about me, I am only a vehicle to spread Gods word. Over and over I told myself this, this is not about me, it is for our ministry. Smile and move on, everything will work out in the end.
Basketball is still my favorite sport, it is the sport I spent 16 years playing and the game I know best; but this past month didn’t require perfection or smooth transitions. It required strong hearts and hands that could do the work. The Lord asked me to coach basketball in an entirely new way because he had another plan for me. God brought up pieces of my past that needed to be dealt with over the month. He told me I have a lot of healing to do, and the best part is He will be right beside me.
