Bus Ride

Well, we are back from our little trips, and they were both a lot of fun! Andrew and the boys had a fun time at the zoo, all I really got out of them is that Jacob cried every time they went into see the baby elephant because it smelled so bad. As soon as Andrew would walk back in, he would cry again! I went with the boys to see the baby elephant a few weeks ago, but I'm sure it's getting big already!

My trip went really well. All three teams won their games, so that was good, and it was a good trip on the bus. I'm not really one of those people that always says that God talks to them, because truth be told, I don't feel like He does. This could be because I'm not listening, but that's not my point in the story now. When offered this position of coaching at the high school, I told the varsity coach straight up that my main goal was not going to be to teach the girls volleyball skills, but rather I just really wanted to make an impact on the girls for the Lord. I felt like God really opened up that opportunity to me, and that was my purpose for this season. I have had a blast coaching and really enjoyed my group of girls, and there have been little ways that I have felt I have impacted them, but nothing major until last night.

When I was in the shower after Andrew left with the boys for the zoo, getting ready for my trip, I really felt like the Lord spoke to me. I felt like he told me to go to the back of the bus (where the girls sit) on the way home from the game. Ok, no biggie, I can do that. So, after our game, I was sitting up front with the other coaches for the first few minutes of the trip, and then went back to the back of the bus. I was looking for an open seat and saw one--one seat. "Wow, how easy is this, God?" I knew exactly where I was supposed to go. I sat down with that girl and just started chatting, no biggie. About twenty minutes into our conversation and sharing of "cool" new music, she just started crying. At this point I was thinking that it was what God wanted me to come back there and do, and thought it was cool. Well, after really listening to her heart, another girl was crying and wanted to share her story. Then another. And another. I got to share my story, which led to yet another girl sharing her story. I swear it was the coolest thing ever! We were all just bawling (can you tell we are a bunch of girls?) over listening to the deep wounds and scars that our teammates have endured, and are enduring at this very time. It was such an amazing time of bonding and witnessing where God was glorified and shared with all the girls there. There were fifteen girls for the last two hours of our trip that really got to open up and just be listened to. It was such a powerful time, I remember looking outside the big windows several times to the moon behind the spotted clouds and feeling overwhelmed with a sense of awe with God. I could almost see the angels that were surrounding and guarding that bus as Satan's grip got weaker and weaker of a hold on these girls.

One of the coolest things too was how one of the really "tough" girls from the other team who I have had some attitude problems with joined in our conversation after listening and crying for an hour. At the end of our bus ride, she said that she felt like we were a big family now, which was amazing considering there have been issues between her and some girls on my team! It ended up being a good mixture of girls from different teams too, which was also a great time of bonding. It's really hard to explain here all of my feelings, but perhaps the best way I can make you understand is that it was like that one night at camp where everyone opens up and God really moves. The night that makes everything worth the whole week at camp? Yeah, that one. God is good.