On June 18, my (VERY nervous) parents watched me board my very first flight, out of Kansas City, on my way to a state I have never been, with people I don't know, for 10 days. To say I was out of my comfort zone would be an understatement. I was jumping (well, flying) head first into an adventure and I had no idea what to expect, but I was ready for whatever God had in store for me. I had expected God to move through me that week, but I never expected for him to move through me like he did.
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| Me on top of the LA state Capitol! |
1. He showed me that the world is bigger than Fort Scott, Kansas. Once I was away from home, it was easy to forget about the life that I left to come to Baton Rouge. When I arrived in Baton Rouge I knew I would be working in an inner city neighborhood, but because I had never lived in Baton Rouge, it was easy to see with clear eyes the neighborhood for what it really was; just a community with kids who want someone to love on them and show them that someone cares. It didn't matter to me that I was in what was usually perceived as a "bad neighborhood," all that mattered to me was to spread God's love to all these AMAZING children and families.
2. God opened my eyes to the kids. Let me be honest here, after the first day of camp I was pretty overwhelmed. Cheerleading had 85 girls that first day with only four coaches to manage them. They were chatty and running wild and some had a slight attitude - it really threw me off guard when I quickly realized that their first reaction to anything is violence. I didn't know what I had gotten myself into and felt awful after the first couple days because it felt like all I was doing was yelling at the kids to be quiet and to be respectful (at both the SQ Camps and the morning Gardere Initiative) to each other as well as the coaches. After talking with one of the other cheer coaches who felt similar things as me, our eyes were opened to the fact that we were raised totally differently than these kids. We only see a small snap shot of these kids' lives. We don't know how their living situations are, and even though we thought they were being so disrespectful and wild, we realized that they might be on their best behavior for us; they might not live in a house with parents that demand the respect that we were constantly asking of them to show us. It really humbled me, and opened my eyes to how blessed I am, and how being more patient and soft spoken to these girls would be the best way to show them God's love. After God opened my eyes to this, it was a lot easier the rest of the week to make connections with the girls, and to really try to understand their lives. It was so awesome to just put myself on the "back burner" and give my whole self to serving these kids.
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| Kelsey and I's class at the Gardere Initiative |
3. God showed me just how easy it was to spread the Gospel. SportQuest is just super cool. They take something as simple and common as sports and use it as a bridge for The Gospel. It really opened my eyes to how anyone can use their gifts to glorify God in anything that they want! SportQuest is more than just praying before and after a sports camp. It is integrating Jesus and the Gospel into everything that we do. From a verse of the week, to word of the day, to 3D devotions and positive and encouraging game play, SportQuest takes sport ministry to a whole new level, and it is AWESOME. They even broke it down for the coaches during our "training camp" portion of the trip, They helped us learn how to spread the Gospel in three easy steps! 1.Connect with the person, 2. Find Common Ground, 3. then Integrate your story with HIS story. I'm a very visual and organized person so I appreciate this little organized plan, SportQuest! Anyway, until this trip, I never knew how easy it could be to talk about God and show people Jesus! It always seemed like a daunting task but I now know that just a simple sentence has the capabilities of planting a seed in someone's heart.
SportQuest Baton Rouge was so incredible in so many ways that I could talk about it for hours. But those were just the main things that God called my attention to that I wanted to share. My time in Baton Rouge was definitely the highlight of my summer and gave me a new view of the world and of the people around me. These 10 days challenged me and stretched me more than I could have ever imagined, and I'm so grateful for the growth. You never know what you're capable of until you jump out of your comfort zone and trust wholly in God.
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| My position in Cheerleading is usually a Back Spot but that week I was blessed with getting to learn how to fly! Something I've always wanted to do! |
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