God continues to work

 

Just because my volleyball season is over, doesn't mean God is done using me.  After season ended I felt like everything that I focused on for the last nine months ended just like that.  From February when I found out I got the internship and began off-season practices, to late May when I got to Cali and began the most increadible experience of my life, to Ausust when I returned to Arkansas and wondered how God was going to use me to be a leader on my team, and to November when my season ended before I was ready.  I cried many tears.  I was so sad that the season was over, but in awe of all that God had done.  I asked myself, "Now what?" 

After spending a few weeks reflecting, resting, and getting my grades back up, one of my teammates and close friends spent a lot of time together praying and talking about FCA.  There was talk about getting it restarted by another athletes, but things fell through and they weren't able to lead it. 

I kept feeling a tug on my heart about FCA after season.   I remembered when I went to an FCA huddle my freshman year and wondered who would lead it after the current leader left.  Even before I knew about the internship, I felt like God was putting that leadership position on my heart even though I was terrified of the idea at the time. 

My teammate and I had some meetings with the athletic director and sent an email out to coaches.  We had no idea what this was going to look like or if anyone would even be interested.  Soon after,we got some responses from coaches who gave us names of players that might be interested in being a part of FCA, and one email from the new tennis coach who asked us to come to his office to talk about this.  It was such a blessing to meet the tennis coach who had served with FCA for many years at the high school he used to coach at.  He gave us many resources and ideas and encouraged us to get this going.

A few weeks after we returned from Christmas break, we had our first FCA leadership team meeting with about 20 other JBU athletes, the tennis coach, and a local FCA area directer who were interested in this idea.  We met weekly for about a month to define what FCA was going to look like on our campus and figuring out what gifts we had that we could use to serve our campus and community through FCA.  We now have 6 different committtes that our leadership team is serving in.  Our first kick-off event  is in a week from today where all JBU athletes and students are invited to hear what FCA is all about!

I am so blessed to have this community of athletes who love God and want to serve their community and learn what it means to be a better leader on their teams. 

A year ago I would have never expected this to happen or believed that God could use me.  One thing I learned is that "God doesn't always call the equipped, but He will equip those He calls."  Not feeling equipped caused me to depend on Him and trust Him more, which created room for God to do bigger things than I could have ever imagined.   Check out these links to see more about FCA at JBU  http://advocate.jbu.edu/?q=node/734                     http://advocate.jbu.edu/?q=node/708