Athletes in Action News and Commentary

Grove City is awesome?

So this week we made our way out east.  After a disappointing/non existent visit to detroit we refocused and got the opportunity to spend some time either by ourselves or doing service activites.  Sunday came quick though and we were on our way New York City to begin our own camp in East Harlem.

The road trip was pretty chill.  Yet, when lunch came we were struck with a new adventure.  We ended up stopping in the small town of Grove City where we found one place that was open.  Our journey was supposed to be finding a subway where we could enjoy a gourmet sandwich or salad, but instead we ended up at a pizza and sub place that was a no name and pretty much deserted.  We tried it out, but it definitely didnt settle well.  We all kind of had stomach aches the rest of the day.  Grove City was forever a place where we didnt really want to go back to.

I found that we were all pretty tired and ornery from the drive so we were all complaining a lot and didnt really want to deal with where we were.  It was at this point that God really started to remind me to rejoice in any situation.  He really pushed the fact that even though we didnt want to be in Grove City eating at a non up to par pizza place, it was still good.  He has created every situation in our life for a purpose.  Whether the trip was for a good rest or good fellowship or just a time to see a new place, we still needed to have that joy that we have through living with him.  So we left Grove city and continued on our trip.

In bloomsberg we were able to meet up with a former AIA traveler and have dinner with her.  It was cool to have a new time of fellowship and hear other peoples stories.  I always find it interesting to hear what God has and is doing in someone elses life.  This was definitely a highlight of the day.

I truly believe that God uses situations in our life to teach us certain things.  I feel like the trip to NYC is going to be exciting and quite the experience, but i think God really wants us to focus more on the good in a situation rather than pointing out what is wrong.  Grove City was that learning lesson for us

Disappointment in Detroit

We got some disappointing news the other day when we found out that we werent going to be able to go to Detroit, MI.  It was kind of frustrating to hear, because we did raise a lot of money for this trip and didnt necessarily want to be hanging around Xenia for the entire week, but that is what happened.  Yes, we were frustrated, but God really does have a plan.  He provided us with a couple days of rest in which we were able to rejuvenate and refresh our minds and hearts for the upcoming trip to new york city.  It was definitely necessary and i think that God really wanted us to refocus ourselves on him and what he is doing through this trip.  Frustration can help us to realize how God is working and what he wants us to get out of the trip.  I mean this trip is as much about our spiritual growth as it is about spreading the word to kids.  He has a plan and i know its good.

Lebanon track club

Today ends our adventure with the lebanon track club.  We were able to help out with the four day camp including two days of practices and two days of meets.  The kids were awesome and it was definitely an awesome trip.  It was a totally different atmosphere than what we experienced in Zanesville, but hey if everything was always the same we wouldnt be able to see God working as clear.  This trip was kind of our first experience we had of giving out testimonies and really speaking out and listening to the kids.  For me it was a difficult experience, but God was working through it.  Yes, it is hard to know the words to say to really reach out to the kids, but being able to take my story and turn it in a way that younger kids could relate to was definitely God working through me.  I never really thought about taking my testimony in the aspect of Jesus being our best friend, but that is what he showed me.  I know i have read about stuff like that, but i guess i had never really grasped the concept until this trip.  Just seeing the girls react when they heard that Jesus was their best friend was amazing.  All of their eyes lit up and they all got really excited, it was an amazing moment to see their excitement.  

Another thing that God really provided was a break in the weather.  There were a couple days that had the potential to be stormy meaning we wouldnt be able to practice or compete, but God gave us a break from it and gave us that time to really interact with the team.  It was awesome and totally worth the trip.  Seeing how God was working even in an environment that we were somewhat used to really got me excited to see what He is going to do in an atmosphere that we arent as familiar with.

Goodbyes and Zanesville

Saying goodbye to the Zimbabwe team and the volleyball team was definitely a hard experience.  I never realized how close a group of people could get in a short period of time.  Another thing that really revealed the presence of God.  It takes me back to the verse in Matthew 18:20 that states "for where two of more gather in my name there i am with them."  This verse couldnt have been more true during the week at training camp.  After the goodbyes we headed down to Zanesville, OH for a camp that we helped with.  The camp was being run by Team Godspeed and brought in collegiate coaches, that were well known for what they do with their athletes.  It was cool to see them interact with the kids and really be a huge influence on them.  

One of the big things for me was seeing the littler kids interacting with us.  They began to trust us right off the back.  It was neat to see this because of how much they are a living example of what God wants our faith to be like.  God wants us to be able to trust him so easily, but so often we back away because we cant see what he is doing.  Its like we need that to be able to see our path completely in order to trust God with where he is leading us.  Im not sure why, but for me it was very convicting to see think about this.  The younger kids at the camp just wanted to have a good time to play tag and other games, they didnt have a worry in anything they did or what they were gonna do next. 

We also had prayers answered, mostly for the Zimbabwe team with their travels.  God worked in that situation and even though one flight was cancelled he provided still.  Everything was off and running and you could just tell that God was in every situation working and bringing opportunities for us.

The SPECIAL

The last thing that we did as a group at training camp was a lab called the SPECIAL.  The lab was meant for us to focus on God and the principles that we have learned throughout the week.  It was basically a test of spiritual endurance and relying on God for strength because our own strength would not be sufficient.  We were able to make it into a bit of a competition and had some fun with it.  This brought us even closer as a group in a team bonding kind of way.  From the start you could tell that God was there.  The cool thing was that he was working in everyone through their weaknesses.  The SPECIAL was done basically through the entire night.  We started around 4pm and didnt get done until 1pm the next day.  From the start we knew that we werent going to get through things on our own.  God started to really reveal peoples gifts throughout the night.  Both of our athletic trainers were injured and sidelined, but were able to use their skills and gifts that God had given them to support and help with recovery.  As the night went on we all started to grow more tired and weary, but God was still present.  We were focused on him and what he was doing and how he was affecting each one of us.  The cool thing was no one was being affected in the same way.

God has a way of working in each of us in a way that we are able to understand and i firmly believe that is what he did through the night.  The hardest part for a lot of us was getting up the next day and refocusing on what God was doing and what he wanted us to see.  Everyone was kind of frustrated and easily angered the next day, but definitely all came together on our last challenge.

The reflection period gave us a chance to really focus on God and everything he has done in our lives.  We were completely broken, completely weak and drained running up that hill, but his hand was upon each and every one of us as we put one foot in front of the other.  We all gave 100% that day and knew that God was smiling down on us.