The Narrow Road

This weekend I had the chance to go back to College Station and play in a volleyball tournament with some old friends. It was a great experience, although every part of my body is sore...even my hands. Our team had a lot of fun playing together and just enjoying the game again.

I have always been blessed by a God that could take my love and passion for a sport and continue to make it a part of my life, even now. I went from being the girl in the gym running around playing while my older sisters played the game, to the girl who finally became old enough to play! Later I was a hard core athlete making volleyball my life, so much so that my grades and other areas of my life began to fall behind. Good thing I have such an amazing mom who stepped in and set me straight. I will never forget the list she helped me make so I could keep my priorities in order: God, Family, School, Volleyball... When I got to college, volleyball became a job, and a goal that pushed me to be successful in the classroom, on the court and in every day life! After having all of that experience and it being such a big part of my life, it was hard to move on and leave it behing...good thing God had other plans for me.

I always told myself that I was going to be a teacher first and if it happened to work out for me to coach as well, then I would...it did! Once again God had bigger plans for me than I had for myself. All of that to say, I have come a long way from where I was in college, and I am so thankful to have a God that continues to love me and open doors for me to continue to do the things I love. It may be in a different way than before, but it is the right way for now. I may never be a hard core volleyball player again, but I can still touch others lives through the game.

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad the road that leads to distruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Matthew 7:13-14

I am glad I found the narrow road, and I hope you do too...

Put Some Pants On...

...that is what my neighbor told me when i went out this morning in a sweatshirt, shorts and my galoshes to take pictures of the snow. It is beautiful outside, I feel like I am in Colorado!! I did end up with a couple of branches down in the yard, and one that barely missed the house! Now that I have had a little time to enjoy the snow, I will be headed south for warmer weather...

This weekend I will be in College Station to play in a Valentine's Classic Volleyball Tournament!! Look for an update of that and how I am feeling after the fact. In the mean time here are some pictured of the snow...

Today was a pretty uneventful day at work, but I was able to take a few pictures of the snow. The one at the top is of our courtyard at school...very pretty!! I was also able to take my 7th period volleyball class out for a snowball fight and to build a snowman...

ITS A NEW SEASON

For those of you reading my blog for Haiti updates, I have a pretty big one today...

As previously mentioned, things in Haiti change by the minute. After much prayer, planning, and fundraising it seems that our trip will be postponed until further notice. After the earthquake occurred, and we saw an opportunity to go and serve, we were given the go ahead. Last night we received an e-mail from our missionary contacts advising us not to come at this time. They were hoping that the city would be further along in restoration than it currently is. They are still waiting for someone to step in and retrieve bodies that are still left among the rubble. With the rainy season approaching disease is starting to spread and there is a predicted outbreak that will be pretty bad if they do not get things cleaned up. Already local people are having to wear masks just to walk down the street. With these conditions, it is becoming very unsafe for travelers. They are hoping that things will be better by summer time.

As for our team, we are still praying and planning; waiting for the time when we are encouraged to come! For us, this is a new season... We know that things will be prepared perfectly in Gods timing and now we are being called to wait and prepare ourselves spiritually until that time comes. Please continue to pray for us and send words of encouragement, as we all know it is hard to sit and wait when we are ready and willing to go now!

Looking Good in Haiti

I wish I had taken a picture tonight of me in my clothes that I will be wearing in Haiti. They are clothes that I am borrowing from dad, from his Mission Trip to Nicaragua. But as Jessica kindly reminded me, "I don't think they are going to care what you are wearing!" Not only are they all in the khaki family, but all of the shirts are at least 2 sizes too big!! I am gonna look awesome!

The rest of the trip is coming together nicely as well. I was able to expedite my passport and it should be here in about 2 weeks! Lets just pray that it actually comes through in time! The next thing on my list is to get my shot records and get shots that I need to be able to go! Yuck!

Our team is growing...we will now be joined by my head volleyball coach and her husband. I am very excited about this, to be able to see how God has softened their hearts for the Haitian people. It is also nice to see them away from work!

If you are looking for a way to help...we are accepting donations to cover trip expenses and supplies for the school and orphanage that we will be working with. Feel free to e-mail me and I will give you the contact information.

Thanks for all your prayers and support!!

Prayer for Haiti

I am coming to you today on a more serious note...I know everyone has heard about everything going on in Haiti, I just wanted to take a few moments to let you know how you can be praying for them.

At this point there are still people missing and ones that have not been identified. Please pray for the families that still have not been able to locate their loved ones.

Haiti is a place that has a lot of orphanages to begin with and now the number of orphans has pretty much trippled. Please pray for the orphanages and their lack of supplies. There are many children that need to be taken care of and need supplies to meet basic needs.

On a more personal note...I have recently joined a team to go to Haiti and help get the schools up and running again. There is a school that we will be working with to clean it up and make it safe and clean for the children. We will also be taking supplies for a local orphanage and anything else that we can gather that we know they are in need of. All of the details are still in the works. Please pray for the team as we prepare for the trip and prepare our hearts for what we will encounter. Each one of us feels a call from God to go and serve. At this point the only thing holding me back is the fear that my passport is not up to date. If it is not I will be heading to Houston to get one on short notice, or praying for the possibility of a temporary passport. This is a very important detail, as I do not want to get to Haiti and not be able to get back :/ so I am trusting in God to make sure this gets taken care of!!!

kid or coach...

Tonight was our volleyball banquet. It was a time to come together as a program and look back on what an amazing season we had. This was definately one of the most interesting banquets I have been to...

I have been sick lately and can't seem to shake this congestion, so the first thing I did when I walked in was go to the bathroom to blow my nose. In there with me was one of my players moms who proceeded to ask me about my weight loss, how much it was, and how I did it. I was pretty excited to share my success and hope for continuing to get in better shape. Oh but the conversation did not stop there, the next thing she told me was that her current husband and ex-husband both noticed me when I walked in and said "wow Coach Vick looks really good." I may not be married yet, but apparently I have plenty of options...

Later on in the evening it was my turn to introduce my team and give a little speech. The speech part went pretty well, but the trouble came when it was time to introduce the team. Before I started calling out their names I said "Now here is your 2008 JV volleyball team." The second it came out of my mouth I knew it wasn't right...I looked down at the head coach who was shaking her head and laughing at me saying "uh no it's not." Oops, I tried to explain myself by saying that I subtracted too many years, which just made things worse. What I ment was that I was overthinking the new year, and was thinking that it just turned to 2009 not 2010...wow how time flies. Anyway, I ended my speech with, "wow last years speech was so much better!!" I blame it on the cough meds!

It's a good think I do not embarass easily, because there were plenty of things that happened that could have made my face turn red. Of course the speech was at the top of the list. There was also the picture of me on the video with my head tossed back, my leg kicked up and my tongue sticking out!! Just like as a kid! At the end of the night the girls have a dance. The first song that played was the Cupid Shuffle and guess who was out there leading the group...that's right, ME!! We do the Cupid Shuffle every day in my Adaptive PE class at school, so I got really excited at another opportunity to perform. At the end of the song it faded into the next, the first line...apple bottom jeans and the boots with the fir...that's when I walked off the floor and told the girls they were on their own on this one. So I ask you...kid or coach?

With all of the crazy things that happened it was still a great night of celebration with my girls! I am sad to see them move on, but I am already looking forward to next season!!