Weekend of Change – Part 2

           After last years experience at the FCA College Advance, it wasn’t a question whether or not I was going to go back and do it again.  I knew last year God had done something in my life as a student athlete and this time going back , after being a senior, I knew something else was in store.

I was almost a little disappointed the first day of the retreat. We got there and had our first night session, which was a great talk, but the whole second day was about doing sports Gods way. I was kind of made thinking, “I’m not an athlete anymore, why does this pertain to me?”  God also has a sense of humor and was about to show me why He had brought me there.

After a long day of sports and making new friends, it was time for the night session. The speaker, Scott Crenshaw was back from last year. He is the perfect mix between funny and serious – great for college kids. The chapel on Saturday night started off by him preaching on forgiveness. He had us all think of someone that came to mind that we need to forgive, whether it be a friend, family member or random stranger. This is always the part of the night that changes lives.

What we don’t realize is that we are on this earth because of forgiveness. When someone crosses us or hurts us, it’s hard to take that step back and do what was done for us. It’s a powerful message and I know it didn’t just hit home for me.

That night, we got to experience over 40 people stand up and take the love of Christ for the first time. We also got to experience forgiveness even in the tiniest forms. I know I don’t need to get all Jesus on anyone but at that moment, I knew why I was there for the weekend. Just because I wasn’t an athlete anymore, that didn’t mean that I didn’t need to hear any of that message, because I did.

Overall, I realized the true power of Christ and the healing power that His love has. Scott preached about a lot of different things that were relevant to life: stepping out of our comfort zones, not just pursuing a relationship but an intimacy with our God, and to appreciate who our real friends are. Not only was I convicted with some of these messages, I was awakened by the songs, the people around me and His word.

Buffs up! Our FCA group! 

A Different View

Day 4, 5,6 – Beach Trip!

            When I first saw Bangkok all lit up at night and how far the buildings went, I always said I didn’t believe the city ended. Today we drove about 3 hours from Bangkok to a place called Pranburi beach. The drive in itself was very scenic and almost reminded me a bit like Texas, except there was no English.

            Outside of the city, the rest of Thailand is a bunch of rural area with a bunch of small towns. The only thing that I recognized was the car dealerships. Lots of Nissan and Honda: shocking.  There was also a lot of wildlife. It was cool to see a different side of Thailand rather than the big city feels that we had been experiencing.

            Since we arrived in the afternoon, we decided to rent ATV’s and go on a tour of the beach and the surrounding areas. It was absolutely marvelous. We started out by going through the mountains and getting to see a whole new part of Thailand. In the mountains, there were small villages, many of them being farming villages. There were also a lot of cows that we thought were water buffaloes (stupid Americans). 

            One of the overlooks we stopped at was filled with a sight of mountains that didn’t end. Our tour guide told us that it was Myanmar. That was pretty cool. One of the things I loved most was how nice the farming people were. The kids would come to the side of the road and wave at us and some even were holding water in case we wanted some. It was adorable.

            We ended the ride by getting to see the sunset by the beach, which was beautiful. One thing we thought was cool was that a lot of tourist were in the area so a lot more people speak English here than in Bangkok.

            The beach life is a lot different than city life. There are hardly any cars here and a lot more little villages rather than larger buildings. The area has managed to stay away from extreme tourism, which is nice. Most of the place is secluded.

            The seafood here is absolutely fresh.  We had squid that they had caught that day & lots of other different kinds of seafood. My favorite is the crab curry. 

            I’ve been joking that life here at the beach poses more life threatening opportunities than I’ve ever had in my whole life. So far while here I’ve rode on ATVs, rented and drove my own motorcycle on the opposite side of the road, climbed up a waterfall, rode on an elephant and did some cliff climbing.

            Those last three all happened on the last day. We set out early for our elephant ride. This was the one thing I had said I wanted to do upon coming here. The ride itself took about an hour and it amazed me how majestic and fearless these creatures were although I was a tad fearful. We rode through lakes, forests and some countryside. It was like riding a horse but much higher up.

            After the elephant we left to hike up one of the famous waterfalls here. It took us about 2 hours but the view was worth it. My favorite thing from this experience was not only being in the forest but being able to see the wildlife. We had to stop our cars for about 100 monkeys that were on & in the road. At the waterfall itself, the fish were going crazy. We were given food to feed them and it was like a free-for-all when you threw it in there.

            I think my last afternoon at the beach was the most enjoyable. I set out with a motorcycle l that I had rented for the afternoon and decided to go down to a secluded beach. The area was beautiful. I was one of the only people there and there was a clear view of the mountains and the whole body of water. There was one famous cliff that had a spectacular view so my cousin and I had decided to climb up that after I got back from the beach. We made it to the top before realizing how scary the climb up was. Climbs up are always easier. At the top we met 4 Thai kids. They spoke no English but knew we needed help to get down. They helped us down the entire cliff and even said thank you at the end. We laughed knowing how silly it must have looked.

            It’s amazing what beautiful things were put on the earth and how God put them there. Just 3 days ago I was in the huge city of Bangkok and these last 3 days, I have spent on the beach in the same country. The countryside, the city & the beach are all different views but absolutely beautiful. I can’t believe that there are 2 days left in this trip. Back to Bangkok for now! 

ATV ride with my cousins

View from the mountains 

Elephant! 

Waterfall

My secluded beach I found. So peaceful

Adventures in the land of the Thai

Day 1  -

So many of you are probably wondering why I’m in Bangkok. After that flight, I’m wondering why I decided to come too. My real dad lives here with his wife, Bonnie, and my 3 younger brothers. It has been a blessing my whole life to be able to travel to visit him where he lived and Bangkok is one of these great cities.  

            Just on my first day here I was able to see why people love Thailand. Running in the park was amazing. The green lawns and tons of trees along with the lake in the middle were beautiful. Just being able to see the Bangkok skyline was a gift in itself that morning. The Thai people are so interesting.  There are so many things here that would never be able to happen in the U.S but they just make sense here. The driving is crazy. There are traffic lights but no one follows them. Even the police break the rules half the time by turning the wrong way or instructing cars to go against the traffic signs. I’ve learned that Thailand is a place of obedience of the people and less of authority.  If you can do it and it isn’t affecting anyone else then it is okay to do it. There are so many forms of transportation here. They have the sky train, water taxis, and a ton of taxis. They have pink taxis, which have turned out to be my favorite. They also have tons of motorcycles everywhere. Often times, these double for a Taxi system. Instead of sitting in traffic most of the time, people will hop on the back of the motorcycles and they can get to their destination faster. They are EVERYWHERE.

Hands down, I think Thai is one of the most beautiful languages to listen to. My little brothers here all speak fluent Thai and sometimes I catch myself just listening to the way they interact with each other. It’s fascinating. The streets are like any big city: people selling stuff, little shopping stores where you can bargain prices and lots and lots of people walking. It’s actually “winter” in Thailand right now and it’s still tipping 90 almost every day.  One thing I noticed right away was the windows on all the car have so much tint on them you can’t see inside because of the heat. Also, the people at almost all shopping malls and hotels open doors for you and salute.  Thai people, I have quickly learned, are so kind.

Day 2

Today was amazing. We went on a long tail boat ride and go to experience some of the most rich and the most poor of Bangkok. The boat had just my cousins, aunt, uncle and I and was about 30 feet long and very close to the water. We started out at the business area of Bangkok with all of the tall buildings through the main part of the river.

The skyline from there was amazing and I literally found myself thanking God for his wonderful creation. It gives me chills to think about something so much bigger than what we can imagine. We turned into a very narrow section of the river, which started the part of our tour that was more local. We were able to see how some of the Thai people live on the river. It’s actually a crazy sight because half of the houses were made of wood and were on top of the water. They had most of their belongings outside and some of the houses were even knocked over from the water. This isn’t to say that it wasn’t nice; there were temples and nice houses along the river that left us in awe. We were able to see sights such as the Grand Palace and Wataroon. The intricacy of the design on some of the temples and palaces was so amazing.

The Thai people are very friendly, too. We were able to experience the floating markets where they were of course, trying to sell us stuff. But, this is the reality. This is the way these people make their living on the river. There were fishermen, monks, boating men and women that all lived on the river. We joked that it was the Venice of Thailand because the river commerce was so busy.

We finished our day with dinner at a place called Above 11. You could see the whole Bangkok skyline from there and it was truly amazing. Bangkok seems to never end; there are buildings as far as you can see. 

Just being here two days has left me exceptionally thankful for where God has put me in my life. I know I’m the first one to say that the simple things I have in Texas like a car, house and food everyday I take for granted. Being here and seeing the everyday life of some of these people was eye opening and has left me thanking God for everything in my life. His grace in our lives is simply enough.  This is one of the main reasons I love seeing other culture. Not only for the experiences and amazing places I get to see but also to put into perspective just how small our lives are compared the huge world that is out there.

Day 3 –

I’d have to say that being a tourist is very fulfilling but exhausting. We toured 3 different places today; each one was unique but also very beautiful. I’m starting to realize how beautiful the Thai culture is and also how busy this city is, nonstop.

The first place we went was the Grand Palace. This Palace is typically used for the King and ambassadors that come visit. This was the first time I realized the intricacy of Thai architecture. It kind of slaps American architecture in the face. Actually not kind of, it just does. The detail and jewels that are put into this building are amazing. That, and it’s about the size of my whole town, Canyon, TX.

We also visited the Temple of Prang. This one was not as big but it was very high. The stairs just to get up to it were incredible. The beautiful thing about all of these temples was the gardens around them as well as the temples themselves.

My favorite, and the favorite of many was the reclining Buddha. We spent all day looking at the Emerald Buddha, Ruby Buddha and just about any Buddha. But, this one was different. It stands at about the size of a football field and is about as tall as a pretty large office building. It was said that they had to build the building to cover the Buddha after it was built because it was so large.

Not only were these all great things to see about the Thai culture but I got a little of an inside look into Buddhism. We were able to enter a few of the temples and here are a few things I’ve learned: Don’t point your feet at the Buddha, it’s rude. Also, take your shoes off before you enter each temple. Along with that, the Thai people bow three times before they end their worship with Buddha. Those are just a few things I learned today but all of the traditions are beautiful.

The culture here is so amazing. To see how these people live everyday life is wonderful. I have woken up each day I’m here wondering if this is really real life. Am I really in Thailand? It blows my mind how amazing our God is for carefully thinking about each one of these people and cultures. We will be heading to the beach in Thailand for the next three days and I am so excited to see a more serene side of Thailand. Although I must say, Bangkok is amazing.

My little brothers 

Pink Taxis! 

Shopping malls are no joke here 

Cousins before the Long Tail boat 

Typical Thai River Village house 

Grand Palace from the water 

Bangkok traffic 

Going into the Temple 

Reclining Buddha 

Mr. Monk Man 

Grand Palace 

Bangkok City skyline 

Happy New Year!

           Wow! I can’t even express what kind of crazy ride this has been: literally and looking back at the year.  I got to finish my soccer career, keep a job that I love and grow closer in my relationships with people and the Lord. 

Not to mention, I’ve gotten to travel to some pretty cool places: North Carolina, New York, Philadelphia, Virginia and now Thailand! I left America about 2 days ago and right now I feel like I’m in another world. I haven’t traveled overseas since I went to London in 2011 and I was excited but so nervous to go to Thailand. This was my first adventure traveling completely solo. I had joked with friends that I was going to make some friends on the plane and I would enter Thailand with more friends than I left with.

Most people who know me know I’m a people person. I like to talk to people and find out about them. On my flight from Chicago to Tokyo I had the pleasure of sitting by a married couple from Chicago and a little boy from Japan. I was kind of ticked off that it was no one my age but I didn’t realize what an enjoyable time I would have talking to them.

I got to learn about the married couples travels all around the world and how the man is from Jordan- the country (haha). They told me all about where they loved to travel and about their kids. They even had to comfort me in some pretty bad turbulence as we were on the flight. The little boy, Rin, was from Japan and was the most polite 11 years old I have ever met. Him and I became quick friends and he couldn’t stop talking to me about his games and his home.

I must say that if it weren’t for my company, the flight would have been a lot less enjoyable. The first flight was 13 hours and the second flight was 7. I was antsy, anxious and nervous as the tv on the wall said we had 15 minutes until we reached Bangkok. It wasn’t until we all realized we were landing right at midnight that everyone got really excited. Some people on the plane started yelling Happy New Year and as we looked out the windows, there were fireworks everywhere. It definitely brought a smile to my face. Well, that and the fact that I could finally get off the plane.

2012 has brought so many memories and I am so looking forward to 2013. Not many people can say that they started out the New Year in a different country. It just reminds me how big how world is and in turn how big our God is. I am so blessed to be able to have this opportunity. I can’t wait to go out and explore Thailand! I'll be updating this blog every few days with some of the things I've been doing! 

When I Grow Up

            I know everyone remembers being in kindergarten and being asked, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” A multitude of crazy dreams were always in that line: astronaut, pilot, firefighter, professional soccer player, movie star and many more. Growing up, for some, seemed to have changed that fill-in-the-blank line. Now looking back at my childhood, I have changed careers about 12,784,783 times. Mostly because I realized what my strengths were, and definitely what my weaknesses were (cough cough, math).
          If you had asked me four and a half years ago if I could have imagined myself graduating college soon, I would have laughed. Like most people who leave high school, I always imagine myself going to college but never what would happen coming out of college. The majority of this last semester was busy and watching some of my close friends approach their  graduation day.  As Christmas break rolled,  I noticed my friends using Shutterfly's Christmas cards and this gave me some great ideas for helping my friends with their to-do lists for graduation. It's always a scary thing receiving invitations to my friends graduations knowing I will be there soon. It’s crazy to think that I have spent the last four and a half years preparing myself for what I am going to do the rest of my life. At this point, I have absolutely no idea where or what I will be doing in six months. Terrified is a good word for that.
          I know I don’t speak for myself when I say this semester seemed to fly by. All in 5 months time, my last soccer season came to an end, I finished the rest of my core classes and managed to stay afloat at work. I’ve also seen friends who have previously graduated go off and do amazing things.
          With graduation around the corner I ask myself, what do I want to be when I grow up?  For me, this doesn’t anymore fill in a profession but the kind of person I want to be. I want to be a good friend, family member, student, learner, caregiver , helper, volunteer and whatever role I may find myself in, in the years to come. I want to be able to give back what so many have given to me on this journey from kindergarten – college.  Most importantly, I want to be able to follow and use the gifts that Christ has given me. I may not know what I want to be just yet, but I know WHO I want to be.  This seems to be the most important lesson I might have learned throughout my schooling. Although I appreciated the years of real classes, I think the lessons I haven’t learned in the classroom are the most valuable ones.
         Six months. Six short months until I walk across the stage in front of teachers, family and friends. For now though,  I’ll enjoy Christmas break and realize all I have been given by my amazing God and the people in my life. Time may be flying by, but most of these moments are shaping us for the actual “grown up” part in life. As for me, I’m still working on my professional soccer career.



Just Kidding.

In Light of Thanksgiving

Normally this is the time of the year when everyone names off everything they are thankful for. Even Facebook has asked in the status box “What are you thankful for?” I began to think and it’s so hard to put into words everything I’m thankful for. First and foremost, I’m thankful for a God who loves and allows me to be blessed.  

When talking to my dad after thanksgiving dinner, he said something along the lines of “ life is just a game of chapters.” I then told him that the 20 something’s chapter is terrible because I literally have no idea about any future plans, which scares me.  At the same time, I think back and wonder how I got so blessed.

Recently, our soccer season ended, my last. While I’ve been going back and for the between happy and sad, I realize that after 18 years I’m pretty lucky to still be playing and that in itself makes me thankful.

Generally, I’d mention the whole cliché fact that I’m thankful for my friends and my family and how awesome they all really are. But, I really am. Driving away from Canyon yesterday, I realized that there were people there who I consider my family. How do you leave one family to go to the next? If it were up to me, I’d have all of my loved ones in one spot for thanksgiving or any holiday for that matter.

They say your friends are the family you make and I have been so blessed to have so many people I can call my friends. Whether I’m in Canyon, in San Antonio, New Jersey or any other part where my friends reside, I know I can look to them at any time.

As we are about to enter the New Year, there are so many uncertainties. Graduation is upon myself and a lot of my friends meaning new jobs, new start and some goodbyes. I’m thankful to have found a home and a passion for what I do at WT.  I’m also thankful that I’ve always had a place to come home to. Going to college definitely was hard by leaving my sister, brother and my parents but I am thankful to have them to come to, even in all our ups and downs.

            I genuinely am thankful for every opportunity and experience that I’ve had to date because I know each one have shaped who I am today. As for now, I’m ready to start the new chapter in my life whatever that may be but keeping a bookmark on the moments that I’m thankful for now. 

Moments

       Moments. Our lives are constantly defined by moments. The moment we are born, the moment we walk, the moment we talk all the way until the moments we create. There are moments you will want to remember for a lifetime and then there are those that impact you so greatly that you will want to share.
       One of those moments happened to my team this past weekend. Previously being ranked 6th by those in the conference, we knew we were in a good position in first place. We had joked about being in the top seed in our conference and how we had come so far from previous years. Nothing actually compared to the moment though, when number one became such a reality.
       We came out and beat Eastern New Mexico University in our last regular season game. We knew that if we won we would have a chance at a co-championship because of the way the standings were. On our ride home, we were constantly checking the score of the other game hoping that one school beat the other we were competing with. 20 minutes left, 10 minutes, overtime. It was as if time stood still. “Oh my gosh,” was all most of us needed to hear to know that the team we needed to lose had lost for us to become LSC regular season champions.
        This was the moment that I will remember as will most of my team. Pulling over in the gas station in Clovis, New Mexico were 22 girls jumping up and down celebrating a victory we had only talked about all season. The smiles that were on our faces can’t be forgotten.
        Not a lot of people realize what goes into sports. The time put into making yourself better from someone who has never stepped on the field to someone who plays 90 minutes of every game. The hard work, the effort, the late nights, two-a-day practices and many moments that make each season worth it. This year we knew what we needed was complete confidence in every team member and our abilities.
       We have yelled at each other, cried, laughed, joked and played with heart, strength and desire to lead up to the moment that we can say we did what no one really thought we could do. For most of the seniors, we’ve had multiple surgeries and have put every ounce of what we have into this sport. This moment made all of that pain worth it.
       This next week decides our real fate. Each of the seniors could be walking away from any given game, with that being our last. The reality of that is shockingly urgent. The moments leading up to the conference tournament and the moments during are something I know we can never have back. God has put each one of these players, coaches, trainers and teammates in my life to define these moments that make such great memories. These next moments are going to be moments that will be hard fought.  As to what will be our next moment? I’m not sure. But I know with a little heart, strength, desire and the Glory of God we can help shape our own moments in soccer and in life.