In September, my list of first constant of:
First time living overseas by myself for a
long-period of time (I still can’t believe that I am actually living in another
country- this totally freaks me out sometimes!!), first apartment, first year
of teaching, first paper cut of the school year, first time living in a city,
first case of lice in the classroom, first visit to Seoul, first time cooking
with eggplant and first Saturday spent at school working.
Adding to the list of first are: coaching the
girl’s high school soccer team, planning a bridal shower (by the end of year I
will have had plan 3), riding in a taxi by myself, going to the doctor’s and
getting a shot of antibiotic into my bottom and planning my first field trip by
myself.
Something that has added to my schedule after
school is coaching my school’s high school girls’ soccer team. I have never
coached before, but I have always had desire to someday. Of course I thought I
would be an assisted first, but when you teach at small school where others are
just not passionate about coaching soccer (totally fine they are passionate
about many other great things!!!) you jump right into being the head coach! We
have been practicing for about three weeks now. We just had a week of two games
and we won both of them! Hooray! I have never been more nervous in my life. If
you know me you probably know that I am super competitive inside and if you
didn’t know this oh, good I try to keep it hidden because it is embarrassing!
Coaching
soccer has definitely been a huge eye opener for me in who I am, the impact
that I can have on others and learning how to have grace with myself and my
team. My prayer these days is that I will have the confidence I need to coach
these girls well spiritually, personally and in their soccer skills.
The other
day one of wives of a co-worker asked me if I was modelling my coaching off
of a coach I had when I was younger. Honestly, not really! The coaching philosophy
that I have develop is a mixture of seeing things that I didn’t like my coaches
doing and doing the opposite and also watching the coaches at Taylor University
coach. My deep desire is that my team of
girls will glorify God by their actions on and off the field. We talk about this
constantly and what it means to do this. It means to be kind and encouraging to
one another. It means to play as a team. It means to uplift one another. It means that we pray to God before and after a game no matter what the score giving Him all the glory. This
has been so humbling for me as our game on Friday was not a good game of
soccer, but I have realized that instead of getting really mad at my girls
tomorrow at practice before our next game I need to encourage them and speak
truth into their lives about how well I know they can play. One thing I love
about coaching soccer is that I get to know these amazing high school girls who
are just trying to make it through high school years with so many life
obstacles. I feel so blessed to be a part of their day!
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| My Team! :) |
Something else that I
have learned is that I need to give my self-grace. Grace is something
that constantly comes across my mind as I am coaching practice-sometimes a
drill is a complete fail, but I just quietly give myself grace and move on. I have also realized how important it is to give my girls grace as well. I do know that they are improving and are only
playing with twelve ladies on the team. Even though soccer adds so much
business to my life I am definitely thankful for it and find much joy in
coaching these girls.
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| After our very rainy game! |
The new firsts that I have added to my list are ones that I can honestly
say have given me joy (coaching), tears (shot), a feeling of independence (taxi ride), abundance
of love (bridal showers), and a feeling of satisfaction (planning my first field trip-I will
let you know how it goes!!)
These firsts are just another way that I believe
God is drawing me closer to his heart and shaping me into the woman He has created me to be.
Well, I made it a goal this week to be in bed by
8:30pm to read and relax so that I can have the energy I need to teach, coach
and do life this week! I am not going to quite make it tonight, but I will be
close! J
Love,
Daniella
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