Feeling Inadequate.

I'm leading a small women's retreat this weekend. 
It feels weird to even type that out. My friend Brittany (who played basketball for me and was my assistant coach with JV) is a senior at NC State University and president of the Christian sorority there. They have a retreat for their executive board at the beginning of each school year right before they welcome their new members.
Brittany asked me to lead it and my first thought was - wait, how old am I? She's 21...am I not just 22 still? No? 25? Really? Well then.
(I'm stuck at 22 in my head. I don't know when that feeling will go away. I'll keep you posted.)
My second thought was yay! Another awesome opportunity! Thank You, Lord! So I responded with a "yes!" after I talked to Jordan of course and received his encouragement.
Then came my third thought....what in the WORLD am I doing? And I had a mental panic attack. A huge sense of inadequacy. I tried to think of all the reasons I'm qualified to do this: I just worked at camps with girls that age, I've led multiple Bible studies, it's not that big of a group, I help Jordan lead our youth group, I've coached girls for years, blah blah blah. Didn't help.
Because guess what? None of that matters! 
I'm feeling inadequate because I AM inadequate.
The awesome thing is that I serve a Savior who is absolutely, completely beyond adequate. I will never be fully prepared or feel "worthy" to teach His Word to others. I fail Him daily. But He showers me with grace! 
I claim this amazing passage of Scripture:
 "9 And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
You know how people always say, "God will never give you more than you can handle." 
That statement is misleading and NOT accurate. It is commonly taken from 1 Corinthians 10:13 where God promises us we will not be tempted beyond what we are able to withstand - there is always a way of escape from temptation.
God will and has absolutely given me more than I can handle many, many times. 
Things that have brought me to my knees or even to my face on the ground crying with no words. No way to humanly express the hurt, the pain, the frustration other than just repeating over and over, "I can't. I just can't."
Because I truly can't handle it as a broken, sinful human. But...JESUS can. The HOLY SPIRIT can. 
God will never give me more than HE can handle.
God will never assign me a task that He won't equip me to do for His glory. Through His strength. Since I have been redeemed and have surrendered my life to Christ, I have the power of the Holy Spirit in me! Ahhh! That brokenness and sinfulness has been replaced with Jesus' power and righteousness.
Just thinking about that makes me want to jump for joy! I have seen it proven over and over. So that's the promise I rest in every day. He must increase, I must decrease. (John 3:30)
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." - Philippians 4:13 (I bet you've heard that one before.)
I still struggle with inadequacy (obviously) but that's the wonderful thing about having a relationship with God. I can read His Word and be reminded of His promises to me. I can pour my heart out to Him and be comforted, knowing I have the peace that passes all understanding. (Philippians 4:7) I can talk to other older, wiser believers about it. I can look at godly examples and see that they struggle with the same thing and look to Jesus as their strength.
I love how Beth Moore literally gets on her knees and prays, giving her sessions to the Lord right before she speaks. You better believe that's what I'll be doing this weekend!

*Disclaimer - that is a cardboard cutout of Beth Moore. At her conference. Haha.*

In a rut.

I'm currently in a rut.
Spiritually.
Physically.
Emotionally.
In a rut.
I haven't been in the Word like I should. In prayer like I should. Working out like I should. Cooking like I should. Blogging/spending time on uplifting hobbies like I should.
I've been trying to figure out why, but I'm not sure. It's like the holidays were SO crazy that afterward I just crashed and haven't gotten up. 
I know that the most important...actually wait, ONLY important part of this equation is my relationship with God. Which then affects all other areas of my life. Lately I've been just fitting it in. Reading God's Word and praying when I have time. Which is ridiculous.
I can't just give God snippets of my day. He is the holy God of the universe who gave me life and gave me salvation. I live to bring Him glory. 
I want to love Him more than anything. Love Him more than I love my sweet husband.  Which honestly, I don't know if I can claim right now.
So I just want to take this moment to confess my lack of faith and commitment. 
And to praise the Lord for saving a wretch like me. His mercies are new EVERY morning, and tomorrow is a new day.

Our Church and Beliefs.

A common question I'm asked is about what type of church we attend. What denomination are we? What are our specific beliefs?  These are not questions with simple answers.  Usually I say, "We are non-denominational."  And then I get, "Oh, so you're like such-and-such church down the road?" (They just name a church that doesn't have Baptist/Methodist/Presbyterian in the name.) "Well....no." "Well then what are you??" And this is when I ask them if they really want to know, because it might take me a little while to explain. First and foremost, we're simply followers of Christ. Saved by grace through faith. Serving a living God with whom we have a relationship. Living to bring Him glory. But one of the greatest joys that we can have here on this earth is to fellowship with other believers - sharing a common purpose of glorifying the Lord and spreading the gospel. Since we are humans/sinners/not perfect, we base our "church" gathering on New Testament principles. For some it may seem old-fashioned. There are a few things that may stand out to you if you visited our church. Things that may seem different or unusual to you. I'm going to direct you to our church website for an explanation of these differences - Mark Frees did a far better job than I could have when he wrote this article on New Testament Assembly principles that is on our church website. (Western Wake Bible Chapel) I encourage you to read the whole article for a better understanding. Here are a few points you will learn about as you read. 1. The Lord's Supper - We break bread every Sunday and have a set apart service to do so. The meeting is all about what Christ did for us. Men share Scripture, prayer, and songs as they are led by the Holy Spirit - there is no set "speaker". 2. No "pastor" - We are led by elders, men of our assembly who are mature believers and committed to leading our assembly.  3. Men and women's roles. Our church specifically is a gathering of about 40-50 people who meet in Apex. Although we are small, we have a pretty diverse group. Jordan and I are able to learn from other couples our age, older believers, and help with the younger ones. We are SO thankful for our assembly! Currently we are renting out Potter's Hand Bible Church on Sunday evenings so that's where you can find us. The "church" is definitely not the building, but the body of believers. We are searching for a new building in Apex to accommodate our growth, though! It can be hard to understand all of this unless you actually visit. (Please do!) I hope the article answers some of the questions I've gotten concerning our church, but I will be happy to answer more if you'd like to email me!  Speaking of email, I'm about to go on a crazy email rampage this week. I've gotten so, so behind in even looking at it. Please forgive me! Hope you're having an amazing Sunday. God is so good.

Take heart!

I thought I would have a little more time for blogging lately. I unfortunately was wrong. Maybe this weekend after we take our youth group to the youth rally things will be a tiny bit less busy.

Usually I'm an extremely upbeat, optimistic, bubbly person. But lately it's just been rough. I'm exhausted and have honestly been a little down. Yes, I'm SO BLESSED beyond measure and I'm involved in a lot of great things. I'm thankful for my job and all of my activities. I guess I'm just a little weary lately. 

And you know what? Being weary of this world and all that it throws at me and requires of me is not a bad thing necessarily. It makes me rely on Christ's strength and not my own. It makes me realize that this is not my home - my home is an eternal one in heaven. (Philippians 3:20-21)

It makes me rest in a promise like this one, which I have displayed to constantly remind me at home.

I pray that you can rest in this promise today too. No matter what our battles here on this earth are, we already have the victory in Christ.

Beware of Christians.

Thought provoking title, right? 

That's the name of the documentary film Jordan recently bought and we watched together last week. 
"Beware of Christians" is about four college guys who were raised in Christian families trying to figure out what being a Christ follower TRULY means. 
I thought it was inspiring, motivational, challenging, Christ-centered, and hilarious.
The guys travel through Europe, opening their eyes to cultures far different from the USA, especially the South. They tackle some tough topics and genuinely discuss their faith and struggles. Struggles that we can all relate to, no matter what age or where we are in life. They go to Scripture to see exactly what the Bible says about each issue instead of just offering their opinions.
I highly recommend it. Here's the trailer.

It's not a film that gives you all the answers - that's what the Bible is for. (It's straight up God's Word after all.) It's a film that makes you THINK. And challenges you.

Jordan will be watching it with his Bible study tomorrow night. I want to watch it with pretty much everyone I know, haha. 

Oh, and a side note for the ladies - this also shows that there ARE guys who are seeking to follow our Savior and be godly leaders. Some girls seem to think that those guys don't really exist, especially college-age ones, but they DO. 

You can buy the film at their website: www.bewareofchristians.com. Please do.

And if you've seen it - let me know what you think!

no greater love.

"Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God."

Ephesians 3:17-19

Happy Valentine's Day!

How deep the Father's love for us,

How vast beyond all measure,

That He should give His only Son,

To make a wretch His treasure.

How great the pain of searing loss,

The Father turns His face away,

As wounds which mar the Chosen One,

Bring many sons to glory.

Behold the Man upon the cross,

My sin upon His shoulders,

Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,

Call out among the scoffers.

It was my sin that held Him there,

Until it was accomplished.

His dying breath has brought me life,

I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything,

No gifts, no power, no wisdom,

But I will boast in Jesus Christ,

His death and resurrection.

Why should I gain from His reward?

I cannot give an answer,

But this I know with all my heart,

His wounds have paid my ransom.

Oh, how I need You, Lord.

Please listen to this song.
I was introduced to it about a year and a half ago when my husband (then boyfriend) sang it at church and I could not hold back the tears. I never can. When I cannot put into words what I need to say to the Lord, this song always comes to mind.
Oh, how I need Him. Oh, how I love Him. Oh, how I want to love Him more.
His strength is made perfect in weakness, and my heart rests in His grace.

The Swift - I Need You

My heart is restless in me
My wings are all worn out
I'm walking in the wilderness
And I cannot get out
I need You, Oh, I need You
Blessed Savior come
I need You, Oh, I need You
Fill the every longing in my soul

CHORUS
Oh, how I need You, Lord
I need Your perfect Word
With tearful eyes to see 
The sin that I afford
I need to weep and pray
For all the thousand ways
That I have failed You just today

My bed is soaked with sadness
My sadness has no end
A downward spiral of despair
That I keep falling in
I need You, Oh, I need You
To You my soul shall fly
I need You, Oh, I need You
Yaweh, how I love You more than life

CHORUS

Your silence is like death to me
So won't You hear my desperate plea

Today my soul is soaring
Way over mountains high
Though I can see the valleys
They're all just passing by
It's not that I am stronger
Look at my feeble wings
But I've been lifted higher
Yaweh's lifted me in His own strength

Oh, how I love You, Lord
I love Your perfect Word
With tearful eyes to see 
The God who always will endure
Now I will celebrate
For all the thousand ways
That You have shown me grace
And made my heart in grace to stay
You've made my heart in grace to stay
Lord, make my heart in grace to stay

I need You, Oh, I need You

Justin Bieber, basketball, Joshua, and Caleb.

Wondering how those people tie in with basketball? Well, wonder no longer because you're about to get told.
Wait. That's not what I meant. That sounds completely threatening. You're not about to get told. We're not about to have a street fight. I'm just going to simply tell you. (Glad I caught that. It was about to get crazy up in hurr.)
Yesterday I had an away game with my JV girls basketball team. We loaded up the bus and headed out to play, only to get there and find out our game was going to be an hour later than we thought. Grrr. Good thing I had my Kindle. :)
So while we were sitting there waiting, the girls talked to some of their friends who go to the school we were playing. Apparently their friends were talking about how good their JV girls are and that they hadn't lost a game.
Have I mentioned that we hadn't won a game? Yeah, I guess that's kinda important to mention. We've lost two games by 2 points, and one game by 1, but still hadn't gotten that W. 
So as you can imagine, the girls were a litttttle intimidated by this. Then they saw their opponents walking around. They were tall. They looked strong. Oh dear.
When I met them in the locker room after they had gotten ready, they were talking about this situation. Saying things that didn't sound very hopeful. Although in my mind I was thinking the same things, I put a quick stop to all of our thinking by saying that we did NOT need to go into the game with that attitude. 
This was when one of my girls chimed in and said, "This is just like the land of Canaan." 
Some of the other girls just stared at her, confused.
"You know, when the group of Israelites went to check out the land of Canaan before they were going to take it over, and they thought the people looked too intimidating and big. They didn't want to do it anymore and they were scared. Except for Joshua and Caleb."
Okay, let me pause right here and say that I normally do a devotion before games, but this girl had just straight up done a devotion that directly applied to our situation without even meaning to. Wow. I was stunned. This is a girl who is around 15 years old.
This inspired me to no end. If only I could always have a heart like that, an attitude that looks at situation and immediately applies what I know from Scripture to it. God gives us so many amazing examples in the Bible of people who went through trials. They were REAL people, not just stories. It's awesome that we can relate to them!
As you may know, Joshua and Caleb were the only Israelites who had faith that God would help them defeat the big guys. The other Israelites almost STONED them for being so optimistic. But they knew the Lord would help them. Because of this, they were the only ones who were able to enter the Promised Land. Yeah...their attitudes paid off.
So there we were, one second complaining about how hard the game could be, and the next second dwelling on the fact that with God, anything is possible.
And you know what we did? We went out there and completely ran the floor. I spent the entire game in amazement. Our first win was against a team who hadn't lost. We scored 43 points. To put that into perspective, our highest scoring game thus far had been 19 points. Yeah. Crazy awesome.
I was so proud of them. Yes, for winning and playing ridiculously great, but most of all for their attitude shift before the game. That's exactly what believers are supposed to do - encourage each other and lift each other up with God's promises and with Scripture. In EVERY situation.
How does J. Biebz fit into this? Well for some reason when I was picturing Joshua and Caleb having faith that went against what everyone else was saying, this song immediately popped into my head. 

Thanks, Justin. If they ever make a movie about Joshua and Caleb, you could be on the soundtrack.

the world's tiny tower.

I have an old phone. I like my phone a lot. It lets me talk. It lets me text. It can take pictures. That's about it. But I mean...why would I need a crazy intelligent phone that is basically a mini computer? I don't even have a real job yet. I know that people say once you have a fancy phone you never go back. I'm going to prolong that as much as possible.

Jordan, on the other hand, travels with work frequently. So he upgraded to the pocket computer talking device a while ago. Since Jordan now has a fancy smart phone, I have the privilege of using his old iTouch whenever he doesn't need it. You may think that I would get a bunch of apps and use Facebook on it and even do blog stuff on it. But no. I've only downloaded one app. That app is Tiny Tower.

What is Tiny Tower? It's a game where you build a tower floor by floor. People (they're called "Bitizens") move into your tower and you hire them for jobs as you build more floors. For example, so far I have a burger place, an Asian restaurant, a museum, barber shop, bookstore, video store, photo studio, and apartments for my Bitizens. My friend Carrie has gotten me hooked on this game. Whenever I have a dull moment during the day, I am probably restocking my stores and hiring Bitizens (if I'm not texting Jordan). They even have their own Facebook (it's called Bitbook) where the Bitizens post statuses. Awesome, I know.

Okay so this is a huge time waster I know this. I promise I don't work on my Tiny Tower while I'm driving. Promise. But I do have a point in telling you about Tiny Tower.

The Bitizens all have different likes and dislikes. They also have a happy meter that shows you if they are at their ultimate level of happiness. You know how they can reach that top level of happiness? By landing their "dream job". If you build a store or restaurant or whatever and that place is their dream job, if you hire that Bitizen they will be fulfilled in their Tiny Tower life.

I can't help but relate this to real life. It's sooo like the real world. People go to school for years and years and work hard to eventually get their dream jobs. Which will make them happy. Or feel fulfilled. To give them a purpose. To make money. To support their families. So their kids can go to school for years and years and work hard to eventually get their dream jobs. And the cycle continues. I don't think my Bitizens can have kids but that'd be a nice add on.

I'm so thankful that the grace of God has given me an eternal purpose. Nothing I can do on my own is worthwhile. The only thing that matters is giving God glory. Which is something that I need to remind myself of everyday. (And when I'm spending too much time on my Tiny Tower.)

But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth. - Exodus 9:16

I'm on the search for a full time job. In the real world. I do not want to be like a Bitizen. I don't want to search for a dream job that will make me happy. First of all, I'm already happy because I have the joy of the Lord regardless of my circumstances. I'm blessed beyond words. I have God's love, grace, and mercy. So I don't need a big income or a fun job to make me happy. I have to check my motives though, because my sinful nature tends to look only for jobs that sound exciting or fun, or that have a good paycheck.

I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill His purpose for me. - Psalm 57:2

I am crying out to God Most High. I am so thankful that He is sovereign. I have no idea what I'm going to be doing in the future, but I cannot figure it out on my own. I don't want my selfish desires to motivate my job search. It's not easy though. I need to focus on my relationship with Him first and foremost. Only then can I not be a Bitizen. Unlike Bitizens, I have a personal relationship with my Creator and Savior, Who gives me a reason to live. So I guess even if He never gives me a job, if I'm honoring Him then that's what matters. Only God knows.

This has been a subject that is constantly on my heart and in my head so it helps me to type it out. I appreciate your prayers so much. If you are on the job search too, then I'd love to talk to you about it and pray with you about it. Let's leave the Tiny Tower that this world offers us.

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. - Proverbs 19:21

camp!

Camp was amazing. Except for missing Jordan…that was pretty hard and I know it would have intensified every act of fun that I had if he had been there. But besides that, camp was amazing. I’m so thankful for the opportunity God gave me to go and learn about how to Walk His Way!

Just to be more to the point, I’ll make a list of what I loved about counseling at camp.

1. The meetings that we had twice a day - learning what true faith really means and what it takes. Uncle Eric is an awesome speaker who definitely spoke the Word all week! It was awesome to see God using him for His glory. I’m so thankful I was able to listen to such great teaching and I’m going to meditate on the Scriptures he used even more. I’m definitely more fired up about walking God’s way than I was a week ago. :)

2. The campers. Oh how I loved the campers. There was such a fun group of them and it was encouraging to see young people (ages 15-19) passionate for the Lord. They inspired me. But I’ll get more specific.

3. My cabin. We had the sweetest group of girls. They all got along well and seemed to build each other up. We even won awards for having the cleanest cabin all week. :) I especially loved our devotions each night when the girls would share their thoughts and questions on what we had learned that day. They would make simple but convicting points that still stick with me right now. One of my sweet girls kept reminding us that “what you put in your mind is what comes out”, and she could not be more right. If we are in the Word and focus on "whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report" (Phil.4:8), then that is what will take over our thoughts and how we act. Such an excellent reminder.

4. My team. I was the co-leader of the Green Team. It was one out of five teams, and each team had about 20 kids. My team wasn’t the best at memorizing all of their verses…and we didn’t win many games…and we ended up in fourth place…but there is no doubt that we were the most entertaining team. Heavily distracted, yes, but oh so amusing. For instance, one moment we’re having a meeting, the next we’re having a dance-off.

Or maybe having a tricycle race. Or a no-hands tetherball game. But who knew they'd pull off an awesome musical performance like they did? I was so proud of them. For their end of the week musical skit thing they used the song “Don't Waste Your Life” by LeCrae. The lyrics are definitely worth looking up. Some of you can see the video on Facebook. It's impressive. Anyway, I will miss my team soo much. They made my time at camp a blast.

One of the funniest people I've ever met.

5. Counseling with my cousin. Technically cousin-in-law, but I’m tired of referring to all of Jordan’s family members with “in-law” at the end, and I feel like I’ve always meant to be family with them anyway, so I’ll just leave it to “cousin”. I liked Brooke the first time I ever met her (along with the rest of my new cousins), but I got to know her a lot better since I spent seven nights in the bed next to her. :) It was honor to be a counselor with such a godly woman. She made me feel so comfortable with everything and answered my millions of questions. I already miss her.

6. Other members of the Shelley clan. I also got to spend quality time with Jordan’s parents, Joseph, Anna, Josh, Danielle, Harvey, Blaine, Thomas, Uncle Eric, Hope, Grace, and other random people who I didn’t even know were related to me until last week. Which was AWESOME. I am so thankful for these amazing people. Their encouragement and godly influence is such a blessing.

all of us doing the "Shelley Power" sign :)

7. Outdoorsy activities that I do not normally do. Such as hiking up the mountain. Killing endless bugs. And most importantly - the "death swing". Which is this thing where you have to climb up a ladder and then a giant net to go up a tree, until you get to this platform and get hooked onto a cord. You then just jump off and freefall at first until the cord starts swinging you back and forth. For those who know me and know how much I anticipate things and get myself worked up about them, you would probably think I would decide not to do this. But I did. And it was fun.

8. Receiving mail. Being away from electronic devices was so great. I mean....I'm thankful that I'm typing right now and that I'm connected to loved ones online and all that, but it's just so cool to get away from all that stuff for a while. And not only that, but I got to send letters back and forth with my husband and family. :) Letters are fantastic. Jordan was so sweet to write to me and he even sent me a package with candies and gum and such. It was soooo encouraging because I was aching from missing him. I love him. If you haven't noticed.

9. The music. My brother Joseph led the singing, which was amazing of course. Brian helped out and Stephanie was baller on the drums. Then at the end of the week my talented husband sang "In the Light" by dc talk, and Uncle Eric sang a couple songs too. I love the Shelley musicalness. The camp songs are sooo stuck in my head but I like it. I walk around singing them and doing all of the motions. Can't wait for Joe and Jordan to lead music at Extreme Weekend in September when we'll be back at Mountain Top! :) Yeaauuhhh.

That about sums it up. There were also fun games and lots of awesome verses to memorize and good food and fun activities. But I'll just stop with nine. Would I do it again? Yes. I want to do anything that God wants me to do to serve Him. But I would hope next time that He would also want Jordan to do it at the same time.

And if you are a camper or a MTYC staffer and you are reading this - I miss you and I love you. And I'm praying for you. And I miss you.

a story of faith and basketball.

so, as you may know, basketball season is here. i am so excited i can barely contain it. i will probably talk about it a lot, so if you hate basketball then i apologize, but most of it probably won't even be about the sport itself so just bear with me. such as this post, which will be about one of my favorite girls in the world. but she wasn't always one of my favorite girls. actually, you could even go as far as to say that i was not fond of her. but i will explain.


back in the '06-'07 Wake Christian basketball season, my first year of helping my dad coach, the girls made it to the state championship for the second year in a row. that year they won. it was a wonderful day to say the least. they played against Grace Christian School, who had a history of great basketball teams. they also had a middle schooler on their varsity team with long brown hair and a killer 3-point shot. she was impressive, especially for someone who wasn't even in high school yet.

fast forward a couple years to the '08-'09 season. the Wake girls are in the state championship for the fourth year in a row. the pressure is on, and the Buffaloe who runs the court is working towards leading her team to a 3-peat. everyone is on edge from the game that was barely won the night before. Dad does his pre-game devotion and turns his attention on what the focus is for the big game. offensively: run our stuff, do what we know. defensively: tight pressure, and don't you dare let LBPT shoot a 3. who or what in the world is LBPT you may ask, and that is a great question. well Dad has a habit of giving little nicknames to opposing teams' best players. nothing ugly or demeaning, just something descriptive to call them when he's telling his players to be in their shorts. on this state championship day, it is "LBPT" - Long Braided Pony Tail. yes, the guard with the long brown hair and the automatic 3-pointer is back in her sophomore year. and every break, time-out, and at halftime, Dad is drawing the letters LBPT on his worn out dry erase board, circling them a million times in his exaggerated way, emphasizing not to let this girl shoot. well, to make a long story short, whatever they did that day worked. the Wake girls came out victorious yet again, due to three awesome seniors and a season of hard work. and we left LBPT to be faced again the next year.

(LBPT - #12 in the background)


that summer, as we are discussing the upcoming season and how to prepare for it, my dad drops a bomb on me. 


"So...you remember LBPT from Grace, right? The one who shoots the 3's?"

"Um...yeah. You only said that acronym about four thousand times during the championship game. I was not likely to forget."

"Oh, yeah. Right." (Dad is often unaware of his sarcastic exaggerations, so i tend to point them out for him with my own sarcastic exaggeration. like father like daughter.) 

"What about her? Is she still in the 8th grade and we just didn't know it?"

"No, she's actually a junior this year believe it or not. And she's going to play for us."

i was floored. excuse me? play for WHO? us as in Wake Christian? on our team? with our girls? no way. you must be out of your ever living mind. well i didn't say all those things but i sure did think them. this kind of thing just does NOT happen in our conference. it was weird and i didn't know how it would work. but we were both just going to have to wait for it all to unfold.


so summer workouts started and LBPT showed up. i found out she had an actual name: Faith. Faith from Grace. that kind of confused me for some reason. i kept wanting to call her Grace. she was quiet but nice. Katherine overwhelmed her with loud bubbly comments, Brittany welcomed her sweetly, and Suzanne gave her a nod or some other G-like gesture. and so it began.


Faith came to almost every summer workout, practicing her 3's and being consistent. but it became clear to us that she could be used for so much more than just 3's. why just stick her in the corner or on the wing? we needed to utilize every ability she had. so we worked with her and tried to get her ready for the upcoming season. she was nice, quiet, coachable. things were going smoothly, but she still felt like a stranger to me.


then the season came. at first, it started out with Faith making little comments here and there. throwing in a word about whatever ridiculous statement Katherine was making. saying something to make Emily laugh her booming laugh she's known for. challenging Suzanne herself. woah. this Faith girl has quite the personality or so it seemed. little had we known that over the next few weeks, we would learn that Faith is a feisty, hilarious, firecracker of a girl. maybe she had been holding back. maybe she knew that if she showed up at Wake armed with witty comments and awesome dance moves, we would be in too much awe. so she waited and let us in a little bit at a time. 

Autumn, me, and Faith after the Bulldog Classic

Faith and Katherine with their 5hr energys!



yes, she hits 3's for us. she still has a long, braided ponytail. she also plays excellent defense and drives to the basket with the presence of a 6 foot 2 girl. but that's not why we love her. we love her because she's become such a huge part of our team. our family. it seems like she always has been a part of it. i cannot imagine the team without Faith. she's a senior now, and a leader. a teammate who inspires others to play harder and to keep going even when they think they can't do it. she consistently lifts our spirits and makes basketball fun. 


God's plans surprise me sometimes. Faith has been one of those surprises. and i could not be more thankful that He wanted her on our team and in our lives. it is evident that she belongs with us. our basketball family would not be complete without our little Faithers. i dread the day that she moves on from Wake Christian. we only got to have her for 2 years! it's not fair. can't we just hold onto her a little bit longer? but God knew that 2 years was all we needed to fall in love with #24. she's going to have to go spread her amazing personality and testimony with the world. and i'm going to have to let her go.


i'm so blessed to have Faith Simpson in my life. and so is the team. so whenever you see her hitting 3's or popping up on dance videos, just know that she is a special gift we never thought we'd have. and that now, we couldn't live without.


i love you, Faithers.

the seniors: Meredith, Nicole, Katie L, Suzanne, Faith, and Katie R