Field day

Today we had a giant field day at a local stadium and all the kids at the schools we've been working at this week were invited. It was a time filled with joy, lots of giggles, and the goodness of our God....and a bit of His humor too. Anyone who knows me knows that in any competition I do not like to be the worst, and more than that, I definitely do not like to lose. But of course, my team was the worst- like absolutely terrible- at everything and lost every competition (by a huge amount.) God is a funny guy. He knows that the moment something is called a "competition" I easily lose sight of the main purpose, and just focus on winning.  So naturally, he practically removed every aspect of competition and simply left me with the opportunity to love on my team and to encourage them at their worst. Even though we lost, by a lot, I loved every so single second of it. In the midst of the competition..and the losing..I got a picture of what Jesus sees when He looks at us. A whole bunch of children who have no idea what they are doing despite the fact that they believe they do. Children who need a lot of coaching, help, and direction. And you know what? He doesn't care that we lose and lose and lose. He loves us right in the middle of our failures, and is eager to step in and coach/encourage us along the way. I love that. I love that us being so awful gave me the opportunity to make a silly competition a tool and method for explaining the Gospel.  Before we left, God had one more funny move up His sleeve. I was to leave my "fast shoes" with a sweet little boy who had been playing barefoot all day. While in principal this seems like a good idea and something that shouldn't be a funny thing for God to ask of me... I don't have another pair of tennis shoes here in Africa and I strongly dislike when my feet are dirty. But nonetheless I slipped my shoes off and slid them over to my sweet boy. He couldn't believe it and wouldn't put them on at first. When I assured him that it was okay he gladly slid his perfectly sized feet into them and looked at me with his big chocolate colored eyes and said, "thank you. Now I can win because I'll be fast." He looked so precious in His new-to-him pink nikes and was grinning ear to ear. I have never been more satisfied with dirty-germy feet in my entire life. I walked out of the stadium this evening with a heart that so full it was about to burst and feet so dirty I couldn't help but laugh.  We may have lost field day, but my team, all 12 of them,  won The Crown of Life.