#6 - Each morning of camp, I have the pleasure of helping develop the soccer skills of campers. This summer we took them through a series of footwork/strength drills before working on soccer specific skills. My favorite thing to teach the kids is how to properly strike (shoot) the ball. The feel of a correctly struck ball brings a huge grin to their faces and I can't help but smile at their new confidence. 

#5 - Blooming Marigolds. When these gorgeous flowers started popping up in our flower bed, I couldn't believe it!!! The vibrant colors are amazing! I love how each pedal is outlined with gold. Such a great reminder of our Creator!

The other day I was driving with some gals through Mercato, the largest open air market in Africa, and this guy literally ran in front of our car!!! We were so impressed by the number of mattresses he was carrying and the speed at which he was moving. I think I could have carried only 2 at about half the pace!!! 

When we first moved to Langano, Loli was terrified of Bryan. For months she would run away crying if she saw him. Oh how a year changes things! Now she loves him and every time she spots a stray dog , she shouts "Bryan, na! Woosha alle!" Bryan come! There is a dog! Per her request Bryan grabs his pellet gun and shoots the dog loitering around the outdoor kitchen. When he hits the target the dog runs away, and Loli laughs as a goofy grin spreads across Bryan's face..two peas in a pod! 

*Note: Bryan uses a pellet gun as to not harm the animals. He only shots the stray dogs and baboons that bother the kitchen staff and campers. Many people in the community have contracted rabies after being bitten by the stray dogs. With the dynamic duo of Loli & Bryan protecting the compound, all are safe to work and play! 

#4 - Learning Cultural chants! During the last week of camp we had a group of kids from Wolaita, an area in the Southern part of Ethiopia. Multiple times a day we would all gather arm in arm and sing! "Ahshumb"!!!

#3 - I LOVE this man! I'm so blessed to get to see my husband throughout the work day and serve along side him.

Earlier this month we had a number of larger items in Addis that needed to be brought down to Langano. They included a couple of sofas, a dining room table and chairs and even some fence posts. Things that we could not fit all in our truck for one trip. So I decided to use the Isuzu truck that SIM owns to bring it all down in one trip. It is about the size of a flatbed tow truck. I was able to load everything and decided to head out to Langano in the morning. Those of you who have been to Langano can confirm that the drive down here is not exactly a peaceful relaxing experience. But what’s the big deal, I have driven that road many, many times over year and a half, right? The difference this time was that the truck’s windshield wipers were not working. As in, they just made things worse. Now, that is a problem seeing that most of the drive was through a complete down pour! Every small town I went through, I tried to find new wipers without any luck. Finally, four hours into the drive, I found some, but those first four hours where the most intense driving of my life. I am so grateful for the protection and safety along the way. Thanks for the prayers, they are literally keeping me alive :) 

#2 - Morning dew on a flower pedal

A couple weeks ago I received the book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I’m sure many of you women have probably read it or have it on your “To Read” list. Can I just say for a ‘non-reader,’ this book has been super fun to read. It is like Voskamp put all of her thoughts straight down on paper without being pressured into things like complete sentences :) How brilliant! I’m sure she did it all on purpose in some genius type of poetic prose. Her book dares the reader to live fully by celebrate grace and the power in gratitude by naming the blessings/gifts they receive.

Instead of just listing the blessings, I’m going to attempt to capture them in photos or videos. So here goes nothing :)

#1.  Fuzzy Foals (baby donkeys) :)

So everyone once in a while I get to brag about my awesome wife. Below is a story that she wrote about one of the female Sports Friends coaches that went through one of Nicole's training. This story was recently publish in SIM magazines in the UK & New Zealand. It is also on the SIM international website (http://sim.org/index.php/content/sports-friends-ethiopia-tigist). Ok, enough about my wife, read below to see how our great and mighty God is using sports to transform the lives of youth around the world!

Tigist loved to play football (soccer) with her friends. Nearly every day after school she worked hard to develop her foot skills by playing pick-up games in the streets around her home in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

One day she was invited to play in a tournament at an evangelical church in the area. Her parents were hesitant about letting her attend a church other than their own, but they agreed to let her play.

During the course of the competition, she met a man by the name of Alebachu. A trained sports minister, he coached football teams as an evangelistic outreach. Alebachu invited Tigist to join his team. After a while, she started attending the evangelical church and began wrestling with the conflict between its teachings about grace and salvation and those of the church in which she'd grown up. When her family started to put pressure on her about attending, she left the evangelical church. Though she continued to play football on Alebachu's team, she focused on the family religion.

One day Tigist became seriously ill, and her family took her to church for a healing ritual. But Tigist's health deteriorated. She remembers overhearing her parents say, "Surely, this is the day she will die." Then one of her neighbors, a woman with a strong Christian faith, came to visit Tigist. She asked if she and her pastors could pray for her. Feeling hopeless, and on the edge of death, Tigist accepted the offer.

Tigist was healed, and knowing it was God who healed her, she committed her life to him. She returned to the evangelical church, kept playing football, started studying the Bible with Alebachu and began proclaiming the gospel.

Her family did not believe that the Christian woman's prayer had healed their daughter. When Tigist refused to stop attending her new church and speaking about spiritual truths, they told her to move out. During this time her coach helped build the church community around her.

After awhile, Tigist's mother invited her to return home. Her parents tried to control her behavior by forbidding her to attend the new church and the football training. But Tigist's zeal for the Lord would not be thwarted, and she continued to attend both in secret.

In the last year, with the help of Alebachu and the local church, Tigist made the transition from player to coach. She selected 16 girls, aged 13 to 16, to play on her team, and then decided to give them a test. Tigist gave each member a piece of equipment to be responsible for bringing to training sessions. To her surprise, the girls arrived at the next session with all of the equipment.

Tigist enjoys leading her team and teaching them about integrity, discipline, responsibility, trustworthiness and stewardship. Asked why she chooses to coach, she responds, "When we were created, God made us for a purpose and right now I am fulfilling my purpose."

Building relationships takes time: it requires patience, perseverance and diligence. Tigist played on Alebachu's team for more than four years before she became a believer. Since then, he has spent three years discipling her and equipping her to use sports to share the good news of Jesus Christ with her team.

Thank God for men and women like Alebachu and Tigist who are impacting lives for eternity with the help of a futbol.