The Power of Prayer

Oh my gosh!  Today I stayed late to help the girls with volleyball again, and I lost the office key!  There’s a little like 2 inch square pocket inside my workout shorts…and I always put it in there when I’m playing football, running, etc…but today when it was time to go…it wasn’t there!  I started freaking out because it’s the only key to the office…all my stuff was in there…the windows were open and the lights and fan were on (there are bars across the window, though, so an open window doesn’t mean easy access)…and I just knew I NEEDED to find it.  A couple of the kids started looking with me, but in about 10 minutes it had gotten completely dark, so I was in even more dire straits.  I started praying, got a flashlight, and began retracing all the places I’d been (which was like everywhere since I was leading the girls in physical training exercises today).  Goscomorrow (he needed me to open the office so that he could get the keys for the room that his stuff was in = /) and a couple of the kids were helping me, and Seth and Terry…who were on their way out…came back and helped me look.  I looked everywhere…and still couldn’t find it.  I even walked back and forth on the soccer pitch, as if I were vacuuming the place, which took forever…but still couldn’t find it.  I was praying so hard, thinking to Heavenly Father that, with the money I lost I wanted to find it…but with this key I needed to find it.  Terry kept saying I should check upstairs (I made the girls run the stairs today)…but I had already checked it thoroughly twice!  Well…lo and behold…I went upstairs a third time and found the key = )  I was SO relieved and happy and grateful…and humbled = )

So…like I said…today I did conditioning with the girls.  I started them in the library, where I asked them why they wanted to play volleyball (to win, to work their bodies, to get fit) and then worked in a little presentation on calories and metabolism and exercise.  I just felt like they needed that foundation so that they would understand, and have a little incentive, when I started having them run and strength train.  I also gave an overview of the game…because some of the girls know nothing about the rules or the dynamics of volleyball.  Then we went outside and ran stairs, did lunges, did pushups, ran laps, jumped stairs, did suicides, worked our abs, did calf raises, did triceps dips…and practice bumping and setting.  You can imagine my excitement when one of the girls (who‘s one of the leaders of the pack ; ), after we had been hitting the ball for awhile, asked if we could do more exercises!  I was like, of COURSE!  It’s so fun to pass on some of the things I’ve learned because of my passion for health!  I feel like so much of what we consider common knowledge, concerning nutrition and exercise, is news to people here.  And even at home, we have so many misconceptions.  I just think that a lot of people would make different choices if they were just better informed, ya know?  It just feels like I’m helping them to feel more empowered, more capable, more stronger (just saying stronger didn’t have quite the same ring…haha = )…and it’s so rewarding!  Generally, this is still a very traditional society in terms of gender roles (don’t get me wrong…I agree with traditional gender roles to a certain extent), to the point that I think wives are often subservient to their husbands and women to men.  But I want these girls to see that they can keep up with the boys = )  Anyways…it definitely helps my day knowing that I have that to look forward to = )