My Wednesdays.

Every Wednesday I wake up knowing that my afternoon will be the most tiring afternoon of the week, but also the best! It's that kind of exhaustion that makes you sit and think about how blessed you are to be able to do what you are doing. So, what am I actually talking about? Well, every Wednesday afternoon I get go play 'soccer' with about 100+ refugee kids who have moved to Abilene from places such as Africa or Bhutan.

About a year ago, some of my good friends decided to branch out from a regular 'church going' Wednesday night. They took a soccer ball to an apartment complex where they knew refugee kids lived. They made lots of noise which brought about 10 kids outside, and they started playing soccer with them each week. Well, each week it grew and grew, and well, the rest is history! Now Jason and Stephen have actually moved to Africa (you can read their blog here), and they are doing awesome work with a ministry in Kenya!

Now, a year later, about 25 college students go pick up kids from about 5 different apartments and bring kids over to a big field at Madison Middle School. These kids are such a blessing. They push you and love you. If you sit down you are gauranteed to have about 5 little girls start playing with your hair. It is awesome.

Lets be real. I don't have a soccer playing bone in my body. So, we started doing cheerleading with the girls. (a little bit more my tempo) We taught them jumps, stunts, and cheers. One of the volunteers is the Bold Gold sponser at AHS, and she made it possible for our girls to go cheer at the AHS vs. CHS volleyball game. It was so great to hear those little accents shouting! Suffiect it to say, those 30 little girls were louder than both cheerleading squads combined.

So, every Wednesday we go pick up kids, listen to some Justin Bieber with the windows down, play soccer, football, cheerleading, tennis, duck duck goose, and red light green light, and have a discussion on things such as friendship, forgiveness, and being kind. We end the day with a prayer in which the kids repeat the words back to us. It is the greatest thing ever.

It's such a blessing to be a part of this ministry. It has made being back in Abilene such a huge blessing (seeing as I was a little worried about moving back and becoming too 'comfortable'). It challenges me, but these kids are so incredible. It has also created a great community between the college students who help out! In college, I learned that community is the most important thing ever, and this new community is the number one reason I love Wednesdays so much.

love love love.