Small Blessings

Looking back at what I have written lately I’ve noticed a tendency to use these pages as a place to share my thoughts about things I can’t talk to the locals about for various reasons. Whilst there is value in this and it has definitely been helping me cope I don’t want to give the opinion that life here is just a serious of complaints. Therefore I thought I’d include some of the small joys that have made me smile lately.

Firstly, there are the text messages I receive regularly from Raju. A member of the team, Raju doesn’t get a lot of game time but he is super committed and responsible for letting the other players know what is going on. However, Raju isn’t content to merely let the others know where training is but takes any opportunity possible to send beautiful texts of Bible verses or well wishes. My favourite message is one he sent on what the players thought was Bec’s birthday:
“Wish you a happy birth day rebacca. We are all praying for you and Andrew (coach, player and friend)”

Secondly, there’s riding around on the back of motorbikes. Now I’m not sure how much fun you’re allowed to have with another man between your legs but traveling in this fashion has been a great way to feel part of local life. You get to see so much more of the city as you zip in and out of narrow streets and paths and life is much closer without glass to keep it away. I’ve learnt to enjoy it and forget about the pollution being pumped out of the vehicle in front or the dust or the lack of protection or observance of road rules. I’m not sure how I’m going to deal with sitting in traffic in an orderly manner at traffic lights back in Australia.

Thirdly, there’s the time with the Bible. Being stuck in a foreign country with time to kill between training sessions has been great for my Bible reading. I have continued to build upon the habit I started in Thailand of writing on the top of each page of my diary what passage I read and have increased the size of the passages as I’ve realised time is not an issue. I’m not someone who finds a pertinent point or thought for the day in every reading but I’ve felt that the important points are stronger and clearer for the fact that I read them in the context of the whole book.

Fourthly, there’s the willingness of the players to do most anything at training and their smiles and handshakes as we part ways. There are often puzzled looks when I try to explain something but there are never complaints. No matter how unusual the drill or how hard I make them work the players give it a go (of course experienced players are the same everywhere and will still look for a short cut). Having most recently been in charge of a teenage girl’s school team and played with a couple of the least disciplined teams in the State league I just assumed that whinging and moaning was just what training sounded like. They’re desperate for coaching here and lap up anything that’s thought out and well set up. Plus they have such great smiles that really light up when they first say hello or thank you for something.