Thank you for: sports

I have grown up playing sports for as long as I can remember. I don't think I remember a time where my mom was not driving us around in our white Dodge caravan between practices. My coaches referred to it as the 'McGann clan van' and it was known for the variety of magnets decorating the back of the van representing all the sports my siblings and I played.
I remember days where I was dreading practice because we lost the day before. I remember coaches yelling and joking around with us. I remember running into a field hockey cage post just to tip the ball into the cage with the entire high school boys soccer team watching me. (kinda embarrassing) I remember running for hours in the rain and frost. I remember dreading 6 am practices in college. But I remember the bus rides, the partner drills, the inside jokes and the relationships I made while being a part of a team.
I have learned through sports:
how to be a team player.
how a team works, that if one person is struggling it brings the whole team down.
how it is so important to work as a unit on the field and to do the best to work together off the field.
how to be a leader.
how to build your team up and always have each others back.
how to push through when things are getting hard.
how to respect my coaches and other players (even when I don't always agree)
how I am stronger than I think.
how every person of a team is so important.

There are tons of things I have learned from being an athlete. I miss the nerves right before the whistle blows in the beginning of a game. I miss the adrenaline rush when you score or win a tough game. I miss the feeling of leaving it ALL on the field and knowing you did your best. I miss seeing the talents and abilities God made my body able to do as I push it. I miss the soreness and battle scars. I miss the friends I have made through the years. I am extremely thankful for the ability to play sports for a majority of my life and how that has shaped me so much today. It's sometimes hard to understand what it is like to be an athlete unless you are one. I am thankful for the struggles and the blood, sweat, and tears through all the years. So, don't let the field hockey skirt fool you....I can handle myself on a field :)

Thank you for: silence

It has been snowing the past few days at camp and it is beautiful! Yesterday evening I was helping feed the horses before heading down to dinner and as we were letting them out for the night it started to snow. It was so peaceful and....quiet. Snow seems to do that. It put a blanket of silence over camp. As I watched the horses eat their hay I felt the silence surround me but not in a bad way. It seemed to wrap me in its blanket to keep me warm. 
We are constantly surrounded by sound. It is hard to find silence and sometimes when it corners us we run from it. I have run from the silence the past few weeks. How I run is through distractions by television, internet, books,  movies, music, work, people or anything else that keeps my mind busy. Silence means thinking and there are times I am scared of my thoughts or afraid of what God is trying to tell me through the silence. So, yes, lately I have been running from God. I think it is because He is trying to teach me something to help me grow but in the process I know it is going to be painful...so I run.

As the silence engulfed me yesterday, I felt a sense of peace. Yes, I am scared of silence and scared of the unknown but through it all I know God has been there for me through it all. Things change, people change and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Hayley sent this quote to me the other morning:
 "The steps of the believer are steeped in constant change. Fingers are painfully peeled away from the security of sameness, one at a time, again and again. Great wisdom lies in freeing our fellow sojourners....cherished though they are. With hands freshly loosened, we find liberty to embrace the One who will never change and courage to release to Him those who ever will."~ Beth Moore
Through the silence God speaks to me, so although I run and hide I am thankful for the silence reminding me that although I am scared and change is going to happen...God will never change or leave. 

Thank you for: the ability to work

I know that's weird title. But I really am thankful for the ability to work. When I hurt my back this summer that put me out for a while. I still try not to do some extreme heavy lifting, but having that to think about really makes me grateful of the things I can physically do. 
I've had some amazing jobs in my life. Some harder than others. But each has taught me something special. I have always loved working physical labor and I actually have kind of missed it recently. This past week I have been able to come up to camp and work and it has been a lot of fun. I have missed shoveling snow, chopping wood, feeding horses, cleaning, and even got to do some landscaping. I love working with my hands and creating things. 

I love my job with Axis, being able to travel and speak to students and parents. I love seeing what God is doing in the lives of students and families. He created us to work and cultivate. I must admit, there are mornings I do not want to get out of bed to work but seeing how much I have learned through working, it is amazing! 

I also am a strong advocate for having fun while working. This morning we got to make snow angels while shoveling the walks around camp. One of my bosses out here always makes fun of me for having fun while working, he always says work is not supposed to be fun. But I think I have a strength in making mundane things really fun. For example yesterday we were cleaning trash cans around camp and I made it a challenge by getting into one of the laundry carts and pushing myself around picking up the trash cans. At one of the pools I worked at we made a gondola out of a plastic tub and I made myself a mustache and attempted to float around the pool while listening to Italian music. I love having fun while working and I believe God created work to be fun at times. So as weird as it is to say I love working, I am really glad God gave us the ability to work because without it I would be pretty bored. 

Thank you for: my family

"McGann clan: annoying our cousins since 1952" was the logo on our family reunion shirts this past summer. I feel like that describes my family so well! My team was able to spend one time off on this past trip with my family and it was really cool to have my family meet my team and vice versa. My family is pretty awesome! I was able to skype with them the other day and it was so good to see them! I am so thankful of the time I was able to have with two of my siblings this past summer working at camp together. I think all four of us have gotten closer in the past few years. It is sad that I only see them about two or three times a year but I love the time I get.
I am on my own now and although I live across the country my parents are only ever a phone call away if I ever need anything. They have taught me so much and I know I would not be where I am today without them. I am so thankful for my family and the awesome times we have together. I miss my mom's cooking all the time now that I have to cook for myself and I have been dreaming about her mash potatoes for weeks! :) I cannot wait to see them all for Christmas!

Thank you for: my team

Team Pevensie. That is what we call ourselves. It has been such a blast traveling with these three phenomenal people. Our job is not normal. Not many people are put on a team that you live and travel with on the road and spent 24/7 together. It is a unique situation and although we do get frustrated we still can hang out with each other after a month on the road together. The guys on my team are so great! They challenge me with their chivalry. Not being used to having guys willing to open doors, carry bags, cook meals, and really take care of me is refreshing! It is also hard for me to give up my stubbornness to want to help. I am incredibly thankful for these guys who are willing to put up with my stubbornness. Having Hayley on my team is great because we have traveled before and have gotten really close and it's always nice to have girl time on the road :)

We have so much fun together as a team and I have loved learning about each of them and also watch how God is using our team as we travel around. He has blessed each of them with such amazing gifts and I love watching those skills come out on the road. They have each taught me so much already and I cannot wait to see how the rest of the semester pans out! I am definitely going to miss them at the end of this next year (but I am trying not to think about that yet)

Thank you for: my friends

Being away from home is hard at times. I miss what I have known my whole life but God has just blessed me amazingly with the ability to be surrounded with people who care for me. My roommate from college and I are able to have phone dates every Sunday and I love being able to start off my week talking to her. I have been able to keep in touch with some of my friends from FLI over the past few years as well and they have always been just a phone call away if I ever need anything! I have friends who pray for me and have taught me what friendship is. I have people in my life who have been able to call me out on my crap, listen to me vent, hug me when I am sad, and help me grow.

I miss seeing my friends who live so far away but being a part of the family of Christ enables us to pick up right where we left off despite the time or distance. I am so thankful for each of my friends who have taught me so much on how to be a friend. So if any of my friends are reading this....thank you! 

Thank you for: camp

I have had been able to be a part of a fantastic camp up in Colorado for the past year and a half. Quaker Ridge has become a home away from home for me. I was able to go up the other day just to get away and relax. Besides having a great family up there I have learned SO MUCH! I know how to open, run, and maintain a pool, use a chainsaw, log splitter, tractor, cook some great food, learned how to paint properly, drive stick, saddle a horse and many other things.

My bosses are some of the best I have ever had and have helped me out in so many ways. They have housed me when I first moved out to Colorado, fed me fantastic meals, gave me a job and let me work, and supported me financially with Axis. I have gotten great advice and so much wisdom from my bosses and can't thank them enough for teaching me so much and letting me work at camp and come back ;)

Thankful heart

In honor of November and Thanksgiving I have decided I am going to post blogs throughout the whole month about things I am thankful for. I will try and update as much as possible. We are finishing up our trip in a week and headed back to Colorado soon so I will have more time to post. So keep your eye out for posts this next month :)