Sunday 28 February 2010

Time flies when you're having fun...

Monday 22nd - Friday 26th

This week really flew by, especially after our busy weekend we had with our trip to London! There wasn't too much coaching to do this week, I think I ended up having maybe 5 sessions or so which was ok as it meant I never had to be in too much of a rush as occasionally it can get.
My main focuses for this week were to get in some good morning workouts with John as we had a tough game coming up on Saturday, to keep using my free time well with reading and emails to friends/family, to fight off this cold that had crept up on me, to challenge myself and my teammates more in practice sessions so that we can get the intensity up and become better, and finally to pray more often...
Looking back at the week I'd say I did a decent job on most things but there is always room for improvement!

Saturday-
Today was game day and that was all that I was concerned with. We played against the Manchester Magic who were currently in fourth place. This was one of only two home games we have left so it was crucial to get a win and increase our chances of getting into the playoffs.
The game was tight allllll the way through, as we were down only 2points with 2 minutes left to play! We had a couple minor breakdowns and they hit a couple tough shots and we ended up losing by 10. It was a tough loss, but it was the best we'd played as a team in about 4 games so that was promising to see improvement. I had 15pts 10rebs 2asts and 2blks. We now have 6 games left, 5 of them being road games. The next few weeks of training will be very important!
SOOO even though we lost I had told the guys mid-week that we would be going out saturday night, win or lose. It's important for us to get to spend together off the court so we can get to know each other better and also gain some trust between one another. We had yet to spend any time together as a group since I'd been here so it was nice to finally see something happen.
We went to a nightclub called LAVA which was huge! It was two floors and actually had 3 separate rooms to dance/chill in. The bottom floor had a little disco feeling to it with a dance floor that lit up. The music downstairs was popish with some British stuff I've never heard and also some Britney Spears and what not. So needless to say, not quite my cup of tea :).


So we progressed upstairs which was a totally different ball game. As soon as we turned the corner and entered the doorway all I saw was the smoke and green strobe lights and knew this was the "techno room" haha! We immediately hit the dance floor and owned it!!!


That was good times for about 30minutes until we'd had enough of the overally fast paced remixed music! We then made our way to the 3rd and final room that was called the VIP... now this already sounded like my type of joint ;). It wasn't even a minute before I knew this was my official spot!! The jams were rolling one after another and we found ourselves a little spot to dance it up. The music was right up my alley with some hip hop, R & B, reggaeton and some British grime music! We stayed in the VIP room for the rest of the night and had a blast just clowning around with the fellas.

Me, Dan, John and Chase

Ben, Me and Simon

LAVA shut down around 2:40am and we finally got to bed around 3:30am. It was definitely the best night I've had so far getting to spend it wit my teammates! I was impressed overall with the Coventry night life and there will be more of these nights to come soon!

Sunday-
Today was an amazing day as Sundays usually have a tendency to be since I've been in Coventry. At church today there were 3 baptisms and it wasn't quite like any baptisms I've really ever experienced before, mainly because Mosaic church is so much smaller than any other church I've attended and because of that it's so much more intimate and personal. It was touching to witness these 3 ladies give their testimonies of how God has intervened and changed their life for the better. You could see in their faces that God had breaken them down and now is ready to build them up with a fresh new beginning. It was inspiring!
John and I were once again invited to lunch after church, this time by the Parson family. Julie is a single mom of two, Lucy and Jamie. Lucy is a baller haha! She is 12 years old and is always at any coaching clinic thing we do and of course all home games as well. She schools the boys ALL the time on the court and on top of her being a hooper she's a sweetheart and a good kid. Jamie is 8 years old and doesn't participate yet in our coaching stuff but he's always there to support Lucy and is a nice kid as well. We had an amazing "thanksgiving" type of lunch with chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, vegetables etc! Then of course to wrap it up Julie had made some trifle with Ben and Jerry's ice cream on the side :). Hit the spot! We spent the rest of the time playing the Wii and just having fun! Once again I feel blessed to have been taken in for another great meal by someone who didn't have to, but went out of their way to make us feel more at home...
John and I had both forgotten but it was the day that Vidale (another Crusader volunteer who does some coaching stuff) was to be baptised as well! So we headed over to Christian LIfe Ministry and proceeded to witness 4 more batisms. It was quite the day, but amazing to see God at work in so many different people's lives.

That's all for this week, thanks to all who have been following and reading along as I continue my journey in the UK! Life is good, God is great!

Until tomorrow...
"make it happen"

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