From Berlin to My Parents' to...Perth!?

So here I sit in the San Francisco airport whittling away time on a 7 hour layover before heading to Sydney, Australia where I will then get on another plane to Perth. How in the world did this come about? How did I get from Berlin to my parents’ couch to here?

I have to admit, I was in a world of ups and downs the last few months. I don’t think that’s a real secret so I won’t try to deny it now. I mean, I did already blog a 2 part essay entitled “What the Heck is Going On?”…I don’t think that would ever lead anyone to think I was trooping through life like the Apostle Paul saying I’m content with anything including chains. I was not content. I was not content to be living with my parents (by no means because of them, they are the greatest saints in this story, it was my own sense of pride that doesn’t want to be that 28 year old with no direction, laying in her pajamas on her parents’ couch at 3 in the afternoon watching re-runs and eating endless bowls of Captain Crunch…Okay the Captain Crunch may sound appealing but…)…I lost my train of though. Oh yes, I was not content feeling like I had failed in Germany, like I was an idiot for not wearing ankle braces, like I had no idea what God was doing or wanted me to do…I had moments of contentment. I had those bright spots of faith and trust when I felt that God really must be doing something but I just needed to be patient…and then I had those impatient moments. My parents, maybe to be renamed St. Thomas and Mother Jeanine (I’m sorry, does that even make sense) listened to me time and again and always encouraged me and lifted me up.

So…as I was going through that time I was trying to figure out what to do next. Ryan Zamroz had told me before I ever left for Berlin that if things did not work out for me in Europe, then I should look into the Australian leagues which don’t start till March. (*Complete random side comment…So I found this little work space thing to sit in, which is incredibly uncomfortable, but have crammed myself into it and unpacked a load of my stuff because it has an outlet---just now looked and realized that it’s not even doing anything, so I’m still wearing out my battery…sweet…)

So anyway. I used some of the loads of free time I had outside of doing physical therapy and working out to create a short highlight video and send out emails to this mondo list of teams in Australia. Ryan had sent me links to various leagues over there and advised me to just send out as many emails as I could as soon as I could. So that happened right at the start of January. One of the teams I had emailed is called the Lakeside Lightning. I had noticed when looking on their webpage that their team was owned by a church, and the thought crossed my mind “wouldn’t it be cool if I could play there and help at the church?” But that kinda ended there as I went on to emailing the next group of teams…

A week later that thought returned when I got an email from the Lightning’s director of coaches, asking me how I had gotten interest in their club and if I would want to start communicating. Uh yes please! From there I began a short series of emails with Andy (director guy’s name), hearing from him usually several days after I’d emailed him (guessing the 15 hour time difference has something to do with that, as well as the fact that they were also already talking to another player)…So I didn’t really know how this communication was going. I couldn’t get a clear idea of the level of interest that they had but I did have some hope about the situation. I was intrigued by what I was finding out about this club. They are owned by Lakeside Baptist Church in Perth, Australia- one of maybe three churches in the world to own a pro sports team. The church owns and operates out of a rec center that serves some 6000 people a week from the community. The team motto is “where it’s more than a game” and the logo features a cross with a basketball…Uh, what? For reals? God? Is that You? Yeah. I think so. Okay anyway. So right around the end of January Andy said he wanted me to speak with the team chaplain and we set up a time to talk via telefono (that's telephone for all you unilingual speakers). Pastor David called me on a Friday evening and we spoke for a bit, him asking me about my relationship with Jesus, church, degree, life aspirations, and more. Again, I enjoyed the conversation but couldn’t really get a read on how serious these people were about me. Pastor David wrapped up the conversation letting me know that he was not the one to choose the new player but was to report back about our conversation. He encouraged me that God would use me anywhere He led me and to keep praying about whether or not that would be with Lakeside. He assured me they were doing the same on their end. He said he did not know what the next step was or what I should expect. With that, all I did expect was to get an email back from Andy with some sort of commentary on what he’d heard about our conversation and what that next step should be. I was thinking another phone call, whether with Andy himself or the coach or something…

Well it turned out the next step was a phone call after all- but not at all what I had mentally prepared for. Monday morning about 7am the phone rang. Seeing as how I’d been hanging out with a friend till 2 am the previous morning I was not up and about…Okay that makes it sound like otherwise I would have been up and about. Anyway, someone left a message on the answering machine-- from my half conscious state I assumed it was someone calling for my mom to sub and I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. A few minutes later Mother Jeanine (is it coming across that this is a play on Mother Theresa? I hope so) came into my room and got me up, letting me know that someone from Australia had called and said he’d call back again in 20 minutes. I got up out of bed and started walking around the house, trying to wake myself up for the upcoming conversation. When you’re talking to someone who may hire you, you want it to seem like you woke up at 5am, ran a half marathon, ate a full breakfast, had some quiet time, and strategized for your day already culminating in a bulletpoint outline that will undoubtedly get accomplished by 5 pm…I am not sure if that’s what came across, but 20 min later the phone rang, I answered, and Andy was on the other end saying something I most definitely did not expect:

“Well, are you packed?”

I just laughed. What?! This is it? My mind started talking to itself- this is it, you are going, they want you, you’re going to Australia! Of course none of that was being absorbed but I kept trying anyway, meanwhile I spoke back “Uh, should I be?” (duh)…

“Yeah, I think you should!”

Me…”well when should I be packed for?”

“When can you come?”

Me…"ha …uh…I can really come any time”

We’d like you here in 7-10 days….

Me…”ok!” Inside (huh? Whoa, what? Cool, yikes, I’m hungry, Where is Perth again? Etc etc etc)

So anyway, that is the gist of how it came about. Andy informed me that I will have a blast in Perth and that he had called me rather than emailed me so that he could hear my reaction. I hope that I communicated it well that I was really excited but I think I was more a little stunned at the time. The job includes playing basketball and using basketball to share my love of Jesus with other people- and get paid for it. Saweeeeeeeeet!

So one would think I entered into a frenzy in trying to get ready to leave the country in 10 days. Uh…it was something like that (Hey, give me a little credit, I did manage to throw a bridal shower for my best friend Gracie poo Tappe that very next Saturday- of course with great help from Mother Jeanine, and miss Tappe’s family and twinner Amber). There are a few things that may not have gotten accomplished…The key thing is that I am now another step closer to getting to Perth. I made it to San Francisco. I could definitely write a whole extra page on the last few hours, but I will spare you. For now.

The biggest thing to take away from this is that God is always at work and man has He delivered big time here. I kept praying that I would trust Him and honor Him whether He gave me a place to play or not. I am humbled that He chose to give me a place to play. Now I am praying that He will get and keep me healthy and that most of all, I will honor Him through this next experience!

My team/church has a web page, as my German coach would say “Google it up!” Lakeside Lightning. :)