Back to California

Sitting in my car stopped at a red light, my car suddenly began to shake violently. Within a few seconds, many thoughts whizzed in and out of my brain. Here was my thought process: "Hoodlums are jumping on my car!" but looking outside and seeing no one, my next thought was, "Did I accidentally lock someone in my trunk? No, that's silly Katie. But could someone have crawled in to play a joke? No, they would have been in there for a long time." Once I decided that no, no one was laying in my trunk shaking the car I thought, "My tires! All of them have exploded at once! Crap- this is going to be expensive." I looked around at the other cars thinking that they would tell me that yes, indeed all my tires had exploded, but no one was looking at me which I found strange since my car was clearly bouncing all over the place. "Well I guess it's not all about me but seriously, these people should notice the strange things happening to my poor little Jetta right now." I've seen one too many action movies and my next thought was, "maybe my car is about to explode!" Thus I quickly hit the hazards, ripped off my seat belt, threw open the door and jumped out. That's when the lady in the car behind me calmly said, "It's an earthquake." Oh. Shoot. I look like an idiot. Why isn't anyone else freaking out right now then? And why are you so calm lady? I quickly got back in, turned on the car and sped off.

Back to California living. Back to sunny, crowded beaches, traffic jams, Golden Spoon frozen yogurt, and EARTHQUAKES. It's been almost 2 months since I left Africa and I am slowly readjusting to life in California. Strangely, some days I feel like I never left- like Africa is a distant dream. But then I am reminded in small ways that I will forever be marked by Mozambique. I've yet to suffer from the inevitable "reverse culture shock" but that is most likely because I've been bouncing around with too many fun things going on to get down and depressed like I am apparently supposed to be:) What have I been doing in California since I've been back?

Well, I've caught up with old friends and played in the mud with Emma and her friends at Glen Ivy Day Spa.










I've relaxed with the fam at one of my favorite spots in the world: Bass Lake.









I've hung out in Palm Desert for one of the funnest weddings ever.



































And I've met and started coaching my team at Valley Christian High School.
FYI, the girls in the front our Japanese exchange students of some of my players. I will always love speaking with people from other nations so I had been talking with them/acting out things to them and they wanted a picture with the team after one of our games. We are missing a few girls in this pic, one of which was being rushed to the ER at the moment because she broke her ankle.

Driving home from our game last night, I was overwhelmed by just how good God has been to me. Not just because we won- which we did in sudden-death overtime- but because I can see how His plans are so much better than mine. I honestly don't think I would have ended up at Valley if God hadn't first brought me to Africa. Little did I know that my year spent at CAM was preparing me for the next stage of life. I am so thrilled to be coaching at Valley and God knew it would be a perfect fit but also knew that I would be stubborn about teaching at a Christian school since I've always loved public schools so much. My friend Marcie at OC put it this way:

It always amazes me how God works...who would have thought He would use Mozambique to do all the things He has done??? I love how He knows your love of other cultures and places so it was like He was saying, "Okay...I know Katie will be at Valley teaching English in 2008....what's the coolest way to get her to that point...the one that will give her great joy and get her ready for that new role? Mozambique!!"

So as I zoomed in and out of lanes along the freeway last night, still relishing our win and how fun my team is, I was reminded yet again of what a great God I serve. Why do I often doubt His love, His wisdom, and His ways? He knows me better than I know myself- knows what is best for me and how I can best be used by Him. So when I do question Him in the future (which, being somewhat of a skeptic is bound to happen), I hope I look back and remember how He led me to Africa to lead me to Valley Christian. I hope I remember that His plans are good, even if I don't always understand them.

As a believer who often doubts, I have often found solace in Psalm 77. The author first talks about crying out to God and feeling like God is not there, not listening, not responding. So he begins to doubt and question:

"Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?

Then I thought, "To this I will appeal: the years of the right hand of the Most High." I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. Your ways O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples..."

And he goes on to recount many of the miracles God has performed for His people. I love this example of what to do when God seems distant or silent or His ways seem confusing. Continue to cry out to Him, ask those tough questions, but then REMEMBER. Remember what He has done in the past. Remember what He has promised and how He has already fulfilled many of those promises. Remember how He has provided. Remember times when He has been close and times when He has poured out His blessings. Remember how His plans have always been better than mine. And after remembering, trust.

This will be last and final post on this blog. I have missed coming to it and had to write just one more entry. Thanks for reading and being interested in what God has been doing in my life and in Mozambique.