My last day at Xtreme Volleyball...Part 2...

While sitting at work on my last day, I wrote this...  

"Today, as I sit here on my last day of work, I am utterly amazed by the outpouring of thanks and love from my Xtreme family.  I am truly blessed to be surrounded with an AWESOME group of people who care about me and wish me nothing but the best, and so here is my thank you letter to them.

To ... you know who you are...

Thank you!  Thank you saying thank you, for sending me text messages, for sending me flowers, for hugging me, for understanding that I had to do what was best for me, and for supporting me in my decision."

Little did I know that there were people plotting a surprise going away party...  :)

I went through the rest of the day on some highs and lows.  I got my hair cut (Thank you Stacey!), closed out the day with a review of my "how to" folder, and headed to Cal's soccer practice.  When I drove off my boss was standing at the door and before I even got out of the parking lot my face was filled with tears.  I love Xtreme Volleyball.  I have spent 7 years of my life there...growing and changing, getting married, and meeting new people.  I made some really awesome friends and made some really awesome memories.  Despite my tears I knew I was still making the right decision (the right decision), soI dried my tears and went to soccer practice to cheer on CAL.  I picked up Baehr after soccer and headed back to Xtreme for Camryn's Volleyball practice.  

Courtney had already planned for us to meet for dinner to celebrate my new chapter, so after we left volleyball we headed to Pappasito's.  When we got there it was insanity...a 30 minute wait and CAL was on the verge of a break down after about 20 minutes.  I won't lie, I was ready to throw in the towel as well and eat cereal for dinner.  We finally got to sit down and when I turned the corner there was a table for 10...what?  Courtney told me that several of the Xtreme Coaches were coming and that they were on their way.  I cried...again!  (haha)  

We had a great night, and I am so grateful that everyone took the time to put this together for me! 

Thank you Mrs. Molitor, Royce, Telia, Alison, Courtney, and Baehr for working together and planning last night!  I needed it more than words could say, and I am so thankful for all of you!  Last night was the end to a great 7 years... Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!  :)

Oh yeah, and ... yesterday was my 3 month birthday!  hahaha 

Happy Rainy Saturday from the couch on The Baehr Block!  :) 

Carrie

My Departure from Xtreme Volleyball...Part 1

I know that the rumor mill in club volleyball can be nasty, so I thought I would write this note so that you could all see MY truth.  :)  Or the truth that I am willing to share with you.

After tons and tons and TONS of prayer, I have decided to leave Xtreme Volleyball.  For years (7 to be exact), I have been on the side of the fence where parents and athletes came and went.  Some of them were harder to take than others, but in the end I always said "You have to do what you feel is best for you and your athlete." Such is club volleyball.  People come and go...and come back again.

For the last few months I have struggled to decide what is best for me....if Xtreme was the right place for me.  I have thrown around ideas (if you know me they ranged from staying home to getting a "real" job), but always came back to, "Xtreme is where I am supposed to be."  It wasn't until recently that I realized I was just doing what was easy.  I was unhappy but unwilling to make changes because I felt an immense responsibility to BE XTREME and I also hate change!  (Who doesn't?)

I love my job (the work part), I love the hours, I love most of the people, and I LOVE VOLLEYBALL, but there were some aspects that I was not a fan of.  If you have known me for any period of time, you know what and who those are.  If you don't, I won't share them here because they are personal and not for the public to share or judge or gossip about.  At the end of the day, I still believe that Xtreme is one of the best training clubs in the Houston area and I refuse to change that perception because of my personal reasons to leave. 

Anyways, on one of my rather excruciating days I reached out to a few people.  Initially there were no openings, and so I decided to just pray about it and wait for God to lead me.  When my first interview came up I even said, "If this is not something that you have open, don't force it.  It will happen when the time is right."   And so I waited and prayed and prayed some more.  God answered...in a HUGE way. 

Remember how I said I LOVED my job, the hours, and volleyball?  Well, I get to do all of those still!  YAHOOOO!!!!

I am excited to be a part of a new group of people who love volleyball and love the Lord.  I am excited for the opportunities they (and God) have given me, and I am SUPER excited that this was prayer driven and God led. 

I have been blessed with 7 years of memories and relationships from Xtreme, but now it's time for that chapter to end, and a new one to begin. 

"God puts things in us we don't know we have, and sometimes God has to push us into our destiny, and sometimes it's through adversity....What I thought would be my darkest hour, launched me into my brightest hour."
-Joel Osteen

And so off I go...into the wild blue yonder!  :)

A rant...

Today, a friend on facebook posted this article about Kountze High School.  "District Superintendent Kevin Weldon banned the religious messages, including run-through banners at football games, after the Freedom from Religion Foundation told him that a resident had complained about the Bible verses."  Read the full article here...http://m.kltv.com/ms/p/si/117/view.m?id=124279&storyId=19604893

I reposted with "This is absurd! I am so over all of this "no God in schools" business!!!!!"  I got one comment.  A frownie face from my aunt. 

Am I frustrated?  YES!  Why?  Because we, as Christians, will post verses, ask for prayer, and talk about being blessed, but when it comes to standing up for Christ and our beliefs we like to shy away because we are taught not to FORCE our beliefs on other people.  And while, I agree that some times there are people in our lives who force church down people's throats, I also believe that we are taught to stand up for what we believe in. 

Why do we allow people to tell us what we can and cannot say?  How did we get to a place where we let a court or a government control when or where we pray, speak about God, or quote the Bible?  I mean for Heaven's sake, I didn't go to the government and say, tell all these athiest to pray with me!  Do it, do it now!  (Maybe I should have!)  I don't walk up to strangers and tell them to sit down and read the Bible with me.  We are grown, if you don't believe what I do, say no and walk away.  I do it to the Jehovah's Witness all the time.

I want to stand up for what is right in the eyes of the Lord, and taking God out of everything is not what is right.  How can we sit by and just let people run over us?  I believe WE are the majority.  WE, the people who believe in a higher power, WE, the people that live in this nation under God, WE, the people that believe we can pray together and be heard.  Why are the students of Kountze High School more willing to stand up for their beliefs than we are and why are WE not driving ourselves to Kountze to support the students of Kountze High School?  

I am ranting at you, but I am also ranting at myself.  I so WANT to make a difference, and here is an opportunity.  I am asking God to show me my purpose, and yet, instead of doing something or taking a chance, I sit here actionless.  Well, people, I am done with all of that.  I don't know where to start, but I am going to ask the Lord to guide my path.  I hope you will join me in my quest to better the world and spread the Word, either by prayer or action or both. 

Acts 6:7

So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.