“And Lord, we ask Your hand over Alondra’s desire to play soccer. We ask you to step into the sadness she feels and make a way for her to play, again. We love You, Lord. Amen.”
Samuel, the house dad at Possibilities Children’s Home, had been praying this over 13-year old Alondra every night. Alondra, the only girl at Possibilities, loves soccer and is a gifted athlete. Since coming to the home, she hasn’t played on an official team and, as a result, was experiencing sadness.
About a week after Samuel and Alondra began praying for an opportunity to play soccer, again, Possibilities Directors Lisa and Rick Bursey received a phone call from a local high school. They wanted Alondra to join their team. Lisa and Rick immediately went to the home to ask Alondra if she wanted to join the team.
“I can’t believe it! I can’t believe God has answered my prayers so quickly!” Alondra and Samuel jumped up and down, facing each other and beaming with excitement.
Alondra immediately committed to the team and attended the first practice. But when it came time for the second practice, there was a problem.
On the same day as the second practice, Alondra’s house parents were having friends over for a barbeque.
“I’m not going to go to practice today because we are having company over,” Alondra announced to Rick and Lisa.
Alondra’s decision allowed Rick and Lisa to have an intentional, hard conversation with her about commitments.
“We told her, with opportunity comes responsibility,” shared Lisa. “Before coming to Possibilities, her circumstances didn’t allow for commitment, so this was a very new concept for her. We told her she had made a decision to be a part of a team and she couldn’t let her team down by not showing up.”
Alondra was encouraged by Rick and Lisa to go to practice and participate, or inform her coach she would no longer be a part of the team.
“When you commit to something, sometimes you have to make sacrifices,” they told her.
Alondra went to the second practice and has been playing in games with the team since, and she loves every minute. As Alondra continues to play on a high school team as an 8th grader, she is learning about the power of prayer, the value in teamwork, and how far she can go with a strong support system behind her.