Faith was so excited last weekend when I told her they were having wheelchair soccer again. Her first question was, "Can Adam push me again?" I told her I had no idea if he even went to school at the University of Mary anymore. When we got out there, she was disappointed to learn he had another obligation that day. Everyone assured us Adam would be there next time. She still had fun with a few other guys from the college soccer team who pushed her around to help her play.
In wheelchair soccer, they don't use a normal soccer ball, instead it's
more like a beach ball. Normally, the soccer players who are pushing the
kids around throw the ball to each other then help the kid they are
pushing hold onto it as they try to get into the net. She had so much fun and the faster they pushed her, the bigger the smile
on her face.
Ramsey helps Faith with the ball
Faith making friends
Faith having fun with Garrett the goalie
This weekend, despite the fact she was suffering with a terrible cold
and hadn't
gotten a lot of sleep, she still wanted to play. She was thrilled to be reunited with Adam, who I found out was a
junior in college and had come to Bismarck all the way from Ireland.
Although the organization, Dreams in Motion,
has other adaptive sports throughout the year for those in wheelchairs
and other mobility challenges, I can't convince Faith to try them. (Although, she
did try curling once.) They also have basketball, tennis, skiing, sled
hockey and dance. Soccer is her favorite and unfortunately they only
have it a couple of Saturdays a year, although they might try to get an
outdoor game going in the Spring. We also told Adam we would love to see
him play when his soccer season starts at school in late summer.
Faith taking a break
Faith and her all-time favorite soccer player
Everyone's a winner!
Dreams in Motion is a great organization for planning these events. I was also impressed with the dedication of the soccer players from the University of Mary who took time out of their Saturdays to help out and spend time with the kids. You can click on the video below to see everyone in action!
Taking Faith to church on Sunday mornings is my favorite activity of the week but something else I love are our Saturday outings. We normally go to the library and sometimes go shopping at Target (her favorite store). One Saturday we even went to the pet store because she wanted to look at the hamsters. She has made it known that she would like to have a hamster but since I'm not much of a rodent person I'm not too excited about it. Rob and I wondered if we could talk her into a guinea pig instead. For some reason a guinea pig seems less "rodenty"!
Faith is bundled up and ready to roll!
Yesterday, even though the temperature was only in the single digits, she wanted to go to the The Big Event Carnival. It's held every year at the Bismarck Civic Center and is hosted by the area Child Evangelism Fellowship.
We have never gone before because I was never sure if Faith would be able to tolerate so many noisy, crazy kids under one roof. Also, one of the main attractions are those inflatable bouncy things that Faith can't do. But since it was a Saturday and we weren't doing much else, I decided we would check it out. A major bonus was instead of an admission charge, carnival goers were asked to bring a food donation to help those in need.
Faith and D'Ette from the Healing Rooms
There were lots of booths with different games for the kids to play. After they played, the carnival workers (people from local churches and ministries) gave the kids tickets they could redeem for prizes. Everyone was very gracious and cheered for Faith when I helped her shoot a duck or toss a beanie through a hole. She wanted to get her face painted but the line was much too long.
Her favorite part was visiting the Healing Room's "blessing tent." We went inside one of the little tents they had set up and pray with a few volunteers from the team. I think it's great the Healing Rooms was there to pray over and bless the children, some of whom might not go to church. I also thought it was great that as the kids exited the event, they were given a New Testament Bible and a DVD about the story of Jesus.
Faith is excited to find Lola and the Healing Rooms blessing tent!
It was fun and of course now she's asking when we can go again! Hopefully as Spring approaches, there will be many more fun things for us to partake during our Saturday outings!