A new dream
In my second year with the team I was coming off of injury and was loaned to a team in Orlando. The heat was stifling which meant we trained early in the morning and had the rest of the day to ourselves.
It was too hot to go outside, even for this proud Ghanaian, so I spent my days in my room reading, praying and learning.
Now that I look back on it, I can characterize it as my “wilderness experience.”
One night I woke up suddenly, sat up in bed and saw a picture forming on my otherwise white walls. I could clearly see a school filled with children being encouraged to live up to their full potential. My heart started beating quickly as ideas started flooding in. I took out my notebook trying to capture everything that came to me. I listened, I wrote and I drew. When the night was done I had three clear visions:
Build a leadership academy in Ghana to train the mind, body and spirit of the next generation
Write books that inspire people to live into their gift
Speaking a simple message: Your gift will make room for you in this world
As the details for this new vision unfolded, a strong feeling came over me. I was being called to a new place and it would require I sacrifice the thing that had most defined me up until that point.
Of course I was nervous. Actually, I was terrified out of my mind because the dream was so big. But I was also excited because of the clear sense of purpose I suddenly had that night.
And by following the call to give up playing soccer I was able to develop a whole new dimension of my gifts and strengths.