high school

Name: Reegan Dennis
Age: 17
Where are you from: Newport Beach, California
Where do you play or coach: Orange county volleyball club, Orange Lutheran high school
How long have you been playing volleyball: 6 years
Favorite volleyball memory: placing 7^thin junior Olympics Gold Open division when I was 15!

     What has volleyball done for you in your life?

Volleyball has been a place where I have learned what it’s like to be humble, to encourage others, to show Gods true love, to form real relationships based on trust, to be a team, a place to be crazy and just have fun, a place to do what I love, and a place to glorify God with every breath I take.

   How has volleyball brought you closer to God?

Volleyball has brought me closer to God through testing me with trials and tribulations and me having to rely on God to help me through them. Through learning what it’s like to play a sport for God and to play with God has really helped me grow in my faith and learn so much more about our God. Also Volleyball lead me to FCA Volleyball which has helped my faith grow tremendously and has really helped me learn more about my God and create such an awesome relationship with him that I would have never even thought was possible.

How do you see God on the volleyball court?

I see God through each and every player, I see him through the grace and encouragement players give one another, I see it through players getting excited for their team mates, I see it thorough determination in players and the mindset that I can do anything, but mostly I see God not on the court but on the sidelines. I see God in the players that sit on the side lines because they don’t play much but yet they are still there and they are cheering for their team and have an awesome attitude even though they know they aren’t going to even touch the court. Yet they work hard and come to every practice and game and have an awesome attitude! That is where I see God shine on the volleyball court.

How has playing for/with God transformed how you play?

WOW! Playing with God has changed my whole view on volleyball tremendously! I honestly started playing with God my sophomore year in high school when on my club and high school teams all I did was sit the bench and not play. It was really hard for me until I heard one of my friends speak on playing with God and so I decided I didn’t want to play volleyball by myself but rather with God.   So to remind myself that I play for God and no one else I wrote my brothers life verse 2^nd Corinthians 5:7 on my wrist the very next day at practice and immediately I felt relief and the sense of the Holy Spirit so I have been writing it every time I play ever since. I wasn’t constantly worried about what others thought of me or what my coach or team mates thought whenever I messed up. I wasn’t worried about pleasing others and didn’t feel that pressure of I had to be perfect anymore all I felt was God’s grace and that all I had to do is play my hardest and play for his name and that’s all that mattered to God and that that was perfection in his eyes. After that I started playing a whole lot better and volleyball was a whole lot more fun because that weight of I had to be perfect and I have to be the best was lifted and it was just me and God out there and no one else!

  How can volleyball be used as a platform for Jesus?

I think Volleyball can be a platform for Jesus in many ways. I think that the way you play volleyball and your attitude on and off the court can totally bring others to Christ. I think that the way you coach and teach others can reflect Christ. I think that if you play volleyball for Christ and have an attitude that is not of this world that others will see that and want to know why you are different and that is a great opening to share the news of Christ. Also I think volleyball creates community and helps bring others together and it means a lot more when some you trust tells you about Christ rather than a stranger so I think that also helps build a platform and brings in others to hear the good news.