World Cup stimulus package

People can be motivated by the most innocent things.

As excited as I have been about my upcoming trip to South Africa, this weekend added another bit of spice to a trip that has quickly encompassed so much of my thinking. In southwest Florida to visit family before I head 7,000 miles away for the adventure of a lifetime, I anxiously chatted about the pending trip and gave an outline of my itinerary.

It was neither the commercials touting the event, the Champions League final that made me realize that in three weeks I will be in Johannesburg, nor my family’s genuine concern for my safety.

It was a video game, a simulation of all the things I hope to see when I am a world away. My cousin, Zsan, challenged me to play 2010 FIFA World Cup on his Xbox.

The play was so realistic I could see the vibrancy of Durban and Cape Town from the comfort of my cousin’s new living room. Player attributes were so genuine, the color commentary sounded like something one will hear when the matches kickoff.

Though not consciously thinking about it, some of the teams I selected from the United States, to England to the Ivory Coast to reigning European champions Spain are teams I will likely watch during my fortnight on the motherland.

A week of praying that my mustard seed of faith that everything would go well concluded with a weekend where just about everything I needed to happen did.

It would be the folly of a fool to think that my 36 hours promising others I would be safe would not have been possible without the faith that my entire South African adventure is the personification of my favorite biblical verse. “For I know the plans I have for you, plans for to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”