10 Things About Life I've Learned From Being A Football Coach's Wife

10 THINGS ABOUT LIFE I’VE LEARNED FROM BEING A FOOTBALL COACH’S WIFE

By Kim Stone

1.       1. Win or Lose its how well prepared you were for the game that concerns the coach. Coaches put in a lot of effort and time in making the game plans and looking over scouting reports. They put together what they believe will work and leave it to the players to execute it.  Coach’s will claim a defeat from the players if they feel that the game plan was not solid and that it didn’t put the players in the best position to win. In a close win that shouldn’t have been close, a coach will question his game plan to see if the near miss wasn’t caused by lack of preparation. So it is in the game of life.  Whether you win or lose, God cares how well prepared you were, the time you put in with Him, and how well you executed what you have learned from Him through His word.  Things in life will creep up on you (like underdog teams) when you haven’t prepared and trained yourself in how to respond in a godly way. 

2.       Scoreboards state the winners but the locker room defines who was victorious.  Too many times victory is claimed on the field but in the locker room, jealousy, anger, bitterness, conflict, dissension, and ungodly attitudes prevail.  Just like in life what appears to everyone else as a victory stated by the worldly standards may actually be a huge defeat in the locker room of our soul that few have privilege to see.  Likewise a defeat by a close knit team who gave it all their effort, will find victory in the locker room holding each other up and encouraging one another.  Just like in life a defeat in appearance to the outside world can easily turn into the encouragement our souls need to continue and press on!

3.      You must stay hydrated!   Players all too often suffer terrible cramps mostly because they don’t stay hydrated enough during the course of the game.  Likewise in life if you are not continually reaching for the “Living water” to quench you and stay hydrated, you too will find yourself in some anguish.  Take the time each day to take in your “Living Water” and stay hydrated by His “Power-aid”

4.      It’s all won in the off-season.   It’s NOT when there’s a 300lb lineman wanting to return them to dust, where a player learns how to take him on!  It’s in the weight room where they train their bodies and prepare themselves for when the day comes when they need that strength.  Just like in life, it’s a lot harder to go out and tackle life’s problems if you haven’t been prepared for them.  Start now to train up your mind, heart, and soul to God’s truths when you aren’t being tested.  Don’t just go to God and His word when it’s time to tackle something.  Prepare everyday by reading your Bible, praying and spending time with God!

5.      Sometimes the game is not called fairly.  Many times, we are just in shock over a terrible call or a terrible missed call by a referee.  It’s hard sometimes to swallow the misjudgments of others especially when it comes down and costs us the game.  But so is life!  Life is not fair and God never claimed it would be.  The good news is that the referee for our life isn’t some guy who is just earning some extra money on a Friday night.  Our referee is God! He sees it all and allows all calls whether we see them as good or bad to be exactly what we need at the time and ultimately works them out for our own good!  Even though at times it doesn’t seem fair or seem like it could possibly be the right call, God undoubtedly sees something we don’t see! 

6.      Holding could be called each and every play.  In football a referee could call holding on each and every play, instead he calls it only when it’s “bad” enough to warrant it.  Lucky for us in life, holding can be called all the time too!  God holds us in the palm of His hands and through all of the plays of our lives he is intentionally “holding” us! It’s often only when we are hurting so “bad” that we feel his arms around and call it God “holding” us.

7.      False starts happen when you aren’t snapped in and focused.   There are times when players “jump” before the ball is snapped and the little yellow flag goes sailing in the air.   The player wasn’t focused on knowing the right time to go and therefore was given a penalty.  Just in life, we sometimes want to get ahead of God and “go” before He advises us to do so.  In doing that we often get ourselves in some trouble and have to take the consequences and then wait for God our QB’s call to get back in the action.

8.      Depth is crucial to make a long play-off run .   In football you got to have a bench to go to.  If a player gets tired or hurt, you got to have someone else come in who can fill the spot without giving up any intensity or skill at that position.  Without that kind of depth, the play-offs probably won’t last for long and a gold ball crowning you as the champs won’t happen!  So it is in life!  If you are living a superficial life of only caring about yourself, your money, and chasing materialistic worldly things, then you won’t have the depth in your life to obtain the abundantly, rich life God has planned for you.  Study God’s word to gain some depth.  Jesus died for your sins so that your sins could be paid off. Essentially giving you a long “paid-off” run that extends all the way to the “Golden” gates to take your crown and collect your trophies!  

9.      The Red Zone is crucial to winning.    From the goal line to the 20 yard line is considered the “red zone”.  Offenses come up with special plays for the short field in hopes of settling for nothing more than points on the board.  Just in our life there is a red zone that cannot be ignored and is the only way to our victory.  In the Bible Jesus’ words that He said are written in red.  This is our red zone!  Without acknowledging that Jesus was born of a virgin, lived the sinless life, died on the cross for our sins, and was resurrected on the third day, then ascended to heaven,- then there is no victory!  For Jesus said the only way to the Father was through Him!  Without believing in Jesus, our salvation and hope for everlasting life and victory in Him is pure defeat!  So study your “red zone” in your Bible and read the words of Jesus.

10.   Timeouts are meant to be used.  In football, there are times when the opponent makes adjustments and what you’ve been doing no longer works so you call a time-out to make some changes or talk about some mistakes you notice the team is making.  In life, time-outs are a MUST!  And in life we aren’t limited to how many time-outs we call to confer with our coach (God).  We can call as many time-outs as we want to use! Sometimes God calls the time-outs and sidelines us from something to gain perspective.  Other times we are the ones calling the time-out with a prayer asking for guidance, what to do, and the strength to get it done.  Either way, timeouts were meant to be used and helpful with getting back on track