I have watched my son grow throughout the years. At 3 years old he was so shy that he wouldn't play "blast ball" (tee-ball for 3yr olds) without his dad standing next to him in the outfield and when he was up to bat. At 4, he wouldn't quit crying and refused to get on the soccer field and never played in a game. We started talking to him then about character, what pleases God, and being a part of a team. At 5, he started playing basketball and practiced great with his team but come game time, he melted and didn't want to play. Parents stared at me like I was the mom "making a kid do something that he didn't want to do". But some how I managed to get that willful little boy onto the court and when the game started he was still crying but when he got the ball and made his first shot, he ran over to me with the biggest smile and gave me a hug and sprinted back down the court! That's all it took. He never cried at game time again. This verse began to ring true for him. Colossians 3:23 "Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people."
In that same season, we had a player, Billy on our team that couldn't catch, rebound or shoot very well. The coach had Lance go and score early in the game. He averaged about 14 pts a game and then he'd tell Lance to get other kids involved. He first tried throwing to Billy but it would just go through his hands. So Lance started dribbling to him and handing him the ball to shoot and Lance would rebound and hand it back to Billy. Lance was relentless that season that Billy was going to score and when Billy eventually did score towards the end of the season, the gym erupted in excitement and Lance I think was even more excited than Billy! Acts: 20:35 "I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus:"It is more blessed to give than to receive."
Then when we moved to Altus, Lance went from being a point guard to being the tallest kid in his class. He accepted his new role with grace. No longer was he the scoring machine but was a post player with fewer looks. He took his new role and even when given the ball he always looked to pass first and shoot second. I'll admit that drove me a bit crazy as I know what he is capable of doing but at the same time I saw a 7 year old kid who didn't care who made the shots. He wanted to see his team succeed more than he wanted success for himself! How rare is that! Philipians 2:3:4 "Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too."
Then he joined a traveling baseball team and honestly his skill level was below the rest of the kids when we started. He didn't start but got to play a few innings each game but he kept working hard. He didn't want to quit just because he spent more time on the bench than on the field and he never whined or complained about it. He wanted to get better. When he struck out, he kept his head up and ran back to the dug-out. When others struck out he was the first one there to encourage them. Then we went to a tournament and he didn't get to play at all in the first game. He set in the dug-out and cheered for his team. He was probably more excited after the win than some of the kids that actually played! The coach told him he'd get more playing time the next day because kids were going to be gone. He went out and in the next 4 games didn't strike out and had some great hits and made good plays! This last week again, he didn't make it out on the field for a tournament game. The team was down 0-5 and came back to win it in extra innings 11-6. As the game was ending, I looked in the dug-out at the only kid that didn't play and Lance was up jumping up and running on the field hooping and hollering! My heart was hurting because he didn't play and my frustrations were high as he has worked so hard and improved so much to not play in a game so close but when he came off the field we asked him "Are you disappointed you didn't get to play?" His answer "A little but I am just so proud of how our team played hard and came back to win." Philippians 4:8 "Fix your thoughts on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."
Yes that's my boy! Sports never made any of his character. His character was buried behind shyness and insecurity and was being molded underneath it all. But sports revealed his heart. It revealed his character and for that I stand in amazement of the character my son already has shown. I didn't mention his football season but being the son of the High School Head Football Coach comes with a lot of weight on his shoulder pads and he handled the adversity like a champ which was better than his mom did but I'm working on that! My son also has other areas that we need God's help with but in this area God has truly blessed our son. Thank you Lord! I can't wait to see what you have in store for both of my children!
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