Settling into a new Season

Last night was our first game of the season.  I love and I hate the first game each year.  I love the excitement of a new start. I love the anticipation that you can feel on and off the field to see what the season will bring but there always seems to be something missing at the same time.  Last night that missing piece seemed larger than in the past.

Last night started our sixth season at our current school.  For the past five years I’ve grown to know the parents as well as the players.  I could point out to you where each of the parents sat and who else sat with them.  I knew their pregame and post-game routines and where to find them if I needed them. I knew where to be for post-game family photos and who would need that special word of encouragement before and/or after the game

As I entered the stands each week I knew that as I climbed the steps to Row 27 where my assigned seats were that I’d see the Hawks, the Adkins’, the Thomas’, the list could go on and on. Season tickets at our games are a precious commodity and once you had them, you held on to them as long as you had a student at the school. It was a comfort in a way to know that I would see familiar and supportive faces as I entered the stands.  I could count on hugs and well wishes being exchanged. I knew that if plays during the game didn’t go a certain way I’d get a smile or a wink from a certain dad as a way of reassurance for him and for me.

Last night however, those seats were filled with new faces.  As I entered the stands those familiar faces were replaced with new ones. I had three new safeties taking the field and I had no idea where their parents sat and the one returning safety, his mom sits in a different section so my whole world was just a little off kilter. Those families that had become a part of my Friday night routine were now spread out all over the country preparing to watch their sons take the field as college players.

I know I’ll get to know the new people in those seats on Friday. I know that one day I will feel about them like I did last night when I was missing my friends and the comfort zone they had given me.  After a few weeks it will all become routine again but those that came before them will always hold a special place in my heart.

Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time to turn on the television and settle in for a day of watching college football.  I have a lot of former players playing today and as the adopted mother to all those boys this proud mama is going to sit back and cheer on all her boys. Glad we have every sports channel you can get. I've got a lot of channel surfing to do today.

Cheering you on,
Laurel

Proud Mama!

This weekend I had the privilege to do something that most coach’s wives don’t get to do. I got to take one of my coach’s players to college and move him into his dorm. It was a proud moment on so many levels it’s hard to describe it all but I’ll try.

If you’ve read my blog before, you know that the Lord provided my coach and me children in the non-traditional format. He gave us football players.  They weave in and out of lives through their high school years and many have remained a part of our lives long after they graduate. With having football players as my children I never dreamed that I’d actually get to go shopping to outfit a dorm room or that I’d actually get to experience move in day, but this year I got to do both. 

A mom of one of our players gave me and my coach the special opportunity to take her son shopping for everything he needed to set up his dorm room.  Through the help of friends and family we gathered gift cards and cash and headed off for what I thought was a full day of shopping.  Turns out that with boys, college shopping goes at a much faster pace.  We had everything on our list in less than two hours.  I’ve known girls that spend that amount of time just picking out their bed linens. With our boy, I’d say pick a bedspread and he’s say “that one works” and he’d put it in the cart.  About halfway through the shopping list I had my coach and Troy both laughing at me. I was practically hyperventilating that things weren’t matching. They kept trying to explain to me that boys don’t care. I kept trying to explain to them that they were never going to make Better Homes and Dorms.  Again, they didn’t seem to care. I did, but I was out voted.  Two weeks after shopping I’m still fixated on the fact that the towels don’t match anything else that was chosen and my coach keeps telling me to “Let it go.” 

Yesterday Troy, his mom and a friend loaded up their car and another couple and I loaded up their car and we headed to college.  Again I was blessed that his mom graciously gave me the opportunity to be a part of this journey.  When we arrived we were met in the lobby by the coaching staff. I was able to meet the coach who explained to me that he was by “no means bragging, but he discovered Troy and had the honor of awarding him a scholarship.”  I laughed and told him “I’m not bragging but that Troy played for my coach.”  The coach went on to tell me that he thought we had a great football program at our school and he was excited to have players from our school come play for him.  That was a proud moment for me that others see the impact my coach is making and that they recognize what a great program we have.  I was one proud wife and one proud mama all at the same time.

I never thought I’d get to move “one of my children” into his dorm so this was exciting for me.  I laughed that it took five adults to move one student into his dorm. We went at it like a precision team and in no time he was completely moved in and even had pictures hung on the walls.  The towels that don’t match anything were even hung up and Troy was still laughing at me about them.   A special moment for me was when Troy pulled out our Christmas card from this year and started to put it on his bulletin board.  My heart was overjoyed that he had chosen to bring that with him.  It was even more special when I pulled out a framed copy of that photo for him and he hugged me and immediately set it by his bedside.  Then his sweet mom took the Christmas card home to put up back at their home.

Just as we finished moving him in, we looked out the window and there was a spectacular rainbow in view.  I knew it was God’s way of saying to me that He had kept his promise to me. He had given me the desires of my heart like it says in Psalm 37:4 “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” I delight in Him and he gave me children.  I delight in Him and He provided me the opportunity to move my boy to college.  

As we said our goodbye we hugged and each whispered “I love you” to each other.  I held it together and didn’t cry but I can assure you there are tears running down my face as I’m writing this. I love to see how the Lord continually works in my life and provides me with those unspoken desires of my heart. 

I am truly blessed to be the wife of a coach!

Cheering you on!
Laurel

Bring on Football Season!

Seems like it was just yesterday my Coach was reintroducing himself to me and sliding back into the routine of home.  Now I’ve blinked and summer is over and he’s on his way back to football.  The countdown to kickoff is on!  Some wives say goodbye to their husbands during this time and "mourn their loss."  They think of themselves as "football widows."  That's not the case in our house.  I'm clearly still married and he's still my husband.  He hasn't died, he's just focused; focused on his job, focused on his passion for coaching, focused on his boys and focused on the goal of winning that state title.  When he is home, there is still that focus, but he's also able to focus on me - I just have to know for a while I share the focus area with something else.  

This week meetings and camps begin. My coach is back to the hours of well before sun up to after sundown. I’m back to being Ms. Independent and I’m ok with that. Now before you go jumping to conclusions about my relationship with my coach, hear me out on this.  I’m ok with it for several reasons. 

1.       We make a great team.  We’ve been married for 16 years and each of those years has involved football. The first couple of years we were writing our own playbook and learning to maneuver the ins and outs of football season and its time demands. We figured out dinners, laundry and who was responsible for what. Although the school has changed over the years, our playbook has remained the same.  We have a routine and a schedule and we go with it.  Yes, every once in a while we have to call an audible and that’s where #2 comes into play.

2.      He’s empowered me to call an audible.  Sometimes a decision has to be made and he’s not around to make it.  Seems like every season something major in the house breaks.  During season I’ve had to fix the air conditioner, the roof, the washer and the dryer, the garage door, etc. You name it; I’ve probably had to have it fixed. I let him know the issue, show him my plan of action (and how much it’s going to cost) and then I go for it.

3.      It gives me a chance to focus on my job. I work for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Fall is a busy time for us as we prepare for October and Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In the summer I feel like my focus is torn between my job, my Coach and our home.(Not because of any pressure from my coach but from the pressure I put on myself to do everything and do it well  - but that’s a totally different blog). With him being at the field house all day and a good majority of the night, I’m more at ease to stay late and work and then head home and focus on other things.  Except for Fridays – then I totally lose focus by 3pm and go into full on coach’s wife mode.

4.      Outside of work I have time to focus on other things that make me happy.  Fall seems to be the time of year that I go into volunteer mode.  I’m constantly volunteering for something at our church or for some kind of Susan G. Komen event.  I also get to focus on my obsession with Pinterest.  One of the other coach’s wives and I pick a project or two or three or four during the season and spend our Saturday’s perfecting our latest project.  It’s a great outlet and keeps us busy while our coaches are at work.

I’ve learned throughout the years that it’s ok for him to go off to football and it’s ok for me to show my independent side a little too.  After all, I was a fully functioning adult before we met and I can still be that way sixteen years into this.  Together we make a great team.   Proverbs 27:17 says “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”    We spend time during the off season and summer sharpening each other and then we are both ready for football season.

Praying that have spent your summer sharpening and are ready for the season ahead.  Remember there are other wives of coaches out there to support you and to lean on for help.  You’re not in this alone. So say it with me “Bring on football season!”

Cheering you on!
Laurel