Pink Out!

Wednesday kicks off Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  For me, it’s a very important month.  My mother, her sister Jane, their Aunt Did, and their cousin have all breast cancer survivors.. This summer my mother-in-law joined their ranks as a survivor. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime.

I work  for  Susan G. Komen so that we can find a cure for breast cancer and so that hopefully my cousins and their children won’t have to experience the fight that my family members have had to experience. When I started at Komen over fifteen years ago I was fighting for my mother and my aunts.  Now that I’m older I’m seeing that it’s my friends that are now battling this disease.  A year ago my sweet friend Joy was diagnosed and I walked through her fight with her.  I’m so happy to say that she came out of the fight just as fierce as she went into it. 

By working for Komen I’ve had the honor of working alongside some of our fabulous volunteers and staff members.To me they became more than volunteers and staff they became friends. My list of survivor friends has become far too long to list (which is a fabulous thing)  But, where the fight has become all too real because it’s here that I’ve lost some friends to breast cancer. The fiends I have lost have all been close to my age and that makes the fight take on an entire different meaning for me.  I long for the day when I no longer have to see the faces of the children, husbands, partners and friends and think about the fact that we didn’t win the fight soon enough to save their loved ones.

We are winning the battles though.  Since I first started at Komen I’ve seen advances in drugs and treatments that are now helping women to win their fight. Drugs like Herceptin and Tamoxifen weren’t around fifteen years ago and thanks to fundraising and research they are now available. Targeted treatments through radiation and chemotherapy are advancing each day. We are winning the battle because if caught early and confined to the breast, there is now a 99% survival rate. 

By being the wife of a coach I love that my two worlds of work and home can collide in October. I’m thrilled to see football teams have pink out games. I’m humbled when our players ask me for pink ribbons or pink bracelets and wear pink tape. They ask me if they could wear them to honor me and my family and the other families that have been affected by breast cancer. I’m ecstatic when I walk into the gym on a Tuesday night and see our volleyball team participating in Dig for the Cure. I’m in awe each year when the girls tell me how much money they have raised for the fight against breast cancer.  I love that these teenagers are engaging in the fight at such an early age and that they are aware of this disease and how it can destroy families.  They too want to end this thing forever.  I go to work every day to fight for them.

Raising money is important and we can’t win the fight without it but another important thing that you can do is to take charge of your own health.  Talk to your doctor about when you should start clinical breast exams and mammograms.  Become aware of your breast health and know what’s normal for you. The minute something isn’t normal for you, run don’t walk to your doctor and get an opinion from your doctor. If you don’t like what you hear or still feel unsettled – get a second opinion.  It’s your health.  TAKE CHARGE!

Whether you love all the pink that you see in October or not; whether you love Susan G. Komen or not, I encourage you to take charge of your breast health and remember that fighting breast cancer is one thing that you can control for your life.  Do it for you. Do it for your family. Do it for your friends.  Schedule your appointment with your doctor and if you’re over 40 schedule your mammogram today.

Until we win this fight. I promise to keep fighting for you and for my family.  Let’s end breast cancer!

Cheering you on (all the way to get your mammogram)

Laurel

Faith, Family, Football. We Say it, but do We Mean it?

Between the NFL and the NCAA this week my heart is broken.  My heart breaks every time there is a new story in the news about a player beating his wife or girlfriend or a story about an influential player using derogatory language about women.  Then the news cycle continues about what his punishment should be and how it should be enforced.  Comments are then made about whether or not the player in question should play or be suspended. More comments are made about whether the suspension should include allowing the player to be on the sideline or at the game at all.  The commentary goes on and on. 

In all of this my question is where did things first go wrong for the athlete? Did a parent or coach or coach’s wife pass on the opportunity to guide the player towards Christ? Psalm 22:6 says “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Are we training these young men in the ways of the Lord?  Are we constantly pouring into them the way many of our parents poured into us?  How many times have we heard the phrase “Faith, Family, Football.”? How many of us actually put those words into practice with our athletes?

Growing up in my home scripture was a constant part of our day to day life.  There was scripture in the joyous times. There was scripture when things weren’t going according to plan. The scripture I seem to remember the most though was the scripture my mother whispered softly when I was in trouble.  The quieter she spoke and the more scripture she quoted equated to the amount of trouble was coming my way.  My mother always told me that the Lord entrusted her and my father to raise me and that she wasn’t going to stand there on Judgment Day and have to explain away her lack of action, discipline and guidance. 

For coaches and their wives who are believers, I think it’s imperative for us to remember that the Lord entrusted us with these athletes.  We need to keep in mind that one day we will stand before the throne and answer for the role we played in growing the faith of those young men. I know that there is a fine line in public schools about what we can and can’t say about our faith but I also know that the Lord will open the doors and paths to say the things that need to be said when they need to be said. My coach and I are blessed that we are in a community where we can whisper and even outright proclaim the scriptures. We also make sure those scriptures are spoken in our home when our boys are over for family dinner. I’ve been given many opportunities where I can whisper those scriptures to students that my mother once whispered to me.

If we are going to preach to them Faith, Family, Football then we need make sure that we are at the ready to train them in the ways that they should go so that they will not depart from it.  We need to make sure that their faith and actions are as strong as their athletic abilities so that when they step on the college and/or NFL stage that they are not the ones in the news for domestic violence or for derogatory actions or words. It’s up to us to make sure that they are showing the world that athletes have learned the true meaning of Faith, Family, Football and what that phrase should truly mean.  Practice what you preach and teach them well.  

Cheering you on,
Laurel

Utilize the Gifts of Your Coaches Wives

The beauty of a coaching staff is that everyone brings something unique and special talent to the table. The same holds true with the wives of the coaches.  Each wife brings with her the special talents and gifts and yes, spiritual gifts as well.  It’s important that those gifts are recognized by the other wives and then utilized for the greater good of the staff.  I Corinthians 12 4-6 says: “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. “

I was once part of staff where the wife of the head coach had a gift for recognizing those talents and then empowering each wife to use her talent in a way that benefited not only the wives but their coaches as well. Jan had the gift of watching and recognizing the gifts of the other wives and then she gave us the gift of empowering us to use those gifts.  With each wife being empowered to let their talent shine we grew closer as a unit and worked as one and by working as one were a greater asset to our husbands and to the team.

Jan immediately saw that Lisa was clearly the prayer warrior of the group.  She always made it a point to ask her to lead us in prayer, and pray for specific things for our families, our coaches and our players.  We all knew that when we needed prayer, that we could turn to Lisa and engage her to pray with us and for us.

Courtney had the clear gift of encouragement.  I remember when Jan introduced her to the staff as the cheerleader and chief encourager and we found her to be just that. You could count on Courtney to arrive in the stands with her signs and noise makers and she was always ready to get the group pumped up. You could also count on a quiet word of encouragement when she saw that you needed it and then to have special notes in the mail at just the right moment.

Jan recognized that I had the gift of organizing and she enabled me to use that gift. My first encounter with Jan was at a function where she saw me in my element of organizing and problem solving about four things all at the same time. She quietly sat back and watched me do my thing. The next week when I was introduced to the staff, I was declared the organizer and the doer. If she needed something planned or details to be worked out she simply would turn and ask and then send me into action. 

There were ten wives on that staff and each had a role and responsibility. Some were subtle and never outright mentioned as a whole to the group but we all learned to recognize those gifts and we were all empowered to use those gifts.  Seeing those gifts in each of us and encouraging us to use them was one of the greatest gifts Jan could have ever given us. It was also a gift to her as she knew that by empowering each of us to do what we did best she in turn could focus on her talents and gifts and not have to try be all things to all people. She had a staff of wives that she could lean on and support her in what she needed as well.

Whether you are the head coach’s wife or the wife of an assistant, I encourage you to stop and observe the wives around you.  Look for their special gift and then encourage them to use that gift.  It will strengthen them and it will strengthen you and the entire staff.

Cheering you on!
Laurel