2020 The Year That Just Keeps Giving

 

I’m pretty confident that I can say that 2020 was not the year that any of us expected that it would be. As each new year dawns everyone has high expectations that the new year will be amazing. The new year will bring new opportunities. The new year will be better than the last. January and February were okay but then March hit and it seems it was just downhill from there for everyone. It was the 2020 version of Dante’s Inferno or for those not familiar with that, the new levels of Jumanji. Each month brought a new level that we could have never imagined.

As the wife of a track coach, we were just hitting our groove in track season and the BLAM! COVID hit and our season was over. We were on pace to hopefully win our district four years in a row which would have been an AMAZING accomplishment. We thought we had several kids that were on pace to make it to state. My husband and awesome coach was supposed to be honored at the state track meet as the state track coach of the year. All gone thanks to COVID.  I watched my coach try to teach virtually and even try to coach football on a laptop in our backyard while trying to engage with his players and teach fundamentals and execute techniques via Zoom. I’m sure the inventors of Zoom never imagined it would be used for football practice.

As employee for a large nonprofit we were excited about what the year had an in store for us and were looking forward to phenomenal opportunities and then BLAM! COVID hit. Our world was turned upside down and we were in for a major reorganization along with two rounds of layoffs and changes in pay and benefits. Coworkers that I had been a part of my work and personal life for many years were affected by the changes and that was just the Spring.

Summer came with major issues of entirely new level that in and of itself were enough for any one year all its own. Yet we couldn’t concentrate on just those issues, we still had to deal with COVID and how was affecting our everyday life.

Then Fall came with an entire new set of challenges. School was virtual and school was in person. We all questioned if football season was going to happen and if it did, what would it look like. I just kept praying that we could have some form of normalcy during 2020 and that we could have a football season. In Texas the smaller schools were allowed to kick off their season in August. For the larger schools our schedule was delayed but at least it was going to happen. Each night I would again pray that we could have a season and that our coaches and our boys could navigate this crazy time and get to play a regular season. Each week we held our breath to see if the other team could play or would we have to miss a week. Our coaches became experts in contact tracing, including who sat where at lunch and in class, who went up against who in practice and even who rode to school together. Trying to keep everyone safe and healthy.

 I was used to coaches calling coaches on the way home from school to discuss practice and the day to day activities. I was used to coaches calling coaches during dinner to discuss practice schedules, grades, etc. but now there was a new factor. Who sat next to who during lunch? How far away was player X from student Y in the classroom? There was a whole new level of anxiety in air.

I just kept counting down the games and the weeks. I just kept counting down the work meetings and the changes in the organization. I just kept thinking if we can only make it to Christmas break then we are home free and can run away for a week and escape all of this for a week and just have a break from reality. This year our break from reality wasn’t meant to be. 2020 reared its ugly head again and the decision was made to stay home and not escape reality, at least for right now. For right now, we are home. Celebrating the fact that we actually got to have a season. Celebrating the fact that we made it playoffs and that our boys that we didn’t think would even get a season got an extra week to play. Celebrating the fact that we both still have jobs. Celebrating that our family and friends are near and that we are blessed to have another Christmas with them on this earth. We may not be able to gather in person, but the fact that we are all still on this earth together is a blessing.

2021 will bring new opportunities and most likely a new set of anxieties and new questions about athletic seasons continuing or happening at all and all of the stresses of work but, there is one thing for certain. We serve and awesome and mighty Lord who has great things in store for us all.  I Peter 5:7 reminds us to “cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you.”  So here I stand at the end of 2020 constantly casting my anxieties to Him knowing that He cares for me and He cares for you. Whatever is there with us in 2021 or before us, our Lord will see us through.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Cheering you all on!
Laurel

Let’s Laugh and Let’s Do This!

 

Last August my coach and I were interviewed for a podcast. During the interview I was asked what my favorite Bible verse was. I have several that I love, but the one that came to mind was Proverbs 31: 25 “She is clothed with strength and dignity and she laughs without fear of the future.” I explained that as the wife of a coach I thought it was a great life verse because no matter what happens during the season whether, it’s good, bad or ugly, I can smile and know that God is in control and I don’t have to worry about the future because He already knows the future. I also teased that I love that verse because it talks about how the Proverbs 31 women is clothed and I love clothes and I also love to laugh. Reflecting back on that podcast makes me smile. I rattled off the verse and believed everything I said about it. What I didn’t know was that just a few months later I would be quoting that verse and claiming it daily thanks to events of 2020 and COVID-19.  

Now it’s a year after that podcast and I’m claiming my life verse in a new way. This time of year, we are used to settling into a routine of long hours, a million items on the calendar along with the excitement of what the season is going to bring. This year is different. It’s so different. It’s different in every way possible. At our house by now we would have had family photos, media day, a get together with all of the coaches’ families. Season tickets would have been passed out. Field turf pellets would be all over the floors of the house. I’d know who our position players would be.  The list goes on and on of what should be at this point in August, but it’s 2020 and nothing is the same.

It’s August 2020 and the routine that we have had for 22 years is suddenly different. It’s August and we don’t even know if we are getting to have football practice when school starts next week. It’s August and we don’t even know if we are going to get to have a football season. It’s August and we don’t know all the new rules and procedures for school or for athletics. It’s August and we just don’t know.

Not knowing is hard. Not knowing is frustrating. We are used to having a routine. We are used to having a game plan.

We do know some things though and those things are comforting. We do know that our athletes still need us both on and off the field and that we can play an integral part in helping them as we all figure this out. We do know that we want what’s best for our students and athletes. We do know that we are all in this together. We do know that there are coaches’ wives across the nation praying for each other as we walk through these uncharted times together. We do know that during this time our best ability is going to be flexibility because every day things are going to change.

But most importantly thanks to Proverbs 31:25 we know that we are clothed in strength and dignity and that we can laugh without fear of the future. We can claim that because we know who holds the future! Our awesome God holds the future and He holds us. 

So, ladies let’s laugh and let’s do this! We’ve got this because He’s got us!

Cheering you on,
Laurel

To the Class of 2020

This is not the year we dreamed for you.

we dreamed of you getting to compete.

we dreamed of walking with you through victories and defeats.

we dreamed of getting to spend saturdays at the track with you.

we dreamed of watching you run, jump and throw.

we dreamed of watching you reach for your dreams and goals.

we dreamed of getting to celebrate you.

we dreamed of getting to say a proper goodbye.

this year none of those things were able to happen.

however, there are some things that will never change.

you are and always will be a coppell cowboy.

you will always have a place at our dinner table.

we will always just be a phone call or text away.

you will always be loved and always be supported by us.

you will always be considered family.

our door and our hearts will always be open to you.

we will miss you.

Coach Pointer and mama p.