“Point your kids in the right direction — when they’re old they won’t be lost.” — Proverbs 22:6 (The Message)
I am a proud parent of a talented soccer player and a varsity tennis captain who is the No. 1 singles player on her high school team.
Competition for scholarships and notoriety is strong. As parents, our joy doesn’t come in the medals, or the articles with our daughter’s name in bold. Our joy comes in the fact that she has held true to her pursuit of God and His will.
She was in a quandary about balancing her sports passion and pursuit of God in her sophomore year. I brought home a show with Shaun Alexander, who was a Pro Bowl running back for the Seattle Seahawks at the time. I played the show for my family and made sure the volume was up a little more when Shaun said, “I’m not defined by football. It’s what I do, not who I am.”
Our daughter heard that, win or lose, she was given her value by God through grace and not by a scoreboard result. From that day on, she pursued God knowing that sports will come and go, but He would never leave her. For that reason, she sought to please her Father in Heaven. She knew it wasn’t performance that would define her, but perfection by grace that would save her.
— RANDY CLARK
OneCoach, part of the Sports Spectrum Network, is an international community of coaches and spouses who have been uniquely gifted and called by God. Visit OneCoach.org for more stories and videos.
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