In the fall of 2003 I found a whistle in my mailbox at school. I was still the new guy on staff but had developed a relationship with the students the prior couple of years as the music teacher. Apparently God had been working behind the scenes, as he does so well, and before I knew what had happened I was the new girls basketball coach.
Apprehensively I proceeded forward and as the season progressed found that I had a passion for the ministry that was presenting itself. I had coached boys many years before but had grown weary of the experience and at the time it was definitely not a ministry to me.
This was different from the start. God had brought me to this position, I didn't ask for it, the pieces were all being moved behind the scenes without me even knowing it. In hindsight it's mirrored another four or five ministry moments in my life and definitely sheds some light on why it became such a passion.
With a roster that was a full year younger than everyone else we played that year, this picture was taken moments before our last game. It was a championship game at a tournament in Maryland.
How we got there was a story for another time. But it was the first chapter of what became a decade of coaching. A journey that included my girls once leading worship and praise before 2000 other students and coaches in the sanctuary of Indiana's Valparaiso University where we had been invited to participate at a National tournament.
My ministry there ended as it had started ...at a championship game that ended with a loss. Now we had our mountain top moments and knew what it felt like to be the best, but more importantly we knew what it was like to work together, play together, and to pray together.
The greatest victories over those years were not on the court, but off the court, and life has proven what a great group of young women I was honored to coach.
I don't believe I ever used the whistle, but I certainly was blessed that it was placed in my mailbox.
Pray on,
Eddy
No comments:
Post a Comment