“We can certainly conquer it.” Numbers 13:30
As many of you know my husband is a football coach along with his younger brother Ryan who coaches for Longview, and his older brother Chris who coaches for the Oakland Raiders.
Well having married into a football family you learn a lot, sometimes very quickly and sometimes not so quickly. For me it has taken a good six years of learning, of adjusting, of understanding and of even appreciating what these three men do.
For a long time especially on my bad days I would find coaching to be a pretty selfish job, and I feel as though I have the right to say that being I was a coach for six years. And the time I spent coaching left little room for anything or anyone. This was the very reason I got out of coaching when I met Garrett.
I knew if we were going to begin a family and put into that family what we both wanted, we could not do it if we were both coaching. And well I really was not that crazy about coaching, but that is a whole other story.
Anyway, I do have a point to all of this! Sometimes our perspective on things needs to be changed. For instance, I have often wondered why Garrett puts in so many hours that he does (I mean we all know these guys don’t get paid overtime). I have even wondered and have asked on occasions if those kids he is coaching even realize and appreciate how much he puts into them. I wonder if it ever crosses their minds that he is a daddy who has two boys of his own at home. I even wonder if those fans yelling the things they do ever stop to think about the time he puts into his job.
Let’s just say for a long time I had a negative perspective and I admit I still do at times but…
The more God changes me the more and more I begin to understand. Today I understand that Garrett chooses to do what he does and I can either accept that or not. I can sit and think about all the hours he is away from home and let it make me angry-which it has and does at times. Or I can look at it from a positive stand point just as Caleb did that day he returned from scouting the land of Canaan for 40 days.
“The land we explored is a wonderful land! And if the Lord is please with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey, and he will give it to us! Do not rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land. They are only helpless prey to us! They have no protection, but the Lord is with us! Don’t be afraid of them!” Numbers 14:7-9
I have had to be willing to allow God to minister to me and to change me. I have also had to learn a lot of things the hard way because of my negative perspective on my husband’s job. It has not been easy, there are days that are a lot harder than others, but for the most part I am beginning to look at his job from a new perspective. One that is positive, God pleasing, and was ordained by God Himself.
I have only been able to do this because of my faith in Christ and because of His call on Garrett’s life to lead young men and coaches to a deeper relationship with Christ. When I fix my thoughts on Garrett’s goal as a coach which is to be the hands and feet of Christ, a daddy to the daddy-less, and a Christ-like leader, my perspective of his job changes tremendously this in return allows me to conquer the negative perspective and turn it into a God-like perspective.
I don’t know what life is like for you right now but I do know if your perspective on it is that of the ten complainers, maybe you too need a perspective change, one that will place you in agreement with Caleb-believing in God and His power to conquer anything and everything.
Prayer: Lord help me to keep my perspective on that which is positive, pure, holy, and true. Amen
