The Mundane Matters

I am in the midst of a love/hate relationship with peewee football. I love the sport. I love watching my children try/learn new things...but I hate the amount of time it takes and the fact that it has taken 3 family dinner nights away from us per week.

With that being said, this weekend has reminded me all the reasons I do love youth sports. It started with K's soccer game this morning. I LOVE watching my girl compete. She is a good sport. She is not out to get anyone else, she just plays hard because she loves it. She is bouncing and grinning and having a great time--but she is fast and almost surprisingly aggressive considering her tiny little package.

I appreciate youth sports because they are such a metaphor of parenting in many regards. You practice with them and train them, but when your child is on the field, their performance has very little to do with you. In those moments on the field, your role is cheerleader. It is simultaneously humbling, exhilarating and terrifying.

Tomorrow the children (all three) are participating in a youth triathlon. This will be the second for K and the first for my boys. So, this afternoon we went out to the course and scoped it out. We practiced transitions. We discussed "what if" scenarios. The children rolled their eyes and dragged their feet at times. They just wanted to run and to ride their bikes--but in these races the speed in the mundane tasks of putting on shoes and helmets--can make or break the race. Another brilliant metaphor.

The 'basics' aren't fun to learn (nor are they particularly exciting to teach) but a strong and sturdy foundation is a result of the line upon line diligent instruction that happened before the 'big moment.' It is true of sports and life. I like being a 'fun Mom,' but being a good one requires knowing when to dial that back and being brave enough to require some 'unfun' training in the basics.

I am reminded of something we read a couple of weeks ago in Lysa TerKeurst's Becoming More Than Just a Good Bible Study Girl. She writes of the story of a young David, who after being ordained as the next king is returned to his very ordinary life as a shepherd boy. She paints the picture of him returning to the lowly duties of serving, tending and errand running with the oil from his anointing perhaps still dripping from his brow. Ultimately, when these tasks lead him to his first big moment battling Goliath, it becomes clear that he was qualified for his call during these ordinary days. (I Samuel 17:34-37)

"Indeed it was the fields of everyday life that David's character was developed to match his calling. All that tending and serving and errand-running was not a waste of time; in fact it was the best use of his time. It's where David gained the courage that would soon be required of him to defeat Goliath." -Lysa TerKeurst

Patience, consistency, steady plodding... May we not forget (in sports, in parenting OR in our own calls to obedience in our daily lives) that the basics make the difference.