My Kid is the Quarterback!

We are a football family.  All three of my boys have played football.  (My daughter wished she could, and is counting down to the high school powder puff game.)  

My oldest and youngest sons have both played the position of quarterback.  This is either a really, really good thing or a really, really bad thing.  There have been many highs where my kid is the one who throws the amazing pass down the field or runs for a touchdown, and everyone loves him.  However, most of the time he is the one getting beat up, and is criticized for his every move.

Yesterday was one of those beating up times for my youngest son, Marshall.  Their game against our rivals didn’t go so well, ending 30-0.  Our offensive line couldn’t hold our opponent back at all, and Marshall didn’t have 2 seconds to make a play before he was sacked – over and over and over again.  As I watched him struggle to rise once again and limp back to the huddle, I was frustrated.  I was ready to go get my son, drag him off the field, and quit this game of football once and for all!  (Imagine the horror!)

Then, I thought of our oldest son, Mitchell, and how the game of football instilled in him the discipline, the perseverance, the fight and grit to do hard things.  I have watched him grow into a man, serve a two-year mission for our church in Nicaragua (which was anything but easy), and now return and work hard to reach his goals.  I can see how getting beat down in his 10 years of football, and rising each time he fell to try again, has made him into the person he is today.

I thought of Marshall’s life, and the struggles he will face.  Life is a fight sometimes, and I hope he won’t succumb to the opposition he faces and take the easy road or listen to the naysayers that always seem to be there when we are getting close to our goals.  I hope he will, as I watched him do today, get up after each setback, more determined and with a fire inside to fight for success. 

This game left him muddy, bruised, sore, and worn out!  How many times does life do this to us?  Marshall was such an example and inspiration to me today.  I am going to remember the look in his eyes the next time I face a really difficult challenge, fail, or just feel exhausted by life.  I hope I can with renewed determination get up and fight on.