unconventional

This year, the Faulkner Baseball team did something that no other Faulkner Baseball team has ever done.  They won the first round of the National Championships and earned an appearance, with only 9 other teams in the nation, in the NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho.  My husband is the first ever coach in Faulkner history to lead a team there…and this was only his 7th season as a head coach.  I know he isn’t the youngest coach or the coach with the least experience…but I know that it is rare for a coach to make it that far, much less in that little of time.

To say I am proud of him is an understatement.  Since before we were married, we talked about this kind of success.  And I knew…way back then…that my husband would do it.  The win in Kingsport was one of the top ten moments of my life.  Seeing these guys who had worked so hard, guys that we love so much, achieve something so rare…I just can’t describe it.  And seeing my husband in that moment…it is still something that almost brings tears to my eyes.

But you know what? Even as I’ve thanked God a million times since that moment, I realize that I have to be diligent in not letting this moment, this feeling, become too important. In church this Sunday, we talked about how worldly success can leave us spiritually vulnerable.  We start thinking that championships and newspaper articles and trips out West mean that we are good.  And I welcome any and all moments that remind me that HE is the only success that matters.  There are some coaches that have never won even one post season game…and God loves them just as much as He loves us.

But God can clearly be seen in our story.  He is the reason that my husband is a great man.  Patrick was not supposed to graduate from college. He wasn’t supposed to be a phenomenal husband and wonderful daddy.  When he was younger, nobody could have ever guessed that he would be a great coach leading his team to the World Series. God is the reason he is all those things.  God!