Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James 1:2-4
Last Thursday my oldest son played his first and possibly his best game he will ever play in sports. Just a few days prior to the game, my son had a seizure and was rushed to the emergency room. He spent the week in and out of doctor’s appointments while we watched every move he made. This was the first seizure he had ever had and the first my wife and I had ever witnessed. That was not a great combination.
Praise be to God, as of today my son has not had any more seizures and is currently doing well. However, this was an extremely challenging and scary week for everyone. Liam had to be watched like a hawk, we had to visit many doctors, and my entire family had to press pause on everything going on until we knew more about our son’s health.
In pressing pause, God brought Liam and all of us a wonderful gift in growth and maturity.
You see, the week of his seizure was also his first ever school soccer game. He was excited to wear his jersey to school and to play in front of a hometown crowd. This was the first game the middle school boys had ever played as this was the first year for our town to have a school soccer team. With all that being said, Liam missed out on most of what he was excited about. My son spent that day at Vanderbilt with his head strapped to a million monitors assessing the health of his brain and knew that he was not going to contribute much if he made it back on time to the game.
No jersey to school, no exciting moments on the field, and no victory in his first game as the team lost 9-1. Even though he missed out and the team lost, this could have very well been the best game that he will ever be apart of.
My son had to face struggle and fear while also juggling worldly disappointment that week. He got to think about what truly mattered in life while still caring about what he was excited about. As a believer, my son matured greatly during hardship.
God never promised us a life full of goals, wins, and undefeated seasons. There are no verses that promote parents screaming at coaches about playing time or tears for why we didn’t make all-stars. If anything, God promises us quite the opposite.
There are honestly more lessons for our kids to learn on the bench than there are on the all-star team. There are wonderful character-building moments in losses and hardships. Struggles call us to faith and dependency in Christ and a clarity in what is true and worthy.
My son sat on the bench and cheered on his team with a good and faithful attitude at his very first game after spending an entire day in the hospital. What a gift from God that was! As a parent, I was more proud of this game than any game my son has ever been a part of.
Liam most likely will not be a professional soccer player when he gets older, but I do know he will be a man and hopefully a husband and father.
The bench and loss during his first game did nothing but increase his chances that he will be a good one.