Football has been in our house since May with spring training and summer workouts, but now it’s HERE here.
So, I’ll say it now to get it out of the way.
I’m sorry, but I can’t. It’s football season.
It’s here. Our busy season, when cereal counts as dinner and we drive by practice just to lay eyes on Dada as he spends six days of the week at the field house.
It’s here. Our ministry season, when we “adopt” a position group as our own (this year, O-Line) and our son gains football brothers (this year, 12). It’s a ministry of raising up boys to be respectful men in a world that desperately needs them.
Some days are awesome. Some days suck. I always learn (and relearn) about grace during this season. Grace for coach. Grace for my kids. Grace for myself. This life doesn’t work without it. It’s the WD-40 to the wheels of this production.
If you know a coach’s wife, know that the biggest thing you can do for her is offer her grace. She won’t be able to join in on a lot of things because she’s trying to maintain a schedule at home on her own. Her house will be unkempt and she’ll probably rock a mom-bun for the next four months. The precious free time she does have will be prioritized for her family.
If you want to help a coach’s wife, tell her she’s doing a good job, even if she looks like the conductor and engineer of the hot mess express (all aboard!).
Ask her how you can pray for her.
Cook her a meal.
Hold her kids (or keep her kids) during the game.
Help her carry her stuff (and/or her humans) from the stadium to the car.
Don’t tell her what play you think her coach should have called (she doesn’t care), instead tell her what a difference her coach has made in your child’s life (that is their WHY).
Finally, and I cannot stress this enough, pick your child up from practice on time.
I’m not a martyr. We chose this life, and we know it seems ridiculous to many.
So when I say, “I’m sorry. I can’t. It’s football season,” I hope you hear, “I wish I could, but it’s really important to me to support my husband because I fully believe that what he does is more than just a game.”
I hope you know that while I will be exhausted and overwhelmed, I know there’s a purpose, and I love seeing him live out his calling.
And don’t worry, the feelings are mutual. Being married to a coach means being married to the biggest encourager and cheerleader you could ever imagine. I sit on the sidelines for Coach on Friday nights because he’s always on the sidelines for me, refusing to give up on dreams, picking me up out of negative spaces, and coaching me through hard things.
I’m sorry. I can’t. It's football season. And I need to soak up as much time as I can with the coach that I am so very proud to call mine.