I am a football and track coach's wife. Staying sane during the season seems like a fitting topic after this past football season.
Here's a short back story:
My husband has been an offensive coordinator for several years. He left last school year to teach and coach in a different school district (50 minutes from our house) and our son wanted to go to that district with him. Our daughter did not want to change schools, so she stayed in the same district that I teach in.
This past football season was by far the hardest season yet. My daughter was in the marching band this year. That meant I had to attend the football games at her school to be there for her. I have not missed very many of my husband's football games until this year.
Due to a natural disaster (Hurricane Helene), games were moved around, and I was able to attend a few of my husband's games, and he was able to watch our daughter in the band a couple of games.
Being a football wife is not for the faint of heart:
Let's just say it: being a football wife is not for the faint of heart. There is much more to it than just cheering your husband on at the games. Being a football wife is hard and lonely… not just during football season.
I'm sure other wives can relate. There is something else that makes being a coach's wife hard...the fans. Yes, I said it, the fans! This past season has been the worst that I have experienced. It was so bad, some of the fans upset my son. That…was…hard.
I get it. I know fans get rowdy, but no one has to be mean. This year, I experienced the meanness. What makes this worse is that it was not a losing season for my husband's team. It was the most winning season in the school's program history. Unbelievable.
Staying Sane:
Now, for the staying sane part, I have to give all glory to God for helping me stay sane during this hard season. It was a very stressful season for us as a family. To stay sane, I took one day at a time and talked to Jesus a lot.
The busyness of the season and making sure everyone was taken care of also helped with staying sane. There were some days that I was too busy to think about how split our family was for this school year.
Something else that I started doing was writing scriptures. I have a notebook at school and at home that I write scriptures in. I have several scriptures that I have been writing over and over for months. I found this to be very comforting.
Hebrews 4:12 tells us God's word is living and powerful. Remember this in the good times, and especially in the hard seasons. Speak it over yourself and your family.
One scripture I have been writing frequently is 1 Peter 5:7. Jesus is the burden bearer and wants us to cast all our cares on him because he cares for us. I certainly would not have stayed sane during this past season without him.
Whatever the sport, being a coach's wife is hard, staying sane is hard, and Jesus meets us where we are to help carry us through.