Trained to Worship At The Altar of Sports, Part 2
As you can imagine, I got so much heat for this. I did not come to this decision lightly. I wrestled with it for about 3 years. My kids were still young and sports was still enjoyable, but I was watching the older moms.
In fact, one day, I was hosting some women from my church and I mentioned it during conversation. This one woman, literally freaked out. She started telling us how she had played (something I can’t remember) all throughout her youth. And she was saying how the team camaraderie was her whole life and such an incredible experience. She told me that not having that for my kids was just wrong and that I shouldn’t do it.
I bit my tongue because I was not in a mental space to argue.
My husband didn’t really care since he’s always considered organized sports a waste of time. He fishes. But he did say that he didn’t know how I was going to convince them.
But I didn’t need to “convince” them. I just needed them to honor it as a decision I made before God. It was also a hill I was willing to die on.
And why was I so intent on this?
Because I was raising men. Hopefully Christian men. Men who would sacrifice and lay down their life for their future wife and children.
And what does that sacrifice feel like? What does it feel like to just want to kick back and let the Sabbath day be filled with self-indulgence, but yet get up and do the harder thing, which is to deny yourself?
And I’m going to say it. Many times that sacrifice also means laying down your own pride. The immense, drunken pride you feel when your kid is winning and so athletic and all the other parents admire you and ask how you do it. You know it’s true.
And I know most men are going to say that they would absolutely lay down their life for they family and I don’t doubt that these men would take a bullet for their families. But let’s get real. Most will never be called to take a bullet for their wife and kids. Most will be called to deny, baseball, football, golf, and fishing!!
