Tuesday, June 14, 2016

1460

Last Saturday, Sam and I got up early.  Early early.  On a Saturday.  The first Saturday of the summer.  For what?  For a football camp.  We are a football family. The boys play other sports but football is their passion.  And, lucky for us, football is king here in Texas.  I enjoy watching my boys play.  I love the work ethic they are learning.  I love their teammates. I love the way they are learning to encourage their teammates and push everyone to be their best.  I love watching Ryan coach them.  I love football!

So I was not that cranky about getting up early to go football camp at SMU.  And, as an added bonus, I didn't have to drive.  My nephew also attended camp so my brother-in-law drove.  Score!

I watched Sam work hard during the offensive line drills.  As much as I love football, I'm not well versed on the complexities of the game so I can not analyze Sam's performance.  He looked like he was hustling and holding his own.

At the end of camp there was a tour and recruitment information.  It was all very well done and I was super impressed with Chad Morris and his coaches.  Something he said has stuck with me.

There are 1460 days in 4 years. 

He went on to talk about how many days a kid can play football in college - 60 - and that you should choose a college based on the other 1400 days and not solely on the 60.

My eyes glazed over.  Sam is about to start his freshman year.  He has 4 years of high school left to live in our house full time.  1460 days.  Mini panic attack! I'm running out of time.  There are so many things I need to make sure he knows in these 1460 days.  And I'm not even talking about all the academic stuff he'll learn in high school.

I need him to know how to seek after God, even when it's not cool.
I need him to know how to be a gentleman, even when it's not fun.
I need him to know how to cook his own food and wash his own dishes. Oh, and his clothes! He has to take care of his clothes.
I need him to know when to stick with something even when it's hard.
I need him to know that you don't have to stick with everything. You can change your mind sometimes.
I need him to know how much we love him.

I could go on and on like this, there's so much I need to do in these 1460 days.  But I'm going to stop before I go into a full on panic attack.  I mean, for real, I'm tearing up.

I can calm down that because I know the One who holds those 1460 days.  I can give those days to the Lord.  He'll guide me.  He'll guide Ryan.  He'll guide Sam.  I'm sure those days are not going to be all fun and games, God never promised that.  But he does promise to never leave me or forget me.

So, instead of panicking about my measly 1460 days, I'm going to but them in God's hands. I'm going to be intentional about teaching all three of my boys what they need to know and let God handle the rest.  I'm going to be present and enjoy all 1460 of those days.



No comments :