Years in the Making

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The last day of October is upon us. Where has time gone? For the last week, things have just run together for me. It has been a blur, but something I will never forget. I guess there is a reason that everything happens on God’s time and not ours.

Waiting patiently is not something I do very well. I have a feeling I’m not alone in this department. Whether it’s waiting on the Lord, or waiting on my wife to get ready, I generally am on the impatient side. That’s why waiting 27 years is absolutely crazy.

I’ll say that again. Waiting 27 years…well, that’s a long time any way you look at it.

Most people who read this blog know that I am a coach. I’ve been coaching softball at the high school level for 27 years and I’d never gone to state. Never made it to the Final Four. Oh, I’ve been close many times, but something has always happened to keep me and my team from this experience.

It may have been weather that rained us out and didn’t allow us a chance to come back, even though we had second and third with no one out. We reverted back to the fifth inning because of inclement weather, consequently losing to the eventual state champions. By the way, they changed the rule the following year. Now all post-season games are suspended and picked back up the following day.

It may have been an umpire who missed a runner leaving early on a tag-up play when everyone in the ballpark but him knew she left early. Lost that one 1-0 to the eventual state champion.

It could have been a pitchers’ duel where both teams scratched and clawed but only one, the eventual state champion, could move on with a 1-0 victory.

There are others, but the point is I’ve had my heart crushed many times. I’ve watched players that I care deeply about cry their eyes out as their softball careers came to a close in the middle of dirt or turf.

I’ve stood at many a banquet at the end of the year and proclaimed that the season may not have ended the way we wanted, but…

It’s not the same speech every year but, hey, we hadn’t gotten to the Final Four, and so even when the season was successful, we as a team still had our year brought to a screeching halt even though there was more left in the tank.

That was, until this year!

Somehow, with a record of 16-17-1, we not only made it to the Final Four, we finished 3rd, with a crazy seventh-inning comeback in which we scored five runs with two outs. That victory will resonate with all of us for years to come.

It took 27 years, but what an unbelievable ride the last week has been!

As I’ve reflected over the last 24 hours, it is still hard to believe. I’ve talked to so many people who’ve reached out to me and are beyond happy for me. Heck, I’ve been as giddy as a little kid in the middle of a candy shop. But I have wondered…why now?

I really don’t have an answer for that, but I thought of a chapter in the Bible that may answer that question. Ecclesiastes 3 is the famous chapter in which we are told God has a time for everything. Verse four says that there is a time to weep, and a time to laugh.

I’ve thought about this and how special this whole journey has been. All of the years, all of the players past and present, all of the support, from assistant coaches to my wife and kids, to friends and coworkers, have led to this moment where there were many tears of joy and much laughter and jubilation.

My time to weep and laugh was contained in the same unbelievable event, which rarely happens. But here we are, and I can’t say anything else but, “Thank you, God.”

There is also verse 11 that really sums it up for me. “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

I’ve waited through the years for this to happen. I’ve been through many ups and downs in my coaching career. I have been blessed by so many players along the way. I hope that I have also blessed and helped many athletes during that time. Each of the games and players have helped make me the man I am today.

I was also diagnosed with MS in 2020, and have had to change some things so I could continue to coach, but I have never felt yet like it was time to hang it up. That has also contributed to the man I am right now. Every hilltop and every valley that I have gone through over the past 27 years has molded me into the man/coach I am today.

A man who after the last out of a quarterfinal game that sends our team to state, can embrace his assistant coach who has been with him for 19 of those years.