Our son Isaac (Ike for short) is both passionate about and gifted in football. Playing quarterback is his thing. When he’s not playing in a game, he’s practicing with a team. When he’s not practicing with a team, he’s getting one-on-one training from one of his favorite coaches, Coach Cade. When he’s not practicing with Coach Cade, he’s practicing his footwork, speed and strength at the track with me. When he’s not at the track, he’s playing football with his brother and his dad in our yard. When he’s not doing that, he’s watching YouTube videos of NFL highlights. When he’s not watching it, he’s talking about it. When he’s not talking about it, he’s thinking about it.

Watching him on the field is nothing short of inspiring. Ike becomes a different person. Cool as a cucumber under pressure. Sees the whole field. Knows where every single person on his team is supposed to go during every single play. His memorization of plays— not just his role in that play, but everyone’s— never ceases to amaze me. It comes so naturally to him. In the words of Coach Cade, “There are people who just play quarterback and people who are made to be a quarterback. They don’t just play. They see. They lead. Isaac was made to be a quarterback.”

At just 9 years old, coaches are already noticing his giftedness, talent, genuine passion and leadership. This gave him the boost to try something new last fall: tackle football. A very big jump in intensity and physicality from flag football.

During the first parent meeting, we were made aware that so many kids signed up for his age group that they had to make two teams. Unfortunately, the director decided to absolutely stack one team, and put all the kids who had never played tackle (or any sport) before on another. Isaac was put on the latter team, because he was new to this program.

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IT BECAME APPARENT at practices that this team was WAY behind the other teams in the league. Isaac was directing most kids on the field where to go for every play. The offensive line was more of a sieve than a wall. Since only four kids had ever played football before, all the new kids had nobody to learn from. No example to watch. Practices were taken at a much slower pace than other teams to teach new athletes fundamentals, positions of the game and more. I’m sure these kids felt like they were trying to drink out of a fire hose. 

To make matters worse, their first game was against the very best team in the league.  They’d won the championship, they’d all played together for two or three years, they were huge, the whole bit. It was like Guilford High School playing the Kansas City Chiefs. (Cringe.)

As a mother, knowing my son was the first person this entire team wanted to annihilate, I was a mess. Pacing, heart pounding, the whole nine yards. And the game was just about as badly as it could have. The offense made forward progress on three plays. They never scored a single point. They never even got a first down. The team was doing everything they could, but they were just so new to it all that nothing was clicking. Some were overwhelmed trying to remember all they’d been taught in such a short amount of time. But what I saw on that field brought me to tears.

Isaac got sacked by kids twice his size more than 15 times. Sometimes two or three of those kids all hit him at once. Some of the hits were so hard the entire audience gasped. On one, he laid there for what felt like an eternity (but was probably about 10 seconds) before he even moved to get up. Every time the ball was snapped, the defense was on him in less than half a second. He had no time to even hand the ball off before he was horizontal. If he managed a handoff, that kid was leveled lickety split.

Every single hit, my heart broke a little. I prayed—sometimes out loud—that he would just please get up, because then I would know he was OK.

“Oh buddy, get up, get up, get up!” I’d plead, with my hands over my face, eyes peeking through my fingers. And, sure enough, that kid would peel himself off the ground every single time.

I WAS BEYOND FRUSTRATED. I was downright angry. This was unfair to every kid on the team. How are they supposed to learn and grow and improve with how unevenly matched this is? Wouldn’t it have been better to mix the teams so they had athletes to learn from who knew the game? It felt like these poor kids were suffering serious consequences of the director’s choices. This game was so unevenly matched that our team could get seriously hurt. My response was frustration and anger. It’s not FAIR!

But, do you know how Isaac responded?

He just played football.

He continued to lead.

He maintained self-control.

He continued to give his absolute best on every play.

And what was most inspiring, is even though he was the one taking most of the hits …

He was checking on his teammates.

He was encouraging them.

Making sure they were OK.

I watched him more than once put his hand on his teammate’s helmet, look that teammate in the eye, and by the look on his face, I could tell that he was showing genuine concern and encouragement.

Here I was, anxious and angry, and Ike—the one actually IN the game—had a better attitude than I did.

And the team did, too.

They just kept doing their best. The grit and resilience they displayed was inspiring. They fought tooth and nail. They persevered, even when things looked grim. Even when they were overwhelmed. This underdog team would carry these characteristics for the rest of their season.

After the game I walked toward him, holding back tears, thinking of how many hits he’d taken.

He was grinning.

“Mom, I’m OK. That was fun.”

“THAT was FUN for you?!”

That’s a kid who just genuinely loves football so much that he’s willing to get pummeled just to play.

IN HIS OWN 9-YEAR-OLD, quarterback-playing way, Isaac showed people a little bit about Jesus that day. He displayed hope, resilience, leadership, love, passion, grit, concern for others and encouragement during incredibly challenging situations. 

His team displayed perseverance, toughness, and resilience when the odds were stacked against them.

I was certainly moved to give myself an attitude check.

Watching them play this game was an intense reminder that we shouldn’t be waiting for the amazing wins and triumphs to give God glory. We must do that in the losses and in the hard times, too.

The picture of Jesus that my son painted for me in the first tackle football game of his life is something I will never forget. And it begs the questions:

What do I do when I’m in a situation that feels unfair? What attitude to I have when the odds are stacked against me? Do I give up, pout, have a bad attitude? Or do I decide to do the best I can with what I’ve got? Do I add fuel to the negative fire, or do I demonstrate resilience and hope? Do I wait around for an example to follow, or do I set the example?

Do I show people Jesus like Ike, this team, did on the field that day? Am I bearing fruits of the spirit, or smashing them as I stomp my feet while I pout? It’s easy to bear fruit when things are going great, but what about when they aren’t?

Galatians 5 gives us instructions for how to keep in step with the Holy Spirit. In verses 22-23, it says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” It doesn’t say we don’t have to worry about bearing these fruits when things aren’t going our way. Oy.

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THROUGHOUT IKE’S SEASON, we talked about how the way he carries himself on (and off) the field can bring others closer to Jesus.

1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” And since God has given Isaac the role of quarterback, he has the opportunity to use that as a platform for him.

We all have the opportunity (and responsibility as Christians) to use whatever position He’s given us — whether that’s a quarterback or a chef or a mother or a teacher or a pharmacist or a postal worker— to bring him glory. No matter the situation it puts us in.

I know as parents we are supposed to teach, guide, correct and inspire our kids. But I also firmly believe that, if we open our eyes and hearts, the Lord can use our kids to do the same for us.