Coach Scott was a great offensive line football coach. As a 10-year-old aspiring right guard, I learned from him the basics to being a great blocker: elbows up and out with hands tucked in. It was the “old school” way to block, which didn’t involve the use of hands—just stick your elbows way out so the defensive player couldn’t get by. For me, a good game required making sure no one ever got around me and never got a tackle. Not exactly a simple job. It took an incredible amount of work and effort to keep others from advancing toward the ball.

There are many “reality” shows on television today, and nearly all of them delve into areas that are indeed outlandish. One show in particular that caught my attention involved an experienced foreign nanny who came to rescue a family who had lost control of their children. The parents were depicted as a hapless pair who were desperate and frustrated with their lives.

Let’s be honest. There are some days when we just don’t want to have it all together! I’m a coach’s wife, and as such, I sometimes don’t want to be the patient listening ear for my coach and his frustrations. After all, isn’t it his fault that we are in our situations and dilemmas? Our kids miss their dad while he spends time with someone else’s kid.

In today’s devotion, I want to speak directly to the coach’s wives and hope that the rest of you can take away a small bit of spiritual encouragement, as well.

Hockey Chat:  There are a lot of superstitions and traditions that the NHL players have.  On the Blackhawks, John Madden used to change his laces every single time he skated. Patrick Sharp always wears his headphones with his iPod on before the game.  Brian Campbell doesn't like anyone touching the knob of his stick before the game, or he has to re-tape it.  Brent Seabrook gets ready at the exact same time every game. Tomas Kopecky during warm-ups always spits on all four faceoff circles.  But regardless of whatever superstitions these guys have, there core ability is what makes them great players.

A close friend who has known me for 20 years recently approached me with a comment and question that surprised me. He said, “I’ve been watching you closely for the past year, and you have changed. I see transformation in your life. What are you doing?” I was totally humbled and deeply thankful that someone saw a change. But I also quickly reminded myself that the positive change was not the result of anything I had done, but of what God had done in me. It was a tribute to the power of His transforming work. After explaining to my friend about a serious daily commitment to the morning disciplines of reading, studying and praying the Word of God, he asked for more details.

So much in sports is related to the eyes. A ball is dropped because a player takes her eyes off the ball at the last minute. A batter misses the pitch because he fails to keep his eye on the ball. As a coach you’ve likely cautioned your players, “Keep your head up,” so that an athlete will look at the right thing in order to avoid injury and be most effective.

A recent study reports that only 6 percent of teens today believe that moral truth is absolute. I knew it wouldn’t be high, but that’s really low. Not good. Young people today are basically saying that life is a sliding scale. Truth has become relative because it all depends on the situation.

In the world of athletics, there are many truths that cannot be relative, such as wins and losses. Imagine if every athlete defined winning differently—one by score, one by hustle, one by the best fans, and so on. It would be chaos! Fortunately—or unfortunately—winning is defined by the scoreboard. Life without truths, absolutes and boundaries leads to chaos.

Hockey Chat:  You’ve seen hockey players try to argue there way out of penalties saying that it was just a little hook or they just slashed at the puck not the opponent.  They try to minimize the offense.  Fact is, when they are called for penalty, it’s a penalty.  If they say they just barely hit the guy with their stick, they still are called for slashing.  If plead that they just nudged the guy head first into the boards, they still get called for boarding just as if they slammed him.  When the ref sees a penalty, regardless of the degree, he calls it.

At the beginning of this soccer season, we had a good combination of experienced/inexperienced starters and substitutes. I thought we were right where we needed to be. We jumped out to a 3-0 record. But then we lost a key forward due to a broken leg, and, two weeks later, our leading scorer broke his ankle. Fortunately, my players took it upon themselves to step it up. The bad thing was that each player did what he thought the team needed. They stopped listening to coaching instruction, stopped playing as a team and relied on their own individual talents. The season started to fall apart, and they found themselves at 3-4. It was time to rally the troops!

Shane was a college lacrosse goalie who was playing on our men’s FCA Lacrosse team in Vail, Colorado. It was a ministry outreach that we had done for a couple of years to reach the lacrosse community for Christ, and the Vail Shootout Lacrosse Tournament was at the time the biggest and best tournament to mobilize our efforts. God did amazing things on the field, but what He did off the field was even more amazing. God got ahold of Shane, and I remember being with Him when he asked Jesus to be the Savoir and Lord of his life.