Is that a calling?

Last night I finally got to see my girls play ball at the high school where I helped coach last year. During my brief time with them last season, I came to care about them so very much and I miss them now that I am no longer an assistant. Watching them from the stands rather than the bench hurt my heart.

I believe everyone is put on earth for a reason, and I am no exception. For quite a few years, I have struggled trying to figure out what exactly my reason was. I found a love for teaching that I know is a part of my calling, thus the masters degree, but I felt like there was more, that something was missing. After I started coaching last year, I thought, "Maybe this is the missing piece?" But how could it be? Its basketball.. A sport. A sport I love, but nonetheless, still a sport.

How could coaching be a calling? Basketball is just basketball... This year, because of school and life I have been too busy to help anywhere with coaching and it has been devastating. Its weird to go from doing something I love so much to just not. But, I realized something through not being able to coach this year... it is part of my calling and that is perfectly okay.

All my life, growing up in the church, there are times where I have felt pressure to fit my calling in the box. Missionary, pastor, worship leader... It has to fit in the ministry box. But when I think back to the difference my coach made on my life when I was in high school, I see it is absolutely a ministry. Watching my sister's coach this year, a pastor and a coach, has really taught me that it can be part of the reason you are on earth. Seeing my uncle make a difference in the lives of a lot of young men in his town has helped confirm it. The relationship formed with the players is uncompromising. There is still an inner struggle, a question of whether I am just letting my love of the Portland Trailblazers, Larry Bird, and the game in general get in the way of what I really should be doing. But I am passionate about it. I love talking about it, I love going over x's and o's, I love watching it, I love studying it, I love playing it, I love it all, but most importantly, I love connecting with the players.

All that to say this, it is okay that my calling is different than those in the box. It is okay that my calling has to do with sports. I can make a difference wherever I am called, whether that is the bush of Ethiopia, the orphanages in Cambodia, the streets of L.A., or the basketball court in Oregon. And I have learned to be more than okay with it. I have learned to love it.