3 Lessons I Learned in the Bleachers

You need to know that when my high school senior announced, “I’m going to try out for lacrosse this spring,” he had never played lacrosse. Ever. Four weeks before tryouts, he picked up a lacrosse stick for the first time.

I admit, I panicked a little, not so much about his ability, but more about the commitment. How would we add this? Those lacrosse games landed on an already-full spring calendar of senior activities, a sports season for my youngest, weddings, travel, work deadlines… I know you understand.

But as the season progressed, I became increasingly aware of how God cared about something bigger than boxes I added to our calendar.

Just as God works in the hearts of our children out on the track/turf/field, He is also at work in the bleachers.

I mean, I’ve known this. With three boys in sports since age three, we’re on year eighteen of holding hot coffees with other sideline parents on frosty mornings while our children do their thing. In the midst of figuring out carpool and sharing referee complaints (ahem), God is always doing more.

Sidelines and bleachers are filled with hearts and souls who carry beautiful stories.

Yet, in this “bonus” season, I’m still learning more.

There is a humbling that happens upon entering a new thing. Literally not knowing anything means asking lots of questions of the new faces nearby. But in stepping into this new community, even for a brief season, I’ve learned more about showing up in community.

Now, I acknowledge that because my son is a senior, he has the gift of showing up with confidence while also holding the grace to be present without expectation. He’s there simply for the love of the game and the team. So when I carry my stadium seat into these metal stands and step into this new community where the welcome is warm, I feel joy and gratitude that I get to be part of it. I’m more mindful that God is doing things, especially in my own heart, as I sit in these bleachers.

My unanticipated status as a senior lacrosse mom is a beautiful reminder that God has plans for all the places He takes us, including unexpected seasons.

What if we could carry this perspective into all of the metaphorical bleachers we step into?

Because God is always doing something in the stands where He places us, in these few short weeks rounding out my son’s senior year, when I’m breathing in all of his lasts and enjoying all of the moments I’m given, I’ve learned some new things:

1. In a new season of any kind, God is already at work.

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)

When my son decided to try out for a new sport, that decision came with an invitation for my heart to join him. When our children want to try something new, it offers us a secondary opportunity to see this new thing as a place God has prepared in advance (Isaiah 43:19). He isn’t surprised when our children express interest in any endeavor, which means we can step into it with curiosity. This understanding that we are God’s handiwork, that we are called to do good works, and that God has already gone ahead of us means we can show up with expectancy. It’s not that He needs us to accomplish x or y or z in this brief window of a season – it’s more that He’s inviting us to join Him. What if, when we take our seats, it’s a decision to join God where He’s already at work?

2. When we enter a new thing, we can choose to listen and learn.

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” (Psalm 32:8)

When we show up anywhere – in the bleachers, at church, at our workplace – we can make the mistake of being fully expectant for how God might use us – and miss what God wants to teach us. What if we simply show up ready to listen and learn? I pray that in all those hours of sitting together, I learn of stories that extend beyond the bleachers. May we enter in with open ears and open hearts, to listen for where God is taking us and to learn from the souls around us.

3. We love differently when we know our time is short.

“As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” (John 20:21)

This bonus season offered us nine weeks with families we haven’t intersected with before. Nine weeks to learn names. Nine weeks to try (I really did try!) to understand the rules of a new sport. Nine weeks to learn how to be part of a new community. And it has flown by.

Knowing time is short changes how we show up. Entering into any season with a fixed end time stamps minutes in our minds differently. We measure our exchanges. We become aware of the limited opportunities to connect. This is the lens that I want to remember and keep close for wherever God sends me. I want to see the hearts around me through the lens of limited opportunity. We are sent, and we don’t know for how long. Let’s show up with the intent to invest for the time we’re given.

Our time in the bleachers is as much for us as it is for others. May we accept His invitation to show up, listen, and love well where He places us. And we may also find that God blesses us in those stands.