Which side are you on?

Our son plays football. Unfortunately it's not just in the front yard. He plays tackle football. Despite my best efforts to convert him to piano or ballroom dance (ha!) or even tuba, anyone?, I have been unsuccessful. Football is his passion. (Please don't let him sustain a head injury). It is not just a sport to him. He loves the game. He reads about it. He studies it. He analyzes it. He wants to get better. Do better. Be better. And so, I relent. (But please don't let him sustain a head injury).

His team had their first scrimmage a few weekends ago. I watched (winced) as coaches coached (yelled) and boys were tackled. Hard. (Please don't let him sustain a head injury). And through the banging and bruising and crushing and pounding (I'm making it sound worse than it is - really), some things never change - the smile on my son's face, along with most of the boys on his team, as they play the game and the passion exuded as they do what they love to do on that green turf (why does half the green and black stuff come home to my kitchen floor, I plead?). Whether defense or offense, they are playing the game that makes their hearts sing.

Near the end of the scrimmage, a player from the opposing team was injured. It was a severe enough injury to stop the game, with the player being carried off the field. As concerned eyes were glued to the injured player, I wondered, how would this affect my son? Would he play tentatively for the rest of the game? Would he play defensively, and lose his tenacity?

And then I realized how this sport (fear of head injury, even) was teaching me a lesson on life and how to live it.

Quite simply, we have two choices: Defense or offense. We get to pick. It's pretty much one or the other.

Defense

If we choose to play life on the defensive line, we pile on our pads (don't forget the undergarments, especially the kidney protectors and ribcage protectors and be sure to cinch the straps extra tight because there are adversaries whose goal is to destroy you, right)? If we choose to live on the defensive line, we'll be doing a lot of blocking, with our arms out, our faces hidden, holding things, people, and events, back - away from us. Our time will be spent resisting whatever comes at us. The goal of this position is to remain on the line. Stationary. Don't let anything get past us. Defend the territory. Protect each other and protect yourself. Defend.

Offense

But what about living life playing offense? If we choose offense, life gets admittedly -- riskier, unpredictable. (Yikes). If we choose to play offense, we must be ready for anything. Offense requires us to run with our eyes focused forward - toward the goal ahead. We can't look back and run forward at the same time. Our arms and hands are outstretched - wide open, ready to catch any balls thrown our way. Living on the offensive line means we must ready to run the plays that are called by the quarterback (who is usually not us - wa!) and receive what is handed to us (rather, hurled 50 mph at us, sometimes in pouring rain, high winds, or even freezing snow). It's a willingness to trust the game, trust the coaches (even when they yell), trust our teammates and the plays they are running, and then get out there and play with joy in our hearts, doing what we were called to do.

Am I blocking and going nowhere, with arms held in front of me, my helmet of protection blocking my view of what lies ahead?

Or am I running and moving forward with joy in my heart doing what I love, trusting my Coach above and the teammates He has placed in my life?

Defense or offense?

Pads and helmet and football. The game and the equipment are the same. But which way am I going to play the game? Food for thought from this mom who always likes to play it safe.

Thanks, boys, for teaching me as you play the game. And thanks, son. You're my hero in so many ways.

Thanks for reading. (Now excuse me while I go remove my tightly secured kidney pads).