“Hey Coach!” “Who Me?” – Giving Support

Ethan, age 7, is very excited about the upcoming junior basketball season. His mother (my daughter) spent her growing up years dancing, not playing basketball like all her other siblings. Last week she walked out into the yard to check on Ethan and see if he was playing with friends or what. He was shooting baskets.

Upon seeing her enter the little family basketball court at the side of their house he passed her the ball and said, “Hey Mom, you try to shoot it!”

“OK,” she replied, took aim and shot. They continued to pass the ball around and Ethan’s mom, the dancer, taught him what she knew about the various types of passes.

Then came the invitation that made her chuckle inside. “Hey Mom, how about every day at 3:00 you come out here with me and we have practice and you be my coach!”

So often we think we have to wait until we become “experts” to serve as support to others, but this little interaction between a mother and her 7 year old has all the elements of good support: Enough care to wonder how another human being is doing; Willingness to walk out onto the court, or pick up the phone, or knock on the door; Enough inclination to pass the ball back and forth a few times, interact in some way, or just sit visit a while; The courage to share what little you know about passing the basketball, about moving ahead, or conquering any of life’s challenges; And finally, enough love to show up again tomorrow and the next day.

We may or may not be experts about much of anything, but expert or not, without these qualities we can make no lasting positive difference in the lives of others. With these qualities we just might make all the difference in the world.

So the next time someone calls out, “Hey coach!!!” I don’t have to be afraid. I don’t have to be an expert, an authority, a master, or a virtuoso of anything. All it takes is Care, Willingness, Interaction, Courage to share what I’ve been given, and Loving Consistency. These are qualities that can be prayerfully sought by any of us. As the truth has been coined, the proper response is not “Who me?” but “Why not me…SURE, PASS THE BALL!”

By Nannette W.
Posted Saturday, February 28, 2009

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