My youngest daughter and I recently ventured out on a three-day backpacking trip. Our biggest concern was finding water on our second day. We had a water-purifying pump with us, but if we didn't find any water, the pump would be useless.

Days before the trip, I had prayed that we would find enough water to get us through. When we made it to our camping area, we found a water hole that was 2'x1' with about eight inches of water in it. We had enough water for the evening, but we weren't sure we’d have enough for the next day. That night we were hit with a thunderstorm, and it rained through the night. The next morning, we found that our water hole had become a raging brook. We even had a hard time crossing it!

“Touch the line!” is a phrase that athletes hear constantly, a call to run a sprint the right way. In my own personal experience this phrase has often been followed by the dreaded “that one didn’t count.” Needless to say, no one likes to run more than they have to.

Why would a coach make an athlete run again just for missing a line? I mean really, sometimes it’s only a matter of inches. The answer has to do with hard work and discipline. A coach never wants to see a player cut corners. He or she wants every player to realize their full potential, even if that means focusing on seemingly minor things. The same is true of our Heavenly Coach.

When the weather finally breaks after a long winter, everyone gets busy fertilizing the lawns, dusting off the golf clubs, cleaning up the patio furniture, and lighting up the grill. There is a genuine excitement in the air! If we stay in the house too long or if winter stays too long, we get cabin fever. Cabin fever is a condition of increased anxiety, tension, and boredom caused by living for some time in a confined space or an isolated area, especially in winter.

I must admit that one of my guilty pleasures is to watch MMa (mixed martial arts) fights, particularly fights in the UFC.  Mixed Martial Arts is a hodge podge of wrestling, boxing, taekwondo, jui jitsu, and other fighting styles thrown into an 8-sided cage.  Fighters battle for 15 minutes (25 minutes for championship bouts) until someone is knocked out, the referee stops the action, or a fighter “taps out”.  The act of “tapping out” tells your opponent, the referee, and the millions watching on pay-per-view that you gave up because you are feeling immense pain brought on by your opponent.

Competition is an obvious part of the coaching life, resulting in either winning or losing. But God’s Word reminds us not to get so caught up in the results that we forget to take care of the flock—the athletes—who have been put under our watch.

Of course, we all want to win. Yet if we forget that we’re really working toward an imperishable crown (as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:25), then we’ve lost sight of why we’re coaching in the first place. In other words, just as we live our lives to please the Good Shepherd, so too should we coach our players with the same goal. In the process, we’ll serve as examples to the sheep. 

After finishing up my college baseball career, I’m now in my first year in the business world. That means that this upcoming spring will be the first time I won’t be suiting up to hit the diamond (sad day).

Looking back on my four years of college ball, one of the biggest lessons I learned was about leadership. I always thought that leaders had to be guys who were loud, well-liked, in control and who could make people do certain things. While leaders do need to be able to take control, through baseball, I learned that the best way to lead is not to be forceful, but to serve and go out of your way to do things completely unexpected of you.