Even as an upper elementary age girl, I was a fan of Sportscenter. Yep, I’m a girl who loves her Sportscenter. Whether it’s early morning or late night, I count on getting my sports news fix each day and Sportscenter is just the best place for that. Plus, they’re usually pretty funny.
Football is my favorite, but I’ve always been drawn to the world of sports in general. While most people are idolizing sports stars, I love the stories. I love the human interest. I love the lessons we can learn from the very public stage of college and professional sports.
I don’t think it was a coincidence that God put this love of sports in me and then gave me three boys. I know not all boys are interested in sports, but mine are, and we’ve had many great life and faith discussions that began with watching a football game or tennis match together.
And that’s led me to this. I haven’t written much here at The MOB Society because I wasn’t quite sure what to say, honestly. I’m still in the early years of raising boys – they are 8, 6, and 2 – and I don’t have a whole lot of wisdom to share at this point. The MOB Society is a place I come to learn and grown in my role as a boy mom.
He’s calling me now to share what’s on my heart – lessons on life and faith inspired by the world of sports. Locker Room Lessons.
Maybe your boy is crazy about sports and you are not. Maybe you both love sports but you’re not sure how to connect this love with God. I just know I love connecting sports and faith and I want to share those connections with you. It may seem trivial. I almost said to God, “Nobody will care about this.” But He reminded me of this verse…
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 NLT
Who am I to say that God can’t use sports to help us raise godly men? I’m learning that wild obedience is what God asks of me, and sometimes that means taking that spark He has put in you and letting it burn bright whether anybody else needs that fire or not.
Each Tuesday, I’ll be talking about God and life and sports right here in the Locker Room Lessons series. I’m praying it will be a connecting point for you and your son. And I’m praying He will draw you both closer to Him through it.
What sports does your son enjoy watching?
Erin finds joy in her life as a Jesus-follower, doctor’s wife, mama to three handsome guys, writer at Home with the Boys, and co-founder of The MOB Society. She has a passion for healthy living, fashion, and encouraging families to form strong bonds based on faith!
Have you seen our series this month? It’s on building a relationship with your teen son. If you liked this post, head on over here for more quality content.
I think this is a GREAT idea! My oldest is 14 and just started high school. He has played baseball since he was 4 and has added football and basketball through the years. I have always told him that I am thankful God gave me a love for sports. I am so proud of him and love to cheer him on whatever he is playing. I am also thankful that my son enjoys talking to me about what he is doing. He would tell me all about the football plays he was learning this summer – I can’t say I understood them all but I sure enjoyed him talking to me and the time we spent together. We have had good and bad coaches over the years, but the coaches at his school are all about helping them become men of character, not just playing the sport. We are blessed!
I’m so excited for this Erin! I grew up w/ only brothers and LOTS of sports…And now (as you know) it’s all about surfing and board or water sports! 🙂 SO many analogies and life lessons in all of this!I’m sharing this now and I know a lot of people will be interested in your Tuesday specials! aloha
Yay! We are a baseball family, but Sports Center is on daily here and my boys, though young, are already showing an interest in pretty much all sports. So looking forward to this series!
My almost 8 year old son is in his first year of tackle football and I am Team Mom and Dad is one of 10 coaches – we have 18 out of 21 boys that have never played before and we are so happy to get so many mom’s and dad’s helping – we just won the first game of the season. We went to see the movie When The Game Stands Tall yesterday and I highly recommend every parent and child see it – so many life lessons – the boys pray – the coach is more interested in the boys becoming contributing members of the community than winning and touchdowns
[…] Locker Room Lessons is a weekly series here at The MOB Society meant to help moms connect their sons’ love of sports with lessons on life and faith. […]
[…] Locker Room Lessons is a weekly series here at The MOB Society meant to help moms connect their sons’ love of sports with lessons on life and faith. […]
[…] Locker Room Lessons is a weekly series here at The MOB Society meant to help moms connect their sons’ love of sports with lessons on life and faith. […]
[…] Locker Room Lessons is a weekly series here at The MOB Society meant to help moms connect their sons’ love of sports with lessons on life and faith. We’re smack dab in the middle of football season and I couldn’t be happier, but the NBA season just tipped off this month and there’s a great story to be told from last season from which we could all learn. I don’t really have a basketball team I cheer passionately for, but when the San Antonio Spurs made the NBA Playoffs last year, I paid close attention. This was a team known for its talent and tradition, but that is not what made them special. The Spurs won the 2014 NBA title without a mega-superstar like Lebron James or Kevin Durant. They didn’t have a single player in the top twenty for points scored last season, yet they became world champions. And it’s all because of one word: TEAM. If there is one thing the 2014 San Antonio Spurs will be remembered for, it is their teamwork. Don’t get me wrong – the Spurs starters were a great bunch, but it wasn’t all about them. The Spurs’ bench scored more points than any other team’s bench last season. Everybody was working hard and doing their part, whether they were a starter or not. I’ve seen it in every sport – a player doesn’t get named a starter and they pout on the bench. Some players, namely in the NFL this year, have even stormed off the field or mouthed off to the press because of their lack of playing time. Those players didn’t last long with the team they were on because they weren’t team players. This wasn’t a problem with the Spurs. They were a team who played as a team and worked hard together – starters and non-starters alike – to earn that NBA title. And people noticed. People celebrated this idea that a team didn’t need to have the best player in the league to be the best team in the league. I made sure my sons took notice as well. The Spurs were not “our team,” but we started watching and talking about the way this team was special. Our children will work and play on many teams in their lives. As we talked about with Tim Tebow, success doesn’t always like look being the superstar of a team, but rather doing your part to help your team succeed. The ability to be a team player by exhibiting such qualities as cooperation, dedication, and encouragement will help our sons not only in school, sports, and jobs, but also in how they impact others for the Kingdom. We were also able to talk about how we can be team players, especially in the body of Christ. All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. -1 Corinthians 12:27 I love this verse because it emphasizes that we each have a part to play as children of God. That is our most important team and every person is important to that team. It may look or feel like we’re on “the bench” because we’re not out in the mission field or speaking in front of large groups of people. For our sons, it may not come easy to them to share their faith or memorize Bible verses. This could be their equivalent of feeling like an unimportant or non-essential player on the team. The Spurs picked each player on their team for a purpose. And when they all did what was asked of them, functioning as team players, they all succeeded. God placed each of us on His team for a purpose. Our role on the team is important even when it seems to be a lesser role compared to others. We need to teach our sons to be faithful and dedicated to what God has asked them to do at school, on a sports team, at a job, no matter how small it seems. We never know how important that small role is in the grand plan of life or when we’ll be called “off the bench” to do something more because we were faithful in what seemed to be the small team role we were playing. If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. -Luke 16:10 […]
[…] Locker Room Lessons is a weekly series here at The MOB Society meant to help moms connect their sons’ love of sports with lessons on life and faith. […]
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Locker Room Lessons: Teachable Moments from the World of Sports