Put Me In, Coach!

When you're tired of sitting on the sidelines

If life were a baseball game and God the team manager, then I’d be the girl on the sidelines jumping up and down saying, “Put me in, coach!”

Growing up, I played pretty much every sport. Softball, soccer, cross-country running and skiing, basketball, tennis, track and field, you name it. I was a pretty mediocre athlete—but it wasn’t for want of zeal. What I lacked in raw talent I made up for in enthusiasm. I showed up to every practice, ran every drill, and ate spaghetti before every big game. I cheered for my teammates and wore my uniform to school on game day and tried to memorize the plays.

I sometimes earned a coveted ‘starter’ spot, and I had a few moments of athletic glory [one time I scored a goal for our soccer team by heading it in], but most of my sports career was spent on benches, yelling things to my teammates like “SHOOT THE BALL,” or “PASS IT TO KAYLA, SHE’S WIDE OPEN.” I spent a lot of time trying to prove to my coaches that I had earned some playing time, and wondering why I was mostly overlooked and [in my mind] underutilized. Put me in coach, put me in coach, choose me, choose me, choose me, I’d think every time he’d scan the bench and look for a sub for the star player. Usually he didn’t.

Today when I stood in church and we sang the final song, I had this image of me as that desperate girl, doing everything she could to prove that she had the skills and prowess to earn some treasured time on the field. But this time, I was standing before God, jumping up and down and saying, “Put me in, coach! Come on, give me a chance! I’m ready to play.”

And as I imagined this little scene, God put his hand on my bouncing shoulder. It was warm. Heavy. Steady. He looked me in the eye and said, “I already have.”