End of the Season

When I first visited the San Juan Hills High School Campus, it was odd.  I didn’t know anyone, yet I was setting out to build friendships here.  I was only allowed on campus because it was after school, but I was supposed start up conversations with tons of kids.  Most of all, I had no idea what I was doing, or even why God had called me to San Juan Capistrano.  It seemed like a bad plan to just show up to an empty school, but here I was walking around empty classrooms praying for people I hadn’t even seen yet.

Fast forward a few months, and I can’t walk from parking lot to the office without being stopped three or four times.  Some kids want to say hello, some want to hang out later.  Some coach wants to meet after class, some staff person wants to shake hands.  The principal waves from within his office and the custodian gives me a salute.  You’d think that I had done something quite amazing to earn all of this respect and to meet all of these people.  In fact, all I ever did was show up.  My ability to be present for kids is extremely important for them, and therefore it is also important to their teachers, coaches, parents and friends.  

I once told someone that if I could choose to do anything and have it be my “job”, I would be a friend.  Just that.  Young Life is enables me to be exactly that for these high schoolers.  If they need a ride, if they want someone to listen, if they need to vent, if they want encouragement; I get to give it to them.  Of course, I’m not their only friend, but I can be there for them if they would like.  I invite them to things - weekly Club, laser tag, pool parties - and I continue to invite them even if they never come.  I want these students to feel wanted, and I want them to see Jesus who loves them more than anyone ever could.

My main reason for being on campus is that I help coach Track & Field.  Our season was ending and the question I kept hearing was, “Will you still be around?”  That means a lot to me, that these teenagers even care whether or not I will see them multiple times a week.  It means that these kids want what God has given me to offer.  It means that I get to keep showing up.  Most of all, it means that I can continue to witness Christ at work in the lives of my friends each day.

A New Start

My dad was a coach for over 40 years.  He was always good at teaching a sport and growing kids into skilled athletes.  However, I was never that great at sports.  I lacked the “killer instinct” that so many of the best athletes seem to have.  I grew to be tolerant of sports because I like being around people.  By the time I graduated from high school, I had pretty much sworn off of competitive sports in any official capacity, and I figured that was the end of it.

Flash forward a few years and I find myself looking for ways to get on the San Juan Hills High School campus and meet the students there.  I kept hearing that one great way to start relationships on campus was through sports, and so I asked to become a volunteer for the track and field team.  On my first day, I was introduced to the team as Coach G., the new coach.  I stumbled my way through drills and techniques that practice, but somehow, I gained the respect of the kids.  

On our first home meet, I was assigned to help out with the starter and the timers, running around whenever something needed doing.  I was there at the beginning of each and every race, checking the lanes, encouraging the runners, and covering my ears as the gun went off.  I was able to cheer on my runners, and congratulate them as they finished.  I was proud of them, and they would each say “thanks Coach G.” as they passed by.  At the end of the night, our team had won and our kids were happily exhausted.  I told them goodbye before driving home with that word echoing in my head, “Coach...coach...coach.”  

I had never imagined that I would be a coach, much less for such a great team.  But here I am; encouraging, cheering, screaming, giving advice.  Some of these kids are my friends, some of them live in my neighborhood.  Some of them have even started to talk to me about their lives, their families, their thoughts on God.  Every day I get to be with them is a blessing, even if it is as a coach.

-Josh