Youth Sports
The season is over.
Before you go off and do summer stuff or whatever comes next, I want to ask you one last question about it.
Not “what was your record?” and not “what was your best game?” Those things are real, but they’re not the most interesting part.
Here’s the question: what did this season build in you?
Read this passage slowly.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
James 1:2–3 — NIVLet that sit for a second before you move.
The testing produces perseverance. Hard things build something in you. That’s not a cliche — it’s actually true. When you kept going during the hard practices, you got tougher. When you stayed a good teammate even after a bad loss, you grew in character. When you tried again after a mistake, you learned something about yourself.
None of that shows up in the win-loss record. But it’s real and it’s yours. You can’t un-learn what this season taught you.
You are a different player than you were at the start of the season. Not just because of the skills you learned. Because of who you became in it.
You are a different person than you were when the season started. What this built in you is real.
What is one way you are different now than you were at the beginning of the season?
The answers are the most meaningful thing in the whole season arc. Write them down if you can. These are worth remembering.
The scores will be forgotten. What it built in you stays.
Give this devotional enough time. After a long season, kids need space to reflect rather than race through. This is the most important gathering of the year.