God Has Entrusted You With Other People’s Children

KEY VERSE — MATTHEW 12:50

“Whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

SUPPORTING SCRIPTURES

1 Thessalonians 2:8 — “Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.”

Colossians 3:21 — “Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.”

Proverbs 22:6 — “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”

TODAY’S HYMN

They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love

REFLECTION

Coach, Jesus expanded the meaning of family beyond bloodlines. In Matthew 12:50, He pointed toward a deeper kind of belonging built around faith, relationship, and shared life. That idea carries weight for anyone who coaches young people. You are not their parent, but you may be one of the adults who spends the most meaningful time with them during an important season of life.

You see athletes when they are confident and when they are insecure. You see how they respond to failure, pressure, praise, correction, disappointment, and success. Your influence reaches far beyond technique because you help shape how athletes see themselves, what leadership feels like, and whether correction produces growth or shame.

God has trusted you with other people’s children. A coach can build confidence or quietly destroy it. A coach can correct with dignity or humiliate. A coach can demand excellence while still creating safety and can hold athletes accountable without making them feel disposable. That is family-level influence.

Healthy families tell the truth, establish boundaries, expect responsibility, forgive mistakes, and keep loving people while they grow. Your athletes need that same balance. They need to know poor effort will be addressed, but they also need to know that one mistake does not change their value. They need standards and grace. They need discipline and care.

Years from now, many athletes will forget the exact workout you wrote or the final score of a competition. They may never forget how it felt to be coached by you. Let them remember that your standards were high, your words were honest, your correction had purpose, and your leadership made them stronger without making them smaller.

BIBLE STUDY QUESTIONS

1. Do your athletes feel valued even when they perform poorly?
2. What does “family-level influence” mean in your coaching?
3. Does your correction build growth or produce shame?
4. Are your standards clear without becoming cruel?
5. Do your athletes know their worth is greater than performance?
6. What would Christ-like family care look like in your program today?

POWERFUL DAILY MEMORY FLASHCARDS

Truth: God has trusted me with lives, not just athletes.

Question: Does my leadership strengthen people while I challenge them?

Declaration: I will coach with high standards, honest correction, dignity, and family-level care.

TODAY’S COACHING CHALLENGE

Choose one athlete who needs both truth and encouragement today. Give them both.

PRAYER

Jesus, thank You for trusting me with young lives. Give me wisdom to lead with strong standards and genuine care. Let my words build rather than break, and let my correction strengthen rather than shame. Amen.

A QUIET REMINDER FROM YOUR SAVIOR

My friend, the people I place in your care are more than performers. See them. Teach them. Correct them with purpose. Encourage them with sincerity. Let your leadership help them grow stronger without making them feel smaller.

Good night, my friend. You are loved. — Jesus.

You’re not choosing between football and the throwing circle. You’re not choosing between volleyball and discus. I want to be clear about that right up front, because too many athletes think they have to pick one and let the other one go quiet until spring. You don’t. But you do have to understand what’s happening in your brain while you’re gone — and what it takes to keep it from working against you.

What Actually Happens When You Stop Throwing

Here’s something I’ve taught for years, and I want you to really sit with it: every rep you ever throw isn’t just building muscle. It’s imprinting data into the part of your brain that controls movement. That’s what a motor pattern is — a map your brain builds, rep by rep, of exactly how to move your body to produce a good throw. Efficient patterns, inefficient ones, good habits, bad habits — all of it gets written into that map.

Last season, you put in the work. You built real patterns — some of them hard-won, some of them still developing, but real progress nonetheless. Here’s the problem: that map doesn’t stay sharp on its own. If you go completely dark on throwing for four or five months while you’re buried in football or volleyball, that map doesn’t just sit there waiting for you. It fades. And when you come back in the spring, you’re not picking up where you left off — you’re rebuilding a good chunk of that map from scratch.

I’ve coached young throwers for 15 years who split their time across other sports, and the pattern is unmistakable: the ones who stay in touch with the sport during their off-season — even a little — come back in early season at a noticeably higher level than the ones who go completely dark. Same talent. Same work ethic in their other sport. The only difference is whether the mind-mapping stayed warm.

This Isn’t About Athletes With No Fall Sport

I want to be specific about who this article is for. If you don’t have another sport pulling your time right now, that’s a different conversation — we’ll get to your fall separately. This is for the football player grinding through two-a-days, the volleyball player in the gym five nights a week, the basketball player about to start their winter season. You already have a full plate. I’m not asking you to add a second sport’s worth of training on top of it. I’m asking for something much smaller than that.

What It Actually Takes

Twenty minutes. Two to three days a week. That’s it.

And I mean that literally — this isn’t a training program that competes with your other sport for time and energy. It fits into the cracks of your day:

• In the weight room, worked into whatever lifting you’re already doing for football or volleyball.
• In your living room, before bed, when you’ve got twenty quiet minutes anyway.
• In your garage, when it’s too cold to think about going outside.
• Early in the morning, before school, if that’s the only slot that’s actually yours.

None of this requires a throwing circle, a coach standing over your shoulder, or your full competitive intensity. It requires staying in contact with the movement — often enough, consistently enough, that the map in your brain doesn’t go cold.

Why This Actually Matters — And It’s Not Just About the Throw Itself

Here’s the part most athletes underestimate: confidence is a massive part of success in this sport, at every level. And confidence isn’t built in a vacuum — it’s built by feeling like your body still knows what it’s doing.

Picture two versions of your early season next year. In the first one, you walk into the circle in February or March and your body remembers. The feelings, the positions, the rhythm you built up toward the end of last season — they’re still there, or close to it, because you kept the connection alive. You’re not rebuilding, you’re refining. Every good rep reinforces a pattern that was already warm. That’s the smooth version. The gears are greased. You leave practice happy, you look forward to the next day, and the progress compounds fast because your mind and body are working together in a positive loop — technically and mentally.

Now picture the second version: you walk in cold, and none of it feels like where you left off. You’re frustrated. You’re wondering what happened to the throw you had going last May. Every session starts with a layer of “why doesn’t this feel right anymore” before you can even get to actual progress. That frustration isn’t just an unpleasant feeling — it’s gunk in the gears. It slows down the whole process, because now you’re fighting your own head as much as you’re fixing technique.

And here’s the thing I want you to really understand: the gears, the gunk, the grease — all of it comes from the same place. Your brain. Mind-mapping isn’t just a physical exercise. It’s every bit as much a mental one. Staying warm on the movement over the fall isn’t just about your hips and your release — it’s about protecting the confidence and the positive relationship you have with this sport, so that early season becomes something you look forward to instead of something you dread.

You Will Still Improve Either Way — But Not At the Same Speed

I want to be fair here. If you go completely dark for the fall and winter and come back to throwing fresh in the spring, you’ll still make progress. You’re not starting from zero — you’ll relearn faster than you learned the first time, because some of that mapping is still in there, just buried. But “faster than starting from scratch” is not the same as “as fast as staying connected.” If you have to spend the first several weeks of your season just recovering ground you already owned last year, that’s time you can never get back — time your competitors who stayed in touch with their throw didn’t have to spend recovering anything at all.

What’s Coming Next

You can absolutely be passionate about football. You can absolutely be all-in on volleyball. This isn’t about choosing. It’s about protecting the highly technical, hard-won progress you made in a sport that rewards consistency more than almost any event in track and field.

Over the next week, I’m going to lay out exactly what this looks like in practice — four shot put drills and four discus drills, each one built to fit into that twenty-minute window, two or three times a week, wherever you happen to have the space. Stay tuned, stay warm, and don’t let the gears go cold.

Why I’m Writing This Series

Nearly 40 years coaching throwers — roughly 20 Olympians, 40+ NCAA champions — taught me the best thing for a young athlete is a family learning together, not outsourcing it to a stranger.

How Second Eye Consulting Works

Most coaching splits people up. I don’t. For one price, the athlete, the parent, and the local coach all get the exact same instruction — same plan, same team, no mixed messages.

Our website provides a comprehensive overview of our products and services, designed to inform and educate our visitors. Explore our detailed product descriptions, industry insights, and expert advice to make informed decisions.

Build Athletes Who Want to Learn

KEY VERSE — MARK 4:24–25

“Consider carefully what you hear… With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. Whoever has will be given more.”

SUPPORTING SCRIPTURES

Proverbs 1:5 — “Let the wise listen and add to their learning.”

Luke 12:48 — “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded.”

Colossians 3:23 — “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart.”

TODAY’S HYMN

More About Jesus
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=More+About+Jesus+hymn

REFLECTION

Coach, you have seen it hundreds of times. Two athletes hear the same instruction, perform the same drill, and receive the same opportunity. One listens just enough to complete the assignment. The other leans in. They ask questions. They repeat the movement. They want to understand why it works, not merely how to perform it.

At first, the difference may seem small. Over time, it becomes enormous. Talent matters, but so does the way an athlete receives instruction. Jesus said, “Consider carefully what you hear.” He was teaching about spiritual truth, but the principle is powerful for anyone responsible for teaching others: attention matters. Hunger matters. What we do with what we are given affects what we are prepared to receive next.

That gives you an important responsibility as a coach. You are not only evaluating performance. You are teaching athletes how to learn. When someone stays after, asks another question, repeats a movement until they understand it, or genuinely wants correction, make sure they know you noticed.

Athletes learn what a program values by watching what the coach celebrates.

If you celebrate talent alone, athletes may learn to rely on talent. If you celebrate only results, they may believe the scoreboard is all that matters. But when you celebrate curiosity, effort, teachability, and the desire to improve, you begin building learners.

And learners keep growing.

There is also a spiritual lesson for the coach. Christ wants us to approach Him with that same hunger. Do not become the coach who asks athletes to remain teachable while becoming unteachable yourself. Keep listening. Keep asking questions. Keep studying Scripture. Keep allowing the Holy Spirit to correct and develop you.

Great coaching is not simply transferring information.

It is creating hunger for more.

Recognize it.

Encourage it.

Reward it.

And model it yourself.

BIBLE STUDY QUESTIONS

1. What behaviors show you that an athlete genuinely wants to learn?
2. What does your program currently reward most visibly?
3. Are you rewarding talent more than teachability?
4. How can you make curiosity and learning part of your team culture?
5. Are you still teachable in your own coaching?
6. Where is Christ asking you to lean in and learn more?

POWERFUL DAILY MEMORY FLASHCARDS

Truth: Athletes move toward what their coach consistently values.

Question: Am I building performers, or am I building learners?

Declaration: I will recognize hunger, reward teachability, and remain teachable myself.

TODAY’S COACHING CHALLENGE

Identify one athlete who demonstrates genuine hunger to learn. Privately or publicly, tell them exactly what you noticed and why it matters.

PRAYER

Jesus, keep me teachable. Give me wisdom to recognize athletes who hunger to learn and the discipline to encourage that quality in my program. Holy Spirit, continue teaching me so that I never ask my athletes to pursue growth that I am unwilling to pursue myself. Amen.

A QUIET REMINDER FROM YOUR SAVIOR

My friend, keep listening. Keep learning. You do not need to know everything to lead well. Bring Me a willing heart, and let Me continue shaping you. As you recognize hunger in those you coach, remember that I also delight in a heart that still wants to know Me more.

Good night, my friend. You are loved. — Jesus.

You Coach More Than Performance

KEY VERSE — PHILIPPIANS 4:9

“Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me… put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”

SUPPORTING SCRIPTURES

John 10:10 — “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

Proverbs 17:22 — “A cheerful heart is good medicine.”

1 Thessalonians 5:11 — “Encourage one another and build each other up.”

TODAY’S HYMN

Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Joyful+Joyful+We+Adore+Thee+hymn

REFLECTION

Coach, young people live in a world filled with noise, screens, comparison, pressure, and evaluation. Then they come to practice. For a little while, they get to move, laugh, compete, learn, sweat, fail, try again, and belong. Never underestimate how important that can be.

You are not only teaching technique or preparing athletes for competition. You are helping shape the way young people experience life. A coach can make sport feel like one more source of pressure, or a coach can create a place where hard work and joy live together. That does not mean lowering standards. Excellence does not require misery.

Athletes can learn that discipline is satisfying, improvement is exciting, teammates become friends, and failure does not have to destroy confidence. Your reactions matter. Be the adult who smiles when they finally get something right. Be the calm voice when they fail. Remind them that one bad performance does not define them.

Help them notice progress. Help them laugh. Help them appreciate what their bodies can do. Help them understand that sport is part of life, not the whole meaning of life. Paul tells believers to put into practice what is good and true, and promises that the God of peace will be with them. That peace should show up in the way we lead.

Years from now, athletes may forget the workout, score, or statistics. But they may remember that being around you made them feel stronger, more confident, more hopeful, and more grateful to be alive. That is influence worth taking seriously.

BIBLE STUDY QUESTIONS

1. Does your team environment produce more joy or more anxiety?
2. Can your athletes work hard without feeling every mistake is a crisis?
3. How do you respond when an athlete fails?
4. Do you intentionally notice and celebrate progress?
5. Are your athletes learning that life is bigger than sport?
6. What could you do this week to bring healthy joy back into practice?

POWERFUL DAILY MEMORY FLASHCARDS

Truth: Excellence and joy can live together.
Question: Do my athletes leave me stronger in spirit as well as in performance?
Declaration: I will coach with high standards, steady encouragement, and genuine joy.

TODAY’S COACHING CHALLENGE

Find one discouraged athlete today. Encourage something specific about their effort, growth, or character that has nothing to do with winning.

PRAYER

Jesus, help me remember the influence I carry. Let my coaching bring strength without crushing joy, discipline without fear, and excellence without losing perspective. Help the athletes I serve become confident, hopeful, grateful people who know that life is a gift. Amen.

A QUIET REMINDER FROM YOUR SAVIOR

My friend, I did not place these young people in your care only so you could improve their performance. See the whole person. Encourage what is growing. Bring peace when pressure becomes heavy. Let your leadership remind them that effort can have joy, failure can have hope, and life is bigger than a scoreboard. Lead them in a way that helps them become more fully alive.

Good night, my friend. You are loved. — Jesus.

Do Not Let Yesterday’s Failure Become Tomorrow’s Identity

KEY VERSE — PHILIPPIANS 3:13–14

“Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal…”

SUPPORTING SCRIPTURES

Romans 8:1 — “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Isaiah 43:18–19 — “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!”

Proverbs 24:16 — “Though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again.”

TODAY’S HYMN

Grace Greater Than Our Sin
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Grace+Greater+Than+Our+Sin+hymn

REFLECTION

Coach, every long career contains moments you would do differently if you could. A decision you rushed. An athlete you misunderstood. A relationship you failed to protect. A season when ambition became too important. A moment when fear, ego, anger, or pressure influenced the way you led.

Regret is real. But regret was never meant to become your permanent address.

Paul’s words in Philippians give us the direction for this lesson: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. Paul was not pretending the past did not exist. He was refusing to let the past control the direction of his life.

That is the difference.

When Christ is included in the whole story — the victories, failures, discipline, relationships, mistakes, and recovery — even regret can become a place where God teaches us.

That does not mean failure is harmless. It does not mean sin should be excused. It means Christ gives us something better than endless self-punishment.

He gives us repentance, forgiveness, and a way forward.

Regret keeps looking backward and asking, “Why did I do that?” Grace allows us to look backward honestly, learn what the moment has to teach us, and then ask, “How will I live differently now?”

Romans 8:1 reminds us that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Isaiah says not to dwell on former things because God is still doing something new. And Proverbs reminds us that a righteous person may fall repeatedly and still rise again.

Those three truths belong together: you are not condemned, God is not finished, and you can get back up.

A Christian coach does not have to pretend the past was perfect. You can acknowledge mistakes without allowing them to become your identity.

Sometimes there is something you can still make better. A conversation can be revisited. An apology can be offered. A relationship can be approached with more humility.

Other times the door is closed. The athlete has moved on. The season is long over. The moment cannot be recreated. In those cases, the lesson can still matter.

Christ can use what you regret to make you more patient with the next athlete, slower to react, quicker to listen, and more aware of the weight your leadership carries.

Help the athletes you coach understand this too. They will make mistakes. They will fail. They will disappoint themselves. They may carry shame from a competition, a poor decision, a broken relationship, or something far more serious.

Do not teach them to pretend it never happened. Teach them to face it honestly, learn from it, receive grace, and keep moving.

You cannot coach yesterday again.

But you can let Christ redeem what yesterday teaches you about today.

That is how regret loses its power — not because the past disappears, but because it no longer gets to control where you go next.

BIBLE STUDY QUESTIONS

1. Is there something from your coaching past that you still replay with regret?
2. Is that regret teaching you something useful, or is it controlling the way you see yourself today?
3. Is there anything you can still make better with a conversation, apology, or change in how you lead?
4. What does Romans 8:1 say to the part of you that still condemns yourself?
5. How can you help athletes learn from failure without becoming defined by it?
6. What would “straining toward what is ahead” look like in your coaching life right now?

POWERFUL DAILY MEMORY FLASHCARDS

Truth: My past can teach me without controlling me.
Question: Am I still living in yesterday, or am I moving toward what Christ has ahead?
Declaration: I will learn from the past, receive grace, rise again, and keep moving forward.

TODAY’S COACHING CHALLENGE

Think of one coaching regret. Ask: What did this teach me, and how can that lesson improve the way I lead today? If there is a simple way to make something better, take that step. If not, carry the lesson forward rather than the weight.

PRAYER

Jesus, You know the parts of my coaching life I am proud of and the parts I would handle differently if I could. Help me be honest about both. Where I made mistakes, teach me from them. Where I can make something better, give me the humility to do it. And where the past cannot be changed, help me stop carrying it as if I still have to fix yesterday. Use what I have learned to make me wiser, more patient, and more compassionate with the people I lead today. Thank You that Your grace does not erase the lesson, but it does free me to keep moving forward. Amen.

A QUIET REMINDER FROM YOUR SAVIOR

My friend, I know the moments you wish had gone differently. Do not run from them, but do not live inside them either. Learn what they have to teach you. Make right what you can. Then let Me help you move forward. Your mistakes do not have to become the loudest part of your story. I can use what you have learned to make you a better listener, a wiser leader, and a more compassionate coach. You still have people to encourage. You still have good to do. You still have opportunities to lead differently because of what the past has taught you. Let grace be stronger than regret.

Good night, my friend. You are loved. — Jesus.

God Has Trusted You With Other People’s Children

KEY VERSE — MATTHEW 12:50

“Whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

GOSPEL CONNECTION

Jesus was not dismissing His earthly family. He was widening the meaning of family. In Matthew 12:46–50, He points to His disciples and teaches that those who belong to God become part of a spiritual family. For coaches, that does not mean replacing an athlete’s parents. It means recognizing that leadership can carry a family-like weight: presence, responsibility, protection, correction, encouragement, and love.

SUPPORTING SCRIPTURES

1 Thessalonians 2:11–12 — “As a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God.”

1 Corinthians 13:4–5 — “Love is patient, love is kind… it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered.”

Colossians 3:21 — “Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.”

TODAY’S HYMN

Blest Be the Tie That Binds
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Blest+Be+the+Tie+That+Binds+hymn

REFLECTION

Coach, you are working with other people’s children. That sentence alone should slow us down. An athlete may come to you because of a sport, but the influence rarely stays inside the lines of practice. Your words can shape confidence. Your reactions can shape identity. Your standards can shape character. The way you handle disappointment can teach an athlete what authority feels like.

That is why Jesus’ words about family matter. Jesus widened the meaning of family beyond blood alone. He created a community built around belonging to God, shared responsibility, and love. A coach does not become an athlete’s parent, but good coaching often carries something family-like: you protect, correct, encourage, challenge, forgive, celebrate, and sometimes simply stay present.

The question is simple: Do your athletes feel that you care about them with family-level seriousness?

Not family-level control. Not pretending to replace their parents. Family-level care.

That means the athlete who scores the most is not loved more than the athlete who struggles. The injured athlete is not forgotten. The difficult athlete is corrected without being humiliated. The athlete who disappoints you still knows that one bad day did not erase their value.

A coach can teach technique without loving the athlete. A coach can organize practice without knowing the person. A coach can win without creating a place where young people feel safe, valued, and supported. But if Christ is shaping your leadership, your athletes should experience something deeper.

They should learn that correction does not have to become shame. High standards do not require cruelty. Authority does not need humiliation. Discipline and love can live in the same room.

And remember: athletes watch how you live, not only how you coach. They notice whether your words match your life. They notice how you treat your own family, assistants, officials, opponents, and the athlete who cannot help you win.

Years later, many will forget the exact workout. They may forget the score. They may forget half the technical language. They may never forget how it felt to be trusted to your care.

So coach with the seriousness of someone who knows these lives belong first to God and to the families who entrusted them to you. Speak life. Correct with compassion. Lead with dignity. Let your athletes experience the kind of care that makes them stronger, not smaller.

BIBLE STUDY QUESTIONS

1. What does Jesus’ wider definition of family teach us about responsibility for people beyond our blood relatives?
2. Do your athletes know that their value to you is greater than what they produce?
3. How do you correct an athlete when you are disappointed or angry?
4. Which athlete in your program may need more family-level care right now?
5. What are your athletes learning from the way you treat people outside competition?
6. If former athletes described how it felt to be coached by you, what would you hope they would say?

POWERFUL DAILY MEMORY FLASHCARDS

Truth: God has trusted me with other people’s children.

Question: Do my athletes experience my leadership as care, or only as correction and performance?

Declaration: I will coach with love, integrity, dignity, and family-level responsibility.

TODAY’S COACHING CHALLENGE

Choose one athlete today who may feel overlooked, discouraged, injured, or uncertain. Give that athlete a few minutes of your undivided attention. Ask how they are doing, listen without rushing, and let them leave knowing they matter beyond performance.

PRAYER

Jesus, thank You for trusting me with young lives. Never let me forget that these athletes belong first to You and to families who love them. Help me correct without shaming, challenge without crushing, and lead without using people. Let my words build, my standards strengthen, and my life show the kind of care that reflects You. Teach me to coach with family-level love and responsibility. Amen.

A QUIET REMINDER FROM YOUR SAVIOR

My beloved child, the athletes in your care are more than names on a roster or results on a scoreboard. For a season, their lives will be close enough for your words and example to leave a mark. Lead them carefully. Challenge them honestly. Protect their dignity. Let them know they matter beyond what they can produce. You do not have to replace their family. Simply honor the trust you have been given and let your leadership reflect My love.

Good night, my friend. You are loved. — Jesus.

God Can Do Important Work in Places the World Barely Notices

Key Verse — Micah 5:2

“Bethlehem Ephrath, you are one of the smallest towns in the nation of Judah. But the Lord will choose…”

— Micah 5:2 (CEV)

Biblical Connection

Centuries before the birth of Jesus, the prophet Micah identified Bethlehem as the place from which Israel’s ruler would come.

Bethlehem was not Jerusalem. It was not a center of political power, wealth, or influence. It was a small town that most people could easily overlook.

Yet God chose Bethlehem.

Years later, circumstances involving an empire, a census, Joseph’s ancestry, and a young pregnant woman traveling with him all converged in exactly the place Micah had named.

What looked ordinary became part of God’s extraordinary plan.

For a coach, there is an important reminder here: never assume that the importance of your assignment is determined by the size of your stage.

Supporting Scriptures

Matthew 2:5–6

Matthew points directly back to Micah when explaining why the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.

Galatians 4:4

“But when the right time came, God sent his Son…”

Proverbs 16:9

“We make our own plans, but the Lord decides where we will go.”

Today’s Hymn

Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah

YouTube — Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah

Reflection

Coach, it is easy to believe the important work is somewhere else.

The bigger school.

The better facility.

The championship program.

The athlete with greater talent.

The next job.

The next season.

The next opportunity.

But Bethlehem reminds us that God has never needed an impressive location to accomplish important work.

Bethlehem was small.

The manger was humble.

Yet Christ came there.

Coaching can feel ordinary too.

Same facility. Same practice time. Same meetings. Same problems.

You can spend so much time looking toward the next season, the next job, the next athlete, or the next opportunity that you miss what God may be doing in the place where you are standing right now.

You do not have to believe that every circumstance in your career was individually scripted to understand the responsibility of today.

The athletes in front of you are real people within your influence right now.

They are watching how you handle pressure.

How you respond to disappointment.

How you discipline.

How you treat success.

How you handle conflict.

How you respond when you fail.

Long after they forget a workout, a score, or a technical correction, some will remember how their coach treated them.

That matters.

Micah 5 reminds us that God can accomplish enormous things in places the world considers insignificant.

Never confuse a small stage with a small assignment.

Coach the practice in front of you.

Love the people in front of you.

Do the next right thing with patience, courage, integrity, and grace.

You may someday understand why this particular season mattered.

But you do not have to understand it before you are faithful in it. 

Coaches_Daily_Affirmation_004_Right_Place_Right_Time.pdf

Bible Study Questions

1. Why do you think God chose a small town like Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus?
2. Have you ever believed that you needed a bigger program, better athletes, or a different job before you could really make a difference?
3. Are you so focused on your next opportunity that you may be overlooking the people God has placed within your influence today?
4. Which athlete in your program is easiest to overlook?
5. What do your athletes learn by watching the way you respond to pressure, disappointment, success, and failure?
6. What would faithfulness look like in your present coaching assignment today?

Powerful Daily Memory Flashcards

Truth: A small place can hold a significant assignment.

Question: Am I overlooking today while waiting for tomorrow?

Declaration: I will be faithful with the people and opportunities in front of me today.

Today’s Coaching Challenge

Choose one athlete today who is easy to overlook.

Give that athlete your full attention for a few minutes.

Then, before your next practice or competition, quietly ask yourself:

“What does faithfulness look like in this place today?”

Do one thing that makes your present program better without wondering who will notice. 

Coaches_Daily_Affirmation_004_Right_Place_Right_Time.pdf

Prayer

Father, thank You for the people and responsibilities in front of me today.

Keep me from living so far ahead that I miss the work You have given me now.

Help me lead with patience, integrity, courage, and grace.

Let the way I coach point beyond achievement and toward the kind of person You are shaping me to become.

Help me never confuse a small stage with a small assignment.

In Jesus’ name, amen. 

Coaches_Daily_Affirmation_004_Right_Place_Right_Time.pdf

A Quiet Reminder from Your Savior

My beloved child, I know exactly where you are today.

You do not need a larger platform for Me to use your faithfulness.

Give Me this practice, this conversation, this difficult athlete, and this ordinary day.

Be faithful with what is in front of you.

I can do important work in places the world barely notices.

Good night, my friend. You are loved. — Jesus. 

Your Athletes Will Feel the Difference Between Being Led and Being Used

KEY VERSE — ZECHARIAH 11:7–8

“So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter… but they detested me.”

BIBLICAL CONNECTION

Zechariah 11 is a difficult prophetic chapter about failed leadership, rejected shepherding, and judgment. The chapter later contrasts faithful care with a worthless shepherd who does not seek the lost, heal the injured, or feed the healthy. The New Testament gives the clearest picture of godly shepherding in Jesus, who says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

SUPPORTING SCRIPTURES

John 10:11 — “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

1 Peter 5:2–3 — “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care… not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.”

Philippians 2:4 — “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

TODAY’S HYMN

Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Savior+Like+a+Shepherd+Lead+Us+hymn

REFLECTION

Every season forces a coach to decide what kind of shepherd he or she will become. Coaching gives you authority. Athletes listen to your instructions, trust your judgment, and often allow your words to shape how they see themselves. That kind of influence can be used to serve people — or to use people.

Zechariah 11 paints a disturbing picture of failed shepherding. The worthless shepherd does not care for the lost, the injured, the young, or the hungry. He is interested in what he can take rather than what he can give. Coach, that warning belongs in our profession. Do you feed your athletes, or do you feed off them? Do they matter because they are people entrusted to your care, or mainly because they can score points, win championships, improve your reputation, or make your program look successful?

The Good Shepherd gives us another model. Jesus does not use people to build Himself. He gives Himself for people. That changes the question from, “What can this athlete do for my program?” to, “What has God entrusted me to do for this athlete?”

Sometimes faithful shepherding will cost you. You may spend extra time with the athlete who is struggling. You may protect someone who cannot repay you with performance. You may tell the truth when an easier answer would protect your popularity. You may continue caring for an athlete who never fully understands what you have invested. That can hurt, but being unseen does not make faithful leadership wasted. Jesus understands the cost of loving people who do not always understand, appreciate, or return that love.

Wins fade. Records disappear. Programs eventually belong to someone else. But the imprint of a coach who shepherded people instead of using them can last for a lifetime. Protect the vulnerable. Feed your athletes truth and discipline. Correct without humiliating. Demand excellence without making performance the measure of a person’s worth. Let your athletes see Christ in the way you handle power.

You are always becoming some kind of shepherd. Choose the one your athletes will be grateful they followed.

BIBLE STUDY QUESTIONS

1. What does Zechariah 11 reveal about leaders who neglect the people entrusted to them?
2. In what ways can a coach begin using athletes instead of serving them?
3. Which athletes in your program are easiest to overlook?
4. How does Jesus as the Good Shepherd challenge the way you use authority?
5. Have you ever felt unappreciated after investing deeply in an athlete?
6. What kind of shepherd would your athletes say you are becoming?

POWERFUL DAILY MEMORY FLASHCARDS

Truth: My athletes are people to shepherd, not resources to use.

Question: Am I asking what my athletes can do for me, or what God has entrusted me to do for them?

Declaration: I will lead with integrity, protect the vulnerable, and use my authority to build people.

TODAY’S COACHING CHALLENGE

Think of one athlete who receives less of your attention because they are injured, struggling, inexperienced, or unlikely to help you win. Reach out to that athlete today. Give them your attention without asking for anything in return.

PRAYER

Jesus, You are the Good Shepherd. Shape my heart to lead more like You. Keep me from using people for results, reputation, or success. Help me notice the athlete who is hurting, protect the vulnerable, speak truth with love, and use the authority You have given me to build people rather than consume them. Let my leadership leave an imprint of Your care. Amen.

A QUIET REMINDER FROM YOUR SAVIOR

My beloved child, the people you lead are never merely results on a scoreboard. They are lives placed within your reach for a season. Lead them carefully. Protect what is vulnerable. Correct with truth. Encourage with love. Do not measure the value of your care by how much appreciation you receive. Shepherd faithfully, and leave the results with Me.

Good night, my friend. You are loved. — Jesus.

You Do Not Have to Carry Every Answer by Yourself

Key Verse – Matthew 10:20

“For it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”

Gospel Context

Jesus spoke these words to His disciples as He prepared them for opposition and difficult questioning. He was

not promising that every spontaneous thought would be divinely inspired. He was teaching them that when

obedience placed them in situations beyond their own strength, they did not face those moments alone. That

same truth gives a coach humility and courage: we prepare faithfully, but we do not have to pretend that

everything depends on our brilliance.

Supporting Scriptures

James 1:5

“If any of you need wisdom to know what you should do, you should ask God, and he will give it to you.”

Proverbs 3:5-6

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways

acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

John 14:26

Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would teach and remind His followers of what He had taught them.

Today’s Hymn

Trust and Obey

YouTube – Trust and Obey

Reflection

Coaches can feel enormous pressure to always have the answer.

The right correction. The perfect practice plan. The right words after a loss. The exact thing an athlete needs to

hear when confidence is disappearing.

And when you are young in the profession, that pressure can be even worse. You may believe that admitting

uncertainty will make athletes trust you less.

It will not.

There is a difference between being unprepared and being human.You should study your event. Prepare your practices. Know your athletes. Keep learning. But preparation is

not the same thing as pretending you control every outcome.

Jesus sent His disciples into situations where they would not know beforehand exactly what to say. His

message was not, “Stop preparing.” His message was, in effect, “Do not panic. You are not going alone.”

That is a good word for a coach.

Sometimes an athlete will ask a question you cannot answer immediately.

Sometimes a crisis will arrive that no coaching manual prepared you for.

Sometimes the most honest answer will be, “I do not know yet. Let me think, pray, and get back to you.”

There is childlike trust in that response.

A child does not need to understand the entire road when holding the hand of someone trustworthy. In the

same way, a Christian coach can walk into an uncertain day knowing that God is present, wisdom can be

asked for, and humility is not weakness.

Before practice, invite Christ into your leadership.

Ask for wisdom before you speak. Ask for patience before you correct. Ask for restraint when you are angry.

Ask for courage when a hard conversation cannot be avoided.

Then coach.

Not timidly. Not fearfully. Not pretending that every thought came directly from God.

Coach with the quiet confidence of someone who knows he does not coach alone.

Bible Study Questions

1. Where do you feel the greatest pressure to always know the right answer as a coach?

2. What is the difference between being well prepared and believing everything depends on you?

3. Are you comfortable telling an athlete, “I do not know yet” when that is the truthful answer?

4. How can James 1:5 change the way you approach difficult coaching decisions?

5. Which do you need most today from God: wisdom, patience, restraint, courage, or compassion?

6. What would it look like to begin practice with trust instead of anxiety?Powerful Daily Memory Flashcards

Truth: I do not have to carry every coaching answer by myself.

Question: Have I asked God for wisdom before depending only on my own experience?

Declaration: I will prepare carefully, lead humbly, and trust God with what I cannot control.

Today’s Coaching Challenge

Before practice or competition, take one quiet minute and pray specifically for the kind of leadership you will

need today.

Then enter practice prepared – but not alone.

Prayer

Lord, I place my coaching, leadership, and words in Your hands. Give me wisdom where I am uncertain,

patience when I am frustrated, courage when I need to speak, and humility when I do not know the answer.

Keep me from believing that everything depends on me. Help me prepare faithfully and then trust You with

what I cannot control. Amen.

A Quiet Reminder from Your Savior

My beloved child, you do not have to know everything before you take the next faithful step. Prepare well.

Ask for wisdom. Listen carefully. And when you reach the edge of what you know, do not be afraid. Walk

with Me. I can guide a humble heart much more easily than a heart that must always appear certain.

Good night, my friend. – Jesus

l

You Do Not Have to Be Perfect to Change a Life

A Note to Coaches

I am not only a coach who loves the throwing events and loves working with young people. I am also a

coach who loves the Lord. So I have started writing a Daily Affirmation for Coaches for anyone who

might be interested in touching base with Jesus as part of their day. My hope is to eventually write 365

of these – one for every day of the year. I have written quite a few ahead of time, and Lord willing, I am

going to keep working at it and post them here regularly.

If you read these, please respond below and let me know whether you are enjoying them and whether

you would like me to continue posting them. My hope is that these little studies can give coaches a few

minutes to step away from the noise of our profession, open Scripture, and remember who we are

before we ever walk onto the field.

Anchor Scripture – Matthew 11:11

“Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John.”

Supporting Scriptures

2 Corinthians 12:9

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Galatians 6:9

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give

up.”

1 Corinthians 4:2

“Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.”

Today’s Hymn

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

YouTube – Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Reflection

Coaches live in a profession that can make perfection feel like the standard.We study every detail. We replay every mistake. We second-guess decisions after competitions. We wonder

whether we said the right thing, trained the right way, prepared the athlete correctly, or missed something that

should have been obvious.

Then we look at the athletes entrusted to us and realize something even heavier: our decisions affect people,

not just performances.

That pressure can make a coach believe that in order to make a difference, he or she has to get everything

right.

Jesus never asked you to be perfect before He could use you.

John the Baptist is a powerful example. Jesus spoke of his greatness, yet John’s life was not a picture of a

man who never struggled. He had moments of uncertainty and pain. Still, he remained faithful to the calling

God had given him.

That is good news for every coach.

You do not have to know everything.

You do not have to win every championship.

You do not have to give the perfect speech or make the perfect technical correction every day.

You do need to keep showing up.

Be honest. Be steady. Be committed. Care about your athletes as people. Admit when you are wrong. Learn.

Apologize when necessary. Keep your word. Let them see that character matters more than pretending to

have every answer.

Young people are not looking for a flawless human being.

They need someone they can trust.

And over the course of a season – and sometimes over the course of a lifetime – consistency becomes

incredibly powerful.

Faithfulness changes lives quietly.

You may never know which practice, conversation, ride home, phone call, or simple act of encouragement an

athlete will remember years later.

So today, release yourself from the pressure to be perfect.

Ask instead:

“Was I faithful with the people God placed in front of me today?”Bible Study Questions

1. Where does perfectionism show up most strongly in your coaching?

2. Do you ever confuse making a mistake with failing as a coach?

3. What is the difference between excellence and perfection?

4. What does faithfulness look like in the way you communicate with athletes?

5. Are your athletes able to see you admit mistakes, learn, and grow?

6. If an athlete described your coaching twenty years from now, what do you hope they would

remember about the way you treated them?

Powerful Daily Memory Flashcards

Truth: I do not need to be a perfect coach to make a difference.

Question: Was I faithful with the people God placed in front of me today?

Declaration: I choose commitment, consistency, courage, and care over the pressure to be perfect.

Today’s Coaching Challenge

Choose commitment over pressure today. Show up fully. Lead with calm confidence. Invest in your athletes

as people first.

Let faithfulness define your day.

Prayer

Lord, help me coach with steadiness, compassion, humility, and integrity. Free me from the pressure to be

perfect. Teach me to be faithful with the athletes You have placed in my care. Give me courage to admit

mistakes, wisdom to keep learning, and a heart that never forgets that the person matters more than the

performance. Use my faithfulness, not my perfection. Amen.

A Quiet Reminder from Your Savior

My beloved child, I did not call you because you would never make a mistake. I called you to walk with Me

and to be faithful with what I place in your hands. Keep learning. Keep loving. Keep showing up. When you

fall short, come back to Me. I can use a humble and faithful coach in ways you may never completely see.

Good night, my friend. – Jesus