I looked at him and said, you don't even know what hockey is.
To which, he looked me straight and said, yes I do. He proceeded to tell me all about it.
How did he know about hockey? I did not know. We were a little bitty family of 5 in Kansas. Basketball. Baseball. Football. Those were the sports people talked about. Occassionally swimming, volleyball, golf, etc. Not hockey.
Apparantly, he flipped channels on the basement tv and came across a hockey game. He was captivated. He knew more about hockey at 4 years of age than anyone I knew. Sundays on his way home from church he would announce he was going to watch the hockey game. The first time he did this, I told him there wasn't a hockey game on tv. Kansas, mind you. Hockey wasn't a Kansas thing back then. He looked at me and said, yes there is. Very respectfully and serious. I responded with, "How do you know?" "Because there is," he said.
Four years old and he didn't know how to read and I tried like the dickens to manage tv time. But he intuitively knew and he was right! His fascination did not abate.
Next step was ice skating lessons. I thought that would take some time and we would see how long his interest lasted.
Um yeah, right!?!?
Lessons... turns out he needed them, but he didn't need them. He took to ice skates, like the rest of us do to breathing. He quickly went through the levels sometimes skipping right ahead to the next one or two during a session. So I talked with someone. We borrowed equipment. I started praying. God started answering. The rest was history. The kid loves it. It is in him. It is his motivation to complete school, and to get up early (game days). So from October to mid- February/ -March (depending on the age division) we live, breathe and freeze in hockey rinks. We have learned about staph and sunshine and fresh air and smelly hockey bags.
He chose to take his freshman year off. He chose. It was a shock to this momma. I thought I was going to cry. He wanted to get used to the demands of high school. He had prayed over it and he felt it was the right decision. I nodded. I fretted and worried. I wondered how he would survive. Seriously, there had been too many pre-season injuries in which he had to sit out and heal. I had seen how much quieter he could get and he is a man of few words. He just lost his get up and go when he couldn't be on the ice. Lost interest in school, couldn't bear to be at the rink while his teammates practiced. How would he make it a whole season? I checked in on him. He was doing okay. I didn't expect him to make it past the first week in October. By the end of December, he started talking about next year. He was good. He wasn't down. He was engaged in school. He had this figured out. He kept on. My guy was growing up. He was learning who he was and what was important.
This year it has been a pleasure to watch him on and off the ice. He is becoming an exceptional young man. I can't believe the years are passing this quickly. 2.5 more years of high school. 1.5 more years till he is 18 years old. These are the glimpses I want to remember. He may be growing up (and smell like it post-game) but when I see pictures like these, I see glimpses of the little boy way back when telling me all about hockey till my eyes wanted to glaze over. I see the passionate, singularly focused little 4 year old telling me he was going to watch the game and march down the stairs like he knew everything there was about hockey. He did, he knew what was the most important...he knew himself and what he wanted. Back then, I didn't know how it would work out, but I knew the One that created this young man and I trusted that He instilled this passion in this young man and if that was true, He would provide and work out the details. Time and time again, I have had the pleasure of sharing with him how God has provided, how God leads and directs us. I prayed since my children were little God would guide and direct in the way they should each go, not where anyone else wanted them to go, but where HE wanted them to go. That each child would know early on for what God had created them to be and do. Lord, don't let them wander aimlessly trying to figure out what to do with their life, I have pleaded. This young man, has demonstrated this answer to my prayers day in day out, year in and year out. I can't even imagine what the future is going to look like... But for now I enjoy these moments...
teammates watching... and the little lime green shirt... my youngest, the "team mascot," as I call him. He is in the locker room. He is at warm ups, practices. He is without fail there at the rink gate before and after every game fist bumping and cheering each player on! He has grown up with these guys being his "big brothers." There is nothing like having 20+ big brothers tolerate you, play with you, and hang with you when you are a guy. My heart is just overfull when I reflect on how God has used hockey in our lives. Who would of thought that this little mid-west, Kansas family would become involved in hockey? We hardly ever see snow. This momma loves the warm sunshine and the beach and we chase the cold and ice for about 4+ months a year. God knew. He created and put together the most amazing network of families and players and coaches all these years.
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