Lessons of Faith: Honoring Your Commitments
In honor of mothers day, I wanted to share a little story and an amazing lesson from my mom, Faith Burk.
The youth soccer team I played on was good (like a 85-4 record in 4 years). Now, this wasn’t an Olympic Development Team, but I always felt I was a good soccer player because of our team’s record.
This all changed after the 1st soccer game of my 6th grade season, because this was the day that I found out the team’s soccer talent belonged to my teammates, and not with me.
As the first half bleed into the second and our team’s lead widened, I sat watching from the sidelines with a clean uniform as the realization of the talent gap between me and my teammates became ever more apparent. I can remember sitting on the sideline as the game worn on, literally in denial, then anger, then acceptance to the reality of my ability as a soccer player.
As our team lead widened to 7 goals, I was inserted as goalie in the closing minutes of the game. I did not enter this game with anything close to a Mamba Mentality, and 2 goals were easily scored on me in short time.
I felt embarrassed and humiliated. No one said anything to make me feel this way, rather it was within my own mind. I had already decided that I was done playing soccer. This was my Last Dance.
As Faith Burk drove up to the field to pick me up, I sheepishly climbed into the front seat of the Suburban. “So how was the game? How did you do!?”, she asked me with a smile.
“Mom, I’m done playing soccer. I didn’t play at all until the very end and was humiliated. I’m not playing anymore” I proclaimed, holding back my tears. This was probably the first real adversity I had ever faced in my sporting career, I did not want any part of it.
I will never forget Faith Burk’s response and the lesson that has stayed with me after all these years.
“Oh that’s great! I’m glad you’ve come to that decision. After the season, you don’t have to play soccer anymore”, She stated matter-of-factly and smiled at me. Obviously, she did not get it.
“No Mom. I don’t think you understand. I mean, this is my last game. I’m not going through the season like this. I’m not playing anymore”.
“No. I don’t think YOU understand. You made a commitment to this team, and you are going to honor that commitment. You are finishing the season, it’s that simple. I’m glad you realize you don’t want to play anymore, and after the season, you never have to play soccer again”.
I argued and pleaded with her, to no avail. This was non-negotiable (Note: Fun times being raised by a lawyer!). I finished the season, barely playing and certainly no real memories on the field, except for that Lesson of Faith in the parking lot that has served me long after the conclusion of my soccer career: In the face of adversity and challenge, we do not retreat. We turn and face it head on, and always give it our best.
Thank you to Mom and all the mother’s out there for not letting us quit, allowing us to fail while giving it our best, being there to pick us up, dust us off, and supporting us regardless of the result. Happy Mothers Day!
