Great commercial.

Always brought a tear to my eye. Enjoy your kids, now!

This dad in the commercial, that’s the kind of dad I’ve tried to be.

Slung myself headfirst into my two daughters’ athletic adventures.

Volunteer to coach sports i know nothing about (soccer)….check.

Never miss a soccer game, basketball game, or cross country meet (until it reaches the point of being two places at once)…..check.

Coaching middle school basketball for three years, getting “bonus time” with one or both of my girls
and getting to know and love their friends as well as the families of their friends….check.

But this commercial I’ve seen so many times before takes on a new meaning now, a whole new set of twisting emotions.

You see, my oldest daughter is a senior in high school now, going through the year-long tour of “last-times.”

She didn’t just play in her final soccer game last week, she played her last soccer game with her sister.

Best friends, sidekicks, teammates.

At the completion of the game, I told a friend that it sure is a funny feeling, knowing that I’ve watched her play for the last time.

He told me that life is about seasons, that before I know it I’ll be walking her down the aisle at her wedding.

After someone finally pried my fingers away from his neck before unconsciousness set in, I knew that he was right.

Seasons change. For little sister (sophomore) it’s a painful realization that her best friend will be going away to college soon. Her mentor and role model in
sports and life will no longer be constantly by her side. A new season awaits.

For a dad? This is the one that really clobbers me. It becomes increasingly difficult for dads, as daughters go through their high school years, to “connect”
with their daughters. Maybe it’s harder to find common ground. I struggle to start conversations or keep them going because I don’t ask the right questions or give the right answers.

Possibly I long for simpler times before cell phones, Twitter, Instagram, and snapchats.

Simpler times when I could elicit more than a one word answer because I perhaps knew the right questions to ask.

.

Sports. As long as they’re competing and playing games, it’s one more small way to connect with my little girls.

And maybe it’s a way to delay or cheat the reality of them not being my little girls any more..

The commercial takes me back. Hundreds, if not thousands of sporting events.

All those times playing in the yard, at the gym, at the soccer field.

Road trips. Basketball games, soccer games, cross country meets, track meets.

Celebrations. Success. Disappointments. Losses. Proud moments just watching them compete and be their best.

Soon they’ll run their last cross country meet together.

Daddy’s girls. Playing games.

When they stop playing games, they won’t be my little girls anymore.

There is joy in sports.

But true peace, hope, and joy come from knowing Jesus as your savior.

This is the greatest common bond I share with my girls. serving the same Lord.

Deep down, I know it’s true. Sure, I will always fondly remember their days of youth.

But I love to witness the strength of their character today…….and look forward to the ways

they will use it to impact this world with the good news of Jesus!

Next season, please……maybe……I guess…….if I have to.