I wrote these Words of Encouragement a little over a year ago.  It seems that many of my Words came at times when I had visited my mom down in Arizona, talked to her on the phone or received a letter from her.  I want to honor my mom with another of my Words that were inspired by an event that had her right at the center of it.  She encouraged me to look for possibilities to share my faith constantly. 

Mom died on the 8th of March. I will miss her phone calls and letters. But, the “possibility” of seeing her again reminds me of the blessed hope we have because of Easter.  “Because He lives, we shall live also,”  are words that should encourage each of us.              

A year ago I was with my 95 year old mother in Scottsdale, Arizona. Mom is fun to be with because she is so sharp mentally and has few health problems.  She is wearing out, but is ready to “go see Jesus.”  I tell her she needs to stay and  pray and encourage me.  That’s the reason the Lord leaves her here. When I told her about an experience at the airport in San Jose before the flight down, she said, “I think you should do one of your ‘Words’ about that.” This is the story mom wanted me to tell.

As I arrived at the airport I went off to find my Southwest gate.  Not knowing the exact gate, I walked along looking for the 4:20 flight to Phoenix. I became aware that a man was angling across my path from the left. I thought that his hesitation was the result of not knowing whether to hurry a bit and go in front of me or to slow down and go behind. All of a sudden he stopped right in front of me.  “Coach Hitchman?” I said that, yes, I was Coach Hitchman. “I’m Bryan C,” he replied, “Do you remember me?” In the brief time it took to say “I sure do”, my mind did a quick U-turn back to 1980, my first year as Head Varsity coach at Lynbrook. It was a memory of the Homecoming Game. Bryan was a very good Senior running back. However, he had really frustrated me because he wanted to get the glory being our leading rusher, but he didn’t seem to try very hard when it came time to block for his teammates. At a crucial time in the 1980 Homecoming Game, Bryan made a poor effort on a lead block for the other running back and a fumble resulted.  We lost the ball and a chance to score on that drive. I took Bryan out of the game and put in a Junior. We hadn’t gotten along well up to that point and because of his being benched, the rest of the season was a disaster.  Then, in a second of time, I  was thinking of five years ahead when I received a call from a sports writer who covered sports at the college Bryan was attending. After a brief introduction, he asked if I knew a Bryan C who was leading the nation in pass receiving that year. “I am aware of Bryan’s accomplishment and I’m very happy for him.” There was a bit of a pause and then he asked, “What can you tell me about the problem between you and Bryan when he played for you in high school?” The only way he could have known this was because Bryan had told him. “Coach?” I returned to the present as Bryan was smiling and telling me that when he saw me he just had to talk to me. He quickly related how after college and working a few years he went into high school teaching and coaching. He stood there shaking his head as he told me, “I could only coach for six years. Those  kids drove me nuts. How did you stand guys like me, Coach?” Just then his wife and two children came up and Bryan introduced them to me. There was something different about these four. As Bryan continued to talk, he happened to mention that during high school he never went to church except for when Doug, a Christian teammate, took him to the Easter service at his church. “And what about now?” I asked. “The Lord is really blessing us, Coach.” The next thing I remember is running two gates down to catch my plane. As I got seated, I tried to put together what had just taken place. How did Bryan recognize me from way back 26 years ago? Was his, “How did you stand guys like me?” an expression of regret that we didn’t get along at Lynbrook? Was this family’s smiles an indication of an inner joy only Jesus gives? Was “the Lord is really blessing us” a statement of faith in Jesus? I believe this is true and that God made it possible for them to be at the San Jose airport (they live out of the state) just when I was going to see my mom. I do believe this experience was planned by the Lord to encourage me before another football season starts. It was a reminder to me that “All things DO work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose” and that He gives us glimpses of this truth------maybe even on the way to catch a plane.  I encourage you to continue to do the right thing with your athletes even if there might be problems and ---trust God for the possibilities.