"Emily loves field hockey, which is like ice hokey except it's gentler and rquires eleven players on a grass field. Her school had a superb, well-coached program. Their team usually won its division and was frequently in the running for the state championship. The coach was excellent, although Emily thought the coach played favorites. That year she and her friend were not the favorites, and occasionally Emily sat out the entire game.
Another parent heard about the bench warming and, while chatting with me at the local gym, said, "Isn't that unbelieveable what the coach is doing? Doesn't that make you mad?" I replied, "Actually, no. We are thankful Emily has this low-level suffering while she is still on our watch. It is a wonderful opportunity for her to grow in faith. She'll learn far more about God on the bench than out on the playing field."
The other parent expected Jill and me to be angry about what was happening to Emily. Her goal for her child was tied to the child's accomplishments. Our goal was tied to Emily's faith. Because of that, we saw sports as just another venue where she could learn to sink her roots into God. I saw the bench warming as an answer to my daily prayer that Emily would not love the world of the things in the world...Life is more about bench sitting than about being a star."
-Paul Miller, A Praying Life, p. 170-171.
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