Justice, The Color Run, and Integrity

Many months ago Justice and I signed up to run in The Color Run.  We were both incredibly excited and spent much of the summer training to run it together.  Well, I trained... he jogged next to me because he is a far superior runner than I am.  

It wasn't long before we realized we may have a conflict with football.  In previous years, the varsity football team played on Saturday's, and the junior varsity played on Monday nights.  Because Justice was a first year player on the junior squad, we (wrongly) assumed he would play on the junior varsity team and that the run wouldn't conflict with football.  This season, he made the varsity squad, and they also changed the schedule to have both varsity and junior varsity play on Saturday's.  Insert conflict with The Color Run here.

Justice and his teammates have had an absolutely MISERABLE football season.  They are currently 0-8.  Yes, no wins at all.  His confidence and his teammates confidence is SHOT, and I've been far less than thrilled with the coaching staff.  Not a game goes by without my son crying on the sidelines, angry with himself over his less than stellar performance on the field.  The game last Saturday was the absolute worst yet.  His spirit was completely broken after the game and he didn't bounce back for a few days afterwards.  The Coach decided that he should run in The Color Run, even if it meant skipping a game.  We both felt he really needed it for his mental health.  He's been really down on himself and we knew this would perk him up and he'd have an enjoyable Saturday for once.

He was incredibly excited when we told him he should run in the race.  Euphoric, actually.  I caught a glimpse of the pre-football season Justice there for a few days, and it was good to have him back.  Then, on Tuesday of this week, he became sullen again.  He was quiet, and moody.  I also saw him on his knees praying twice that day at random times, and then I knew that something big was swirling around in his head.  I snuggled him up on the couch with me and asked him to tell me what was wrong.  He quietly started to cry, and informed me that he was not running in the race on Saturday, but that he was going to play football instead.  He told me that even though they were losing, it wasn't fair to let his team down by not being there and sharing the pain of yet another loss together, as a team.  He reminded me that in four years of football, he has never once missed a practice, let alone a game.  He said he couldn't run, even though he wanted to so badly.  He gave me a spiel about integrity and courage, and how not showing up for his game would mean he didn't have integrity or courage.

As a parent, how can you argue with that?  I don't believe there are many 10 year old boys that would willingly endure a Saturday of misery for his teammates rather than a Saturday of fun, especially when given the blessing to do so by his parents.  Jack?  Jack's running in the race, baby.  Every single time if given the option!

When The Coach got home from work that day, Justice informed him of his decision.  I saw tears well up in The Coaches eyes, and he wordlessly hugged him for a few minutes before he gathered himself together to tell him how thankful he was to have a son with such a good heart.  We are indeed blessed.   

 I am thankful that he leans on the power of prayer and the guidance of the Holy Ghost to help him make difficult decisions.  He is a boy of great faith, and I know his testimony of his love of the gospel and his Heavenly Father strengthens him every single day.  I am also thankful for the sport of football.  Football grows men, plain and simple.  Even in a losing and miserable season, life lessons are clearly learned and the take aways are far greater than the record of a losing season.  My son has grown leaps and bounds in this sport, and even he realizes that and knows how much he's grown.  That's why he continues to play, and as long as he wants to play, I will continue to support him and love him from the sidelines.