Email:
"Hi Kate, hope you are doing well! We are starting up our second season of Upward Soccer and we have lots of children already registered. We are looking for more coaches and one of the teens said she would be an assistant coach if she could coach with you. What do you say? Will you be a soccer coach this year?"
A soccer coach, are you kidding me? I only played soccer one day in my life during a pick up game at a summer camp. My soccer career promptly ended 15 minutes after it began when a ball got kicked into my stomach, knocking the wind out of me as I fell to the ground. How am I supposed to coach a game I’ve never played? Also, I’m just starting to get used to working with children with the new position of Pastor of Children and Youth, my niche is working with teenagers!
It was the beginning of 2016 and I was given the opportunity to get out of my comfort zone in serving. Believing the best leaders are servant leaders that led by example and understanding that engaging my faith in a meaningful way and growing in Love of God and others happens through action, I signed up to coach 1-2ndgraders in soccer. It was a 12-week commitment with a one-hour practice weekly and a game on Saturday morning. I signed up to be with 1-2ndgraders because I figured I couldn’t damage their soccer career too badly as the 3-5thgraders really seemed to know what they were doing.
So every Tuesday afternoon, you would find me watching Youtube videos of the skills and drills we were supposed to teach that evening. “Seriously,” I thought, “I’m the LAST person who should be coaching soccer!” But I showed up. I showed up every Tuesday evening and Saturday morning with a smile on my face (which is really a miracle for a Saturday morning) ready to greet the children and families. A few weeks in, it finally clicked with me. “Work is just an excuse to go. The real reason is to build relationships,” is what I always told people in the pre-immersion for trips and projects. This wasn’t any different. Soccer was just the excuse to get kids together. The real reason is to build relationships. The Youtube videos didn’t seem as important anymore. Instead, the priority was getting to know the children and for them to build relationships with each other. Soccer practice happened, but I cared more about learning about the child’s week than if they mastered the soccer skills and drills.
The team transformed. Not in the way that made 1-2ndgraders professional soccer players, but in how we all interacted with each other. The children listened to each other’s stories and cheered on each person on the team – on and off the field. This happened for two seasons before being reappointed to Hyde Park Community UMC in Cincinnati.
When the opportunity came up to tutor a 4thgrade student in math, I definitely didn’t jump at the chance, but I wasn’t waiting for another email request. After asking some questions, I learned that Hyde Park Community UMC was in its 8thyear of working with Rothenberg Preparatory School in Over-the-Rhine. The church “adopts” a class in 2ndgrade and works with them through their 6thgrade year. There were over 20 people serving each week by mentoring a child and helping with schoolwork.
While my math skills were far better than my soccer skills, I was still nervous. I don’t want to mess this kid up and common core is just so different than how I learned math. Then it made me remember the “core” of why we were in schools. Tutoring is just the excuse to build relationships. Each week, we have the opportunity to pour into one child, to listen to their stories, encourage them, and give them confidence and support!
So that’s exactly what I and 20+ other people did last year. The year went by so fast it was hard to believe that the first year was over. We both survived 4thgrade math!
Today kicked off my 2ndyear with my student – who is now in 5thgrade. I couldn’t believe how tall and grown up all the students got over the summer! What I’m most thankful for is how easy it was to pick back up with my student and how laughter filled the library with all the tutors and students together again. This year 4 new people said “yes” to tutoring being the excuse to build a relationship with a student, allowing us to tutor 25 students in 5thgrade this year!
Where do you need to get out of your comfort zone in serving? Remember, the work is just the excuse to build relationship with the people around you!
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