I Thought I’d Miss It More…

I thought I’d share on my site a devotional I wrote a few weeks back for an NFL Wives group I’m involved in. This week marks the one year anniversary of Patrick’s release from the Titans, so I figured it was a good time to share 🙂

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Philippians 4:6

This NFL season marks the first that my husband, Patrick, is retired. It’s hard to believe that last year at this time, he was taking part in training camp and playing in preseason games. The decision to retire was an easy one after getting cut before the first regular season game last year, and sitting idle the entire season. Week after week, we’d hope for an opportunity to arise, which would sadly come from somebody else’s misfortune of an injury or bad performance. Week after week, there were injuries and bad performances across the league, yet still we waited. Early on, he told me if he didn’t get picked up, he would be done in the NFL, a promise he kept.

As camp started up, I thought I’d miss it, but as I read posts from years past in my new “Timehop” App, I realized just how miserable I was over the years spending camp without him. I was finding that daily I was obsessing about missing his cuddles and kisses, complaining about having to do his chores like cutting the grass, and stressed over keeping our dog and child happy and healthy while he was gone. The Timehop App was a blessing to me this year as I quickly realized just how much I didn’t miss camp life!

When it came time to tuning in to the first preseason game, I thought for sure I’d miss it, but to my surprise, I didn’t! I realized that for the first time in 8 years, I’ve been able to watch a game and not worry! The Bible commands us on multiple occasions not to worry, and instructs us not to be anxious, something I’ve always struggled with, but especially when it came to Patrick’s NFL career. Each game I feared he would get injured or not make the play, and each year at this time, I was so stressed he wouldn’t make the team. Last season, even though he wasn’t playing, I agonized each week about getting picked up by another team. Only now do I realize just how much worry my heart carried while walking through his NFL career with him.

Don’t get me wrong, it was exciting all of those years watching him play and fulfill his childhood dream. I’m so unbelievably grateful for our years in the NFL! Only now do I realize though, how nice it is to be able to watch a football game again and not struggle with worry and fear.

The NFL has given us so much! We take with us countless memories, once in a lifetime experiences and opportunities, and some amazing friendships! The cool part about our exit from the league is, we get to take all of that with us as we go!