One of A Kind

I know I say this just about every time I write something – but man! What a week it has been. Sunday night I was attending an employee dinner at Al’s pizza. (yumm!) What a nice treat. We hallmark employees put up with a lot: robbers, silly band crazies, obnoxious older women who pitch fits when asked for their ID, regular customers who steal precious moments…am I being negative!?  Hallmark really is a wonderful place to work, (I mean this with the utmost respect to men, women, and children of all ages) but sometimes people can be a little wacko. (I am SURE I have witnesses to attest for when I have gone nutty a time or two.) I was sitting next to my darling Fabiola, enjoying my calzone, (you can be sure Fabs was enjoying hers right along with me) when I got a disturbing text message. My sister informed me that the A.D. at my high school had had a heart attack. Obviously, those of you who know me would probably guess I went into a stage of panic. Well SURPRISE, SURPRISE, I actually stayed rather calm about the entire thing. I was confused as to where my sister got her information and tried to contact SEVERAL people who may have known more information than she did. Text, after text, after text….after text; (Okay – I admit it. This is where the millisecond of panic crept its way in.) I eventually got a phone call where the participant on the other end of the line began to explain to me that Coach had had a heart attack while in Virginia visiting family. They doctors tried a stint – it failed. The situation was not a good one and there wasn’t much they could do. Of course I didn’t fully understand the situation but I knew that odds were not in his favor.(Which is why I’m glad I serve a God who continually defies the odds!) Coach Richardson is more than my high school’s athletic director. He is more than a teacher and more than an employee at my high school. Coach is a man I hold in high regard and treasure deep in my heart; a man that I love in Jesus, and a man that has encouraged me, lifted me up, been an example to me, and loved me in Jesus. To understand anything about this man – you’ve just got to know him. I “feel sorry” for those of you who don’t know him because there is NO other person on the face of the earth who would ever come close to being a man like Coach. He is crazy and hilarious, serious and sometimes scary. All in all he’s one giant bucket of love. But the best thing about him, and what I genuinely think of when I think of him is this: he’s a man who loves God. He loves students and athletes and has such a STRONG desire to build their character, and even more so to make sure they have a PERSONAL relationship with Jesus. Coach inspires me in so many ways because he doesn’t care what people think of him; he just wants to share Jesus with you. He won’t shove Him down your throat but he wants you to know that if you are rejecting Him that you realize what you’re doing. The past 2 days I have been praying non stop for this man. I so WISH he was not in Virginia because I feel like if he was here I could do something…anything. (I know, I couldn’t do a thing other than what I’m doing now – praying.) But I wish I could just tell him that I love him. The report I got today was that there was improvement. Apparently last night he was in a lot of pain and the doctors were having to try and calm him down.(so hard for me to imagine) The doctors were going to try a certain type of medicine and see if it would help. I’m praying and thanking God for all that Coach has meant to me and to all the people whose lives God has used him to impact. As I sit here and think about this entire ordeal – I’m reminded that God knew this was going to happen. It happened in VA. for a reason; God has a purpose in it all. I’m pretty sure I can place a safe bet on this statement: Coach would want this to be used as an example to all of his students, all of his players: to remind them that life is short…it’s fragile and you never know when God may decide to take you from this place. So for those people who are playing “Christian,” you may want to re-evaluate the game you’re playing. “Love you, Coach!”