Leave It All on the Court: My Current Approach to Life

There were buzzers sounding and whistles blowing all over the gym. At least two other volleyball games were going on and two basketball games were being played on the other side of the gym and we were gathered in a smelly huddle, arms around each other’s shoulders. Our head coach looked at the girls as the timeout ticked away and he said, “This is it. You’ve got nothing to lose. Leave it all on the court.”

State tournament was the finale of what we’ve said all year. Leave it all on the court. Don’t show up half-hearted. Show up or go home. Any variation of this idea will do: don’t hold anything back.

It’s really hard to turn that on and off.  You either turn it on for whatever you’re doing or you don’t know how to turn it on when you want it. It’s got to be something you impress into yourself. It has to become part of who you are.

I’ve been thinking about 2 Timothy 4:7 frequently over the past few months. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” How do I make it to the end? How do I keep going until I see Jesus? What I’ve come up with now is that I have to leave it all on the court.

Today I show up. I give it all I’ve got. I mother these boys. I pray for my people, who are really His people. I champion my husband. I record the podcasts. I study my Bible. I do whatever God puts in front of me, even when it’s unexpected or surprising or even unwelcome.

I don’t wait for optimal conditions, like a full night’s sleep or kids that don’t fight or feelings that agree with what I’m supposed to be doing. I’m going to leave it all here. I’m going to play when the game gets messy and I make mistakes and I want to be done and just go lie under the bleachers and pretend I’ve never seen the game. When I think I’m doing terrible and I don’t want to play anyway- why play when I can sit on the bleachers and make fun of the people trying?-I’m going to keep going.

Because this is it. If I’m here on mission (Matthew 28:18-20, 1 Corinthians 10:31), if I’m here as a kingdom woman (Colossians 1:13), if I’m here because God’s given me a work to do (2 Corinthians 5:17-20), then I’m here today with a job. This is a game with an opponent; it’s a fight with the enemy.

Last spring when I did the #adifferentmotherhoodstory project on Instagram, I talked about why I stopped stressing about being so tired at night. I realized I was supposed to be tired; that’s why I was going to bed. I had lived that day. Not just existed, but truly lived. I had done something and it was worth being tired. It’s not like I could keep the extra energy for the next day or stick it in my pocket for a day when I was drained. That day was done and I had left it all on the court.

It’s what I’m going to keep doing. Every day, I’m going to get up, whether I feel like I’m on top of my game or I’d rather go back to bed. I’m going to leave it all on the court. I’m going to show up when I’m ahead in the game and it feels like work is being accomplished. I’m going to show up when I’m down ten points and I think I’m never on the winning team.

Because this time I am. The Bible says I have the victory (1 Corinthians 15:57).  That Jesus leads us in a triumphal procession (2 Corinthians 2:14). That He has overcome the world (John 16:33). That greater is He that’s in me than he that’s in the world (1 John 4:4). Sometimes, today, that looks like leaving it all on the court and still being behind in points.

But that’s not the end of the game and this time I know how it ends.