A Season of Loss

In the national sports media, you hear very little of sports at the local level—until a tragedy occurs. Such a tragedy happened on Wednesday, when Ed Thomas, the highly respected football coach of Aplington-Parkersburg High School in Iowa was gunned down in the weight room while he worked with his current crop of players—allegedly by one of his own former players. Immediately, the stories began to roll out of Thomas’s impact on kids and on the community. Instrumental in the rebuilding of Parkersburg following last year’s fatal tornado, Ed had his priorities straight. Yes, he was a successful coach, winning two state championships and 80 percent of his games coached, and sending 4 players to the NFL. But he knew there was more at stake than records and prestige in the coaching ranks. In an interview taped months earlier, Thomas had expressed that if all he taught his players was football, then he was a failure. He wanted to see them become better men—better husbands and fathers, better members of their community, better members of their churches. A man of faith, his focus was on the things that lasted far after the pads were hung up and football was done with. For the people of that small Iowa community, the summer season has suddenly become a season of loss.

As I read and listened to stories of Ed Thomas’s impact, the word legacy kept coming up over and over again. His impact is being seen in the wave of grief that his loss has left behind. Homes touched. Hearts strengthened. Young lives equipped to live life well. So, then, what will my legacy be? What will your legacy be? I pray that we would long for—and that God would grant—a legacy that touches eternity. A legacy that touches the things that last. The kind of legacy that Peter spoke of in 2 Peter 1, when, after describing the priority of spiritual development in the life of the Christ-follower, he said:

For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease (2 Peter 1:12-15).

To impact lives with the message of life in Christ is a powerful legacy—and one worth pursuing. Join us tomorrow on Sports Spectrum radio as we take a further look at the legacy we are creating—and that we will leave behind.

Bill Crowder, Sport Spectrum Chaplain