One of my favorite parts of being a mom to a young child is
that I still have autonomy in what he wears.
While I know my days are numbered in regard to this privilege, I’m
making them count while I can! So, you’ll often find my son in Auburn gear on game day.
As we’re all aware, the Corona Virus has caused every
sporting event imaginable to be canceled or postponed. Yesterday was supposed to be “Selection
Sunday,” a day where the dreams of many college basketball players are realized
as their teams are chosen to participate in the NCAA basketball
tournament. However, with the tournament
being canceled, no brackets were released, and no teams gathered to
celebrate.
And yet, I dressed my son in his Auburn gear. At first, this felt silly to me, and I
couldn’t justify to myself why I was still doing this. Then it hit me. I dress Mack in Auburn gear, not because of
what a team may or may not do in March Madness, or the College World Series, or
the College Football Playoff (Lord help us if we can ever make it there). I dress him in Auburn gear win or lose, games
or no games because I want to teach him that we love our school (and its
respective teams) unconditionally. We
love Auburn because it is our school and our team. Period. The end.
One might find this a strange type of love to have until we
realize that we are wired for this type of unconditional love as image-bearers
of God. You see, the truest form of
unconditional love is the type of love we find in Christ, who lives in us as
Christians. He loves us not because of
what we’ve achieved or proven. He loves
us because we are His. Period. The
end. He demonstrated this love for us by
giving up his life for us on the cross and rising again three days later. This is what we reflect upon during Lent then
celebrate on Easter.
So, while sporting events are canceled, dress your children
(or yourselves!) in your favorite team’s gear.
Teach them about unconditional love, then point them to the ultimate
love—that which we find in Jesus. Let’s
celebrate that and rejoice in the peace and joy that love brings us during
these trying and uncertain times.
