Before I Said Yes, I Just Ordered the Vans

I was on a little getaway with my beautiful bride when I got a text from my good friend Doug, the athletic director at Santa Fe Christian.

“Do you have a minute to chat?”

When I called him, he shared that there had been a tremendous amount of interest in boys’ golf, so much so that they had formed a JV team. He told me that for the first couple of matches, he had driven one van, and the assistant athletic director had driven another. Then he paused and simply asked about my availability… and my interest.

At that moment, I didn’t really know what God was up to.

As I’ve written before in different blogs, whether it was the whiteboard or simple acts of obedience, I could sense that God was writing something… that something was stirring. I just couldn’t quite define what it was. But the Spirit—God’s Spirit inside of me—was moving.

I asked Doug to send me the schedule so I could take a look. As I reviewed it, one thing immediately stood out. The very next week—just seven days away—there was a match, and then another that Thursday. And right there on the schedule, I noticed something small… but important.

The vans weren’t reserved.

At most schools, those vans are spoken for quickly. Every sport needs them. If you don’t reserve them, it turns into a scramble—coordinating parents, figuring out rides, trying to get everyone where they need to be, especially when the courses aren’t close.

So without really overthinking it, I opened the application, filled it out, and reserved the vans.

And I’ve laughed with Doug about this since… because at that point, I still hadn’t said yes.

But I had ordered the vans.

And as I thought about that, I was reminded of another phone call—one from about four and a half years ago. My good friend Robbie Roberts, the assistant athletic director at the time, had reached out and asked if I would consider becoming the varsity girls’ golf coach.

I had no idea what I was stepping into.

But I said yes.

And now, after four years of coaching those girls—walking alongside them, learning, growing, being stretched—it’s clear as I look back that God was doing something I couldn’t see at the time.

He was preparing me.

Preparing me for this moment.

Preparing me for this phone call.

Preparing me to step into this next opportunity with these boys.

As I sat this morning and looked at Scripture, I was reminded of these words from 1 Peter 5:1–4:

The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

I don’t read that thinking about a reward.

But I do recognize something deeper.

God assigns moments.

He places us in situations.

He invites us to be available.

Whether it was serving in Awana with kindergartners learning their first verses, or being a doorman at Hattie’s House, or coaching the girls, or now sitting behind the wheel of a van with a group of high school boys… it all carries the same invitation.

Just be available.

Somewhere between reserving those vans and driving to that first match, I realized something.

I hadn’t just filled out a form.

I had already said yes.

So now I’m on this journey with these boys. And the Lord is teaching me—patience, humility, kindness. He’s reminding me what it looks like to model a life that isn’t defined by a number on a scorecard, or what you shot that day, or how others see you.

But by what He says is true.

And maybe that’s the real assignment.

Not just to drive the van…

but to help point the way.