The Coach's Family Sacrifices, Too

A Gift for Mom! 🤍

The sacrifice of a coach’s wife is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It has dug out my selfishness like a splinter while also bringing me the deepest joy. ⁣

⁣All of us coaches’ wives have done the bedtime routine by ourselves more nights than we can count just like I did tonight. Most of us have packed up from our comfortable towns or states to move to the next. We have sacrificed date nights for recruiting, family time for team meetings, and prayed as hard for the boys on our husband’s team as we do our own little ones.

RELATED: I Am A Coach’s Wife

If we could jump in and just make a difference quickly, we would, but it doesn’t work like that. It takes late-night sacrifices, one by one, bit by bit, year by year to really build something—to make a difference. ⁣

⁣So on nights when I’m doing it alone so my husband can chase his calling, I see my boy shooting buckets in the bathtub, and I remember he’s being shaped by all of this, too.

His daddy is showing him how to work hard and pour his heart and soul into the work God has called him to.

He’s shown how to pray for the people he loves and to go after something with all he’s got even when it’s not going his way. ⁣

RELATED: Before You Yell at the Referees Tonight, Let Me Tell You About My Daddy

⁣I tell my husband, Casey, every day, we’re in it with you—even in the sacrifices. All of the sacrifices in hopes it turns into more than a few wins. It’s putting faith in the fact that seeds are being planted and maybe these student-athletes can have a college athletics experience that will impact them the way ours impacted us—for eternity.

Win or lose, what a joy it is for me to be his wife and him to be his son!⁣

Previously published on the author’s Instagram page

So God Made a Grandmother book by Leslie Means

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A GRANDMA

Order Now!

athletics being a coach coach coach's family coach's wife college sports I am a coach's wife sports student athletes youth sports

Hope Coons

My name is Hope Coons, and I am a follower of Christ, wife to a college basketball coach, and mother to an awesome little boy. Our family has been called to love and serve well through Christian college athletics.

5 Things I’m Learning about 50

In: Living

When my dad turned 80, he—and we, by default—celebrated all year. My sister made a fantastic, larger-than-life sign of him posing in front of his friend’s antique car, with beautiful calligraphy that trumpeted, “Cheers to you, celebrating 80 years of life!” The sign welcomed his closest friends and family into a private room at a steakhouse, where we toasted his 80 years—and the grandkids toasted his steady presence in their lives. The sign moved from the swanky steakhouse to the second-floor banister in my parents’ house. When you walked in, it greeted you—a feel-good conversation starter and a reminder to...

Keep Reading

I’m Constantly Waiting for the Metaphorical Axe To Fall

In: Living

I knew people died. I just didn’t think it applied to us. Mortality met me in grade two with a punch to the gut when my teacher confirmed casually that, yes, everybody dies. What do you mean, everybody dies? I frantically thought, but kept my question to myself. Up until that moment, I had quietly believed my family was exempt from that fate. I thought death was a monster that only took other people and left my family alone. They say all panic has an origin story, and mine began shortly after that realization, fueled by a disconnected phone cord...

Keep Reading

The Apology You Deserve May Never Come

In: Living

“You have to accept that you will likely never get the apology you deserve.” When my therapist said those words, I felt everything at once-anger, resentment, heartbreak. It was as if the air had been pulled straight from my lungs. Because accepting that truth meant letting go of something I had been holding onto for a long time: the hope that one day, it would all be acknowledged. My family was deeply wronged. Not in a way that can be brushed off or easily forgotten, but in a way that cut to the core. There were lies wrapped in deception,...

Keep Reading

To the Little Girl With Pink Flowers on Her Shoes and Courage in Her Heart

In: Living

To the little girl with pink flowers on her white shoes and lacy fold-down socks, down and ready, tee ball glove in hand, teeth marks worn into the top. The Pittsburgh Pirates hat from Uncle Dave, a sign of camaraderie. A part of something bigger than herself. A too-long, locally sponsored t-shirt, tied up with a ponytail. Jean shorts and a belt. The type of ordinary only childhood can be. When ordinary is more than enough. No one can tell in this picture that you were scared. That you didn’t feel ready. That behind that tiny-toothed grin you were holding...

Keep Reading

Keep Searching for the Perfect Pair of Jeans

In: Living

I don’t know about you, but finding a good pair of jeans has always felt like a process to me. These are too tight. Those are too loose. They fit my thighs but bunch at my hips. The dreaded waist gap. Too short—high waters. Too long, and suddenly you can’t find your legs. Before you know it, you’re ordering your fourth pair and eyeing a fifth. A woman on a mission. And still, as I stand there looking in the mirror at everything that doesn’t quite work, I just know there is a perfect pair out there for me. Somewhere....

Keep Reading

Why I Had My Benign Breast Lumps Removed

In: Living

My journey with monitoring benign breast lumps began in July of 2020 when my OB-GYN found a lump. I was sent home with an ultrasound referral. I called immediately after I got home and asked for the soonest appointment at any location. I had a young son, and was absolutely terrified. They got me in at the end of the week. My husband was on vacation that week, and what should have been an enjoyable family time was plagued with worry. At the ultrasound appointment, they saw two small lumps. I was told these were “likely benign” and was given...

Keep Reading

Repotting Myself: What My One‑Armed Grandpa Taught Me About Growing Anyway

In: Grief, Living

Black and white photo of older man in garden

I was never meant to be a plant person. I’m the woman who can kill a succulent on the way home from the store. Once, a fern sighed in my direction and gave up. That is my spiritual gift. My grandpa Dominic would have laughed—hard. He loved to laugh. And sing hymns passionately in Italian. He was an Italian immigrant who lost his arm working in a mill, and still, he woke up every morning and dressed like dignity itself. He shopped for my grandma. He fixed what was broken. And he tended the biggest, happiest garden you’ve ever seen....

Keep Reading

Farewell To the Bus Stop Moms

In: Friendship

It seems like just yesterday I was writing a piece about my last baby going off to kindergarten. I poured my heart out into words about how she was going to find her place in the world, and how I was going to find a new sense of belonging. I wrote, “I was able to find a bit of ‘me’ again. She has barely left my side in almost six years, so her absence is still fresh and foreign. But I know her jubilant little self will be just fine. And just like that, she’s on her way. And so...

Keep Reading

May is Maternal Mental Health Month, and So Many Moms Are Quietly Drowning

In: Living

I’ve given birth to four beautiful boys and lived through four postpartum experiences. Each one has been different, yet there are familiar threads that run through them all. In the first couple of weeks after my first baby was born, I felt carefree…until that bubble was popped. My newborn got sick and was admitted to the PICU at a children’s hospital 30 minutes from our home. At one point, doctors mentioned the possibility of meningitis, but after many tests and a several-day admission, we were sent home. When we were discharged, a doctor left me with these words, “It’s your...

Keep Reading

The Hard Truth about Friendship in Your 40s

In: Friendship

No one can really prepare you for how much friendships change in your 40s. We expect life shifts—kids grow, schedules fill, jobs demand more, and aging parents need us in new ways. Time becomes tighter, priorities change, and naturally, friendships have to adjust. That part makes sense, right? But what doesn’t get talked about enough is the quiet, hard shift, the one where it’s not just time or distance creating friendship gaps, but something deeper. What happens when you look around your “table” and realize it no longer feels like a safe place to land? What happens when you start...

Keep Reading

To My Nonverbal Son: Thank You For Giving Me a Voice

Life Isn't Always Perfect, So Who You Marry Matters

Marriage

The Coach’s Family Sacrifices, Too

RELATED: I Am A Coach’s Wife

His daddy is showing him how to work hard and pour his heart and soul into the work God has called him to.

RELATED: Before You Yell at the Referees Tonight, Let Me Tell You About My Daddy

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A GRANDMA

Hope Coons

5 Things I’m Learning about 50

I’m Constantly Waiting for the Metaphorical Axe To Fall

The Apology You Deserve May Never Come

To the Little Girl With Pink Flowers on Her Shoes and Courage in Her Heart

Keep Searching for the Perfect Pair of Jeans

Why I Had My Benign Breast Lumps Removed

Repotting Myself: What My One‑Armed Grandpa Taught Me About Growing Anyway

Farewell To the Bus Stop Moms

May is Maternal Mental Health Month, and So Many Moms Are Quietly Drowning

The Hard Truth about Friendship in Your 40s

Get It Now

So God Made a Mother

The Coach’s Family Sacrifices, Too

His daddy is showing him how to work hard and pour his heart and soul into the work God has called him to.

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A GRANDMA

5 Things I’m Learning about 50

I’m Constantly Waiting for the Metaphorical Axe To Fall

The Apology You Deserve May Never Come

To the Little Girl With Pink Flowers on Her Shoes and Courage in Her Heart

Keep Searching for the Perfect Pair of Jeans

Why I Had My Benign Breast Lumps Removed

Repotting Myself: What My One‑Armed Grandpa Taught Me About Growing Anyway

Farewell To the Bus Stop Moms

May is Maternal Mental Health Month, and So Many Moms Are Quietly Drowning

The Hard Truth about Friendship in Your 40s

Previous Post

Next Post

You May Also Like