By Lena Mattice

That's My Lineman
He holds back two guys so your son can get,
around to make the tackle
He stands his ground, pushes other guys around,
so your son can make the play.
He never folds under pressure,
so, your son can get the touchdown.
He works hard and does his job with no
notice from the announcement box for the job
he did.
He does not care because what he does, he
LOVES to do!!
THAT’S MY LINEMAN

A couple of years ago, during his junior year in high school, my youngest son came to me and said, “Mom, I want to play college football.” I told him, “Alright, I know you can do it, but you’re going to have to work hard.” He said, “I know, Mom.” So, for the next seven months, he worked relentlessly in the weight room, doing everything his coach asked of him. In the middle of the summer, he came to me again, brimming with excitement, and said, “I really want to play college ball.” His excitement was contagious as he declared, “I’m going to play college ball; I’m going to rock this senior year, and I’m going to play for a D2 or D1 college.” His enthusiasm made me excited for him, too.

In October, during the homecoming game, the game was canceled due to illness and injuries on the opposing team. But for some reason, I had no worries about it. Our coach started calling around to find another team to play us, and a 5A school agreed—but only if we played at their field. Our coach stood firm, saying it had to be a home game since it was our homecoming. To our surprise, that 5A school decided to come play us on our home turf. My son had the best game of the season. Afterward, a man came up to him and asked, “Do you want to play college ball?” My son, wide-eyed, responded, “Yes, yes I do.” The man handed him a card and said, “Call this guy—he can help you with that goal.” Just a few months later, in January, my son signed with a D2 school to play college football. In July, after graduation, I helped him move to Kansas to start his college career.

My son had a dream. He had a clear vision of what he wanted: to play college football. As Leslie Householder writes in Hidden Treasures, "Our idea takes many forms on its way from being non-existent to being part of our reality in our physical world” (p.35). His dream was taking form every step of the way, and people were brought into his life to help him make it happen.

That first year of college was tough for him. As The Law of Perpetual Transmutation says, "everything, every object, every circumstance, etc., is constantly developing into form or dissipating out of form” (Hidden Treasures, p. 36). His doubts and fears began to creep in, and his dream seemed to be slipping away. He was practicing at his college, but others—his teammates, even his coach—started getting into his head. He no longer felt like he was good enough to play at the college level. He became homesick, unsure, and began feeling unworthy to be there. That’s what the adversary does—he places obstacles in our path, even if those obstacles are just negative thoughts in our own minds.

In October, my husband and I went to visit him, and I could see the change in him. I said, “You’ve lost your fire.” He asked, “What do you mean?” I replied, “When you came to me and told me you wanted to play college football, you had this fire inside you. It ignited every time you talked about it. I saw it in every game you played your senior year. But you’ve lost sight of that goal. You’ve let others get in your head and put out your fire.” Brene Brown, in Atlas of The Heart, calls those people “wind blowers,” and we don’t want them in our lives. We need what she calls “fire protectors”—people who guard our goals. Sadly, for my son, one of the “wind blowers” was his coach. I told him, “You need to tell him how his comments affect you. You need to let him know that his words aren’t helping you become a better player.” Everyone around me said, “He can’t do that—he can’t tell his coach he’s wrong.” But I kept saying, “Someone needs to. Someone needs to help him see that he’s not helping these boys become the best players they can be.”

To my surprise, after football season ended, my son’s coach asked him what he could do better as a coach. That’s when my son told him exactly what we had discussed. His negative comments weren’t helping him improve as a player.

In Mindset Mastery, Trevan and Leslie Householder explain, “Belief is an emotion which speeds the creative process, while doubt returns an idea to the formless state. So, if you desire a thing or a circumstance that is good, hold the idea of it in your mind, believing that it is being created and is on its way” (p.243). As I’ve worked with my son to help him shift his mindset and seek God’s guidance, I know he’ll become the football player he dreams of being.

It truly begins with a thought. Our thoughts shape our circumstances and guide us toward our goal. The only thing that can stand in our way is the doubt we allow to creep in. When you start believing you're not worthy of your goal and let that belief take root, your goal will begin to fade. As it says in Doctrine and Covenants 6:36, “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.” We set our goals and trust that God will lead us to them, free from doubt and fear. We only need to have faith and trust that our goal will come to fruition!

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