There was a time when my job was my passion. From the time I was in high school I wanted to work for the government. I had dreams of being a Supreme Court justice and later to be a senior executive with the federal government. I felt I was on my way when I became a U.S. Presidential Management Intern working with the Department of Defense as a civilian. I enjoyed much success and later adjusted my plans to accommodate my life as a wife and mother of three sons. I realized I was not willing to pay a price that meant compromising who I needed to be for my sons but I still dreamed of retiring from the federal government with a nice retirement and health benefits for life. I worked in human resources and understood how important that would be in the long run.

I was five years away from that dream when the Lord dropped “a bomb” on me. He wanted me to quit my job! I could not believe this was happening to me. I had five years to go and I would have a pension for life! I kept hearing that still small voice saying “your work is done here.” At first I just shook it off and decided that the Lord was just preparing me for my life after retirement. The voice became persistent and grew louder.

In March of 2001 the Lord drew a line in the sand and made it clear he was serious about his plans for me. I was walking into my building after lunch when I ran into a friend who I had not seen for a while. She was also coming in from lunch and told me that she would stop by my office as soon as she put her coat up. In the meantime, I went back to the office.

A few minutes later, my phone started to ring. I was my sister, Lois, calling to see how I was doing. I told her about what the Lord was saying to me and she got excited. She told me she knew the Lord had more for me and told me if I did not quit before the end of the year she would pray that I got fired! You have to know Lois to really appreciate what she said to me. My sister is a prayer warrior and she will pray until she gets results. Not long after her call, my friend, Macy, walked into my office, closed the door and asked “What are you doing here?” I responded that it was three more hours before I got off. Macy stated “I am serious! You have done so much for so many people here and now it is time for you to go and do what God has for you to do.” I asked her if she had been talking to my sister. The reality is that she had only met my sister once in her life and that had been at my father’s funeral.

When Macy left my office I could not move. I immediately started bargaining with the Lord. I was recently remarried, our oldest son was going to be a senior year and high school and I had no money for him to go to college. I also wanted to have the security of having a retirement check and health benefits before I left my job. Then I heard the Lord say to me “Either this job is your source or I am your source.” I knew it was the Lord and I knew I had a decision to make.

I knew the Lord would not want to do things to undermined my marriage so I begin to tell the Lord that my new husband, Glen, would never understand why I would quit my job and put that kind of stress on my finances. I went home and told Glen what the Lord was telling me and that if I quit my job we would not have enough money to pay for Jay to go to college. Glen replied, “Don’t you think God knew our needs when he told you to quit?” I asked him “Aren’t you scared about how we will make it?” He told me that he trusted God and everything would be fine.

Not long after that my two younger sons started having some serious challenges and I realized that they needed me and that I needed to be at home where I could be more effective. I told the Lord that I would leave my job when the boys finished school that year. A week after I made that decision, Jay got his first full scholarship to college. When my boys finished school that year, I walked away from my dream and surrendered my will and decided to go wherever God would lead me. As I looked back I realized the Lord had allowed my boys to experience these challenges to give me the extra push I needed to be obedient to him. That is so like God to meet us where we are.

I spent the first summer away from work helping my younger sons who thrived with me home. I took Jay on many college visits as one offer after the other came in for football scholarships. I was reduce to tears just thinking about how God was providing for my needs. I was overwhelmed with all the details of being the mom of a blue chip athlete. No matter how many scholarships you get, you can only go to one school and that choice would impact Jay for a lifetime. I began to talk with other parents who had been down this road and study everything I could get my hands on.

At the end of June Jay had many scholarships but not the one he really wanted. His dream was to play for The Ohio State Buckeyes and he let every school know that he was waiting to hear from them. On July 1, Jay got that offer. Not only had he gotten the school of his dreams but he would also be attending my alma mater and be 15 minutes from home—Thank You Jesus!

Throughout grade school I was use to being involved with my children and their activities. By the time Jay was in high school I was very active with the football booster club and activities for the basketball team. I was in for a rude awakening as a parent of a college athlete. When we arrive at our first game there were so many parents we did not know and because we were in assigned seats, we were not able to connect with many parents. Most of the parents we knew were in Jay’s recruiting class. It was very different from high school but we were still having a good time.

We had no idea that O.S.U. would go on to win the National Championship during his Jay’s first season with the Buckeyes. It was really a dream come true. I could hardly contain myself and began to fantasize about all the activities that would be involved. When we arrived in Phoenix we call Jay to get our itinerary. We found out that there were no parent activities planned so we had to wait until we got to the stadium to meet up with other parents. We had a few names and numbers of parents but everyone was so spread out. I talked with another parent about this experience and we vowed to organize a parent organization when we returned.

By the following spring we had a recognized 5013(c) and the support of the entire football organization at Ohio State. We were blessed that our head coach, Coach Tressel, was a Godly man who welcomed our support. I had no idea that the Lord would use this and many other experiences to call me into a ministry to sports parents. He led me to teach parents how to nurture their children so that they could use their gift of sports to His glory. He also blessed Jay to be drafted into the NFL. He is in his third season with the Oakland Raiders. Our middle son, Joshua Alexander is on a full scholarship to play football at Kansas University and our youngest son, Joshua Odis is developing his talents as a shot putter and discus thrower as well as becoming an entrepreneur with his cheesecake business.

God has taken me from the board room to the ball field and I am so thankful I was obedient to his call. I am now finishing my first book to sports parents and was blessed to become the first woman to give a chapel speech before an Ohio State game. You can now find me at sports matches, awards banquets, school assemblies and wherever God can use me. I am available to the Lord and excited about what’s to come. To God be the glory!

Deborah Johnson is an ordained minister, writer, speaker, wife and mother. She is the President/CEO of Goal Minded, LLC, which is an organization to educate sports parents and encourage athletes to use their talent for sports for God’s glory. She resides in Powell, Ohio.