From Diamond to Divine: Grace Lyons Journey of Faith and Mentorship in Athletics

When Grace Turk, previously known as Grace Lyons, steps up to the plate, she brings more than her formidable skills as a former shortstop for the Oklahoma Sooners softball team; she carries with her an unwavering faith and a passion for mentoring young athletes. In our latest conversation, Grace offers a candid glimpse into her life's transformation from the diamond to the divine, detailing her current role with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. It's a story of community, courage, and the conviction that sports can be a conduit for Christ's message, a narrative that resonates not just with athletes, but with anyone seeking purpose beyond their personal achievements.

Shifting from baseball to softball might seem like a small leap, but Grace's experience tells us it's anything but. With humor and humility, she recounts the obstacles she hurdled, the cultural shifts she navigated, and the personal evolution that accompanied her sports career. Her path is peppered with lighthearted anecdotes, like striking out a now-pro baseball player, and profound insights into the essence of being a female athlete in spaces once reserved for men. As she shares her story, we gain an understanding of how identity and sport intertwine, shaping the young individuals who dedicate their lives to excellence in athletics and faith.

The pressures of youth sports can be as daunting as they are rewarding, and it takes a steady hand to guide young athletes through these waters. Grace and I delve into the significance of being a source of encouragement, of instilling a solid spiritual foundation that can weather the high stakes of club sports. We discuss the emotional toll of tying one's worth to performance and the relief that comes with understanding that hard work, ultimately, is for the glory of God. Our conversation is an invitation to parents, coaches, and mentors to foster a mindset where trust in God's plan takes precedence over the pursuit of athletic accolades, reminding us all that true fulfillment often lies in the unexpected milestones along our journey.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Hello and welcome to the Kingdom coaching podcast, where we discuss the world of club sports through the lens of Christ. I am your host, micah. What up, what up, everybody. Thank you again for tuning in to the Kingdom coaching podcast. Bless to be bringing you guys another fun, exciting episode today. The guest I have with me today a lot of you guys know her as the starting shortstop for the 2023 Oklahoma Sooners softball team that helped lead their team to the national championship, the World Series last year. She was one of the captains on the team. She has sent come on staff with Fellowship of Christian Athletes, excited to be bringing you this podcast. It's been a long time in the works, but please welcome to the podcast, grace Lyons. Welcome to the podcast, grace.

Speaker 2: 1:01

Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1: 1:02

I know you have since been married and when I talk to people about you, I introduce you as Grace Lyons. What is your new last name.

Speaker 2: 1:11

New last name is Turk, so I'm Grace Turk. But it is kind of a hard time right now because people remember from the softball world, the Lyons, but also had some some athletic experience, so the name is also kind of growing on me.

Speaker 1: 1:29

So, sure Grace, there's no hyphen, there's no Lyons hyphen. Turk, turk hyphen. Lyons no no, no, that's fair, I was just curious, you know. I know sometimes last last names mean a lot to certain people, you know, and I don't necessarily have a stance one way or the other, but I just no, I was just curious so yeah, no, it does take a while to switch the names over with all the license. Yes, I do understand that.

Speaker 2: 1:56

I'm making my way through that.

Speaker 1: 1:57

Oh, yeah, it's, it's a journey for sure. And I'm and I'm really bad about like the friends that I have now and I knew them before they were married. And I tell my wife, I'm like yeah, we're going to go hang out with someone, so I'm like that's, and my wife's like that's not her last name, I'm like I know, but like that's how I knew her, and so I'm, I'm, I'm a really bad husband, you know at that stuff. So so forgive me if, if, if I do use Lyons instead of Turk, but I will, I will try my best from from here. Oh, that's okay, whatever.

Speaker 1: 2:29

Both work great, okay, good. Well, this is good. I know when. When we met. So the last time we we met was down at training camp. Did you have a good experience down there?

Speaker 2: 2:39

Yeah, I, it's always cool to go to any FCA events nationally and you meet so many staff from around the country but who are doing the same thing, yeah, where you're at. So I, I'm always, I always leave encouraged, yeah, and just knowing that there's so many faithful, just you know, warriors for Christ who are all involved in the sports world. So you know, we've all. Whenever I grew up in the sports world, there was probably few and far between Christians, and as I grew up, you know, I, I gained more and more community of that, and so it's really cool to see, from the staff perspective now, just how many there are, and it's always it. We're all teammates. So that's kind of I, I loved training, I learned a ton, but also just gaining so many more connections and teammates across the country, that's, that's kind of what left me fueled up.

Speaker 1: 3:31

No, I absolutely agree. It was super encouraging for me. I remember when, when I went to boot camp before training camp, obviously and I sat at the table with it, was like it was a girl and she, oh man, I think she was just getting out of an associates degree. She was, she was like 21. She was pretty young 2021. And she was heading into full-time ministry and we were going around the table talking about things. You know that that encouraged us and I told her.

Speaker 1: 4:02

I was like the fact that, like I can look at you and there's two other people that I remember at the at the boot camp that were like 20 years old-ish, and I was like, when I see those young people and I know you're, you're young too, grace, you're a lot younger than I am, but I see that and like that's so encouraging to me that the up and coming generation that were not all screwed, you know, because, like, because I think a lot of us feel that way that you know, as we get older, the generations that come up, they're just like, oh my goodness, this is just keep, keep.

Speaker 1: 4:33

You know, it just keeps getting worse and worse and worse. And so I was just incredibly encouraged at boot camp and training camp too, like you said, just seeing so many different people, different ages, different passions, all over the country, all over the world, quite frankly, you know all doing, you know ultimately the same thing and it's pointing people to Jesus through the, the avenue of sports, and it's just, it's cool because then you go back to your, your designated area and I know some people they're they're, they're very isolated. You know, there was one guy I met and he, he was starting FCA up in Northern California and I'm like man, that's, that's like. I mean, it's easy to feel like an island sometimes, and so that training camp was a great launching point for me, and I'm sure it was for you too, super excited.

Speaker 2: 5:19

Yeah, no, that's. I totally can relate to that in the sports world. And then how people you know when you translate into the working environment, the same thing's true and it just shows how important community is and finding like minded individuals just to do life with.

Speaker 1: 5:35

Yeah, I remember one of the things I remember of that training camp too, and that's why I waited so long to talk to you. I was like it seemed like every time we had a break, there was like 10 people lined up to talk to you, and so did anyone ask for your autograph while we were there, grace.

Speaker 2: 5:53

Someone did for one of their a kid in their area.

Speaker 1: 5:57

Okay, that's cool, that's cool, or so they said. It's going to go back and sit in their office, probably like no, that's cool, but yeah, I mean last year was a big, big year for you. I mean, you got married last year too, right? Yes, yeah, so you did you get married before? After the national championship?

Speaker 2: 6:21

It was about two weeks after the national championship.

Speaker 1: 6:24

Okay, wow, so really writing that high, I mean just, yeah yeah, that's that's cool.

Speaker 1: 6:30

I mean that's that's really neat. But yeah, that's that's. That's kind of where I want to start this this episode with. Was that that moment? You know, you, you girls, you just win the national championship, the World Series for NCAA softball and you go into the press conference, did, going into that. Did you have any idea that you were going to be, you know, able to have a platform that the media wasn't going to be able to? One, censor out your, your, your testimony to Jesus? And two, did you have any idea that it was going to just blow up? I mean the? I think the day after it happened, grace, I had like 10 people texted to me. I'm like what is going on? Like I'm in meetings and like keep getting text messages and I'm just like it's all the same thing.

Speaker 2: 7:17

So yeah, that's a great question, Cause not not really many people understand what goes on kind of on the inside of all of that and it's obviously so cool what happened, but the reality was right after that happened. So we had it was like a pre World Series or pre championship series press conference and so you know, the guy posed the question we were talking about, you know possibility of winning another, and then talks about he says this question specifically and I felt in my heart I was like, oh, this is perfect, like this is such a layup Like love this question.

Speaker 2: 7:58

He doesn't even know where it's going. But after we, after we answered it, usually all you know press conference stuff and any any important things that go on, they hit social media like within five minutes and it's doing what it does. But I actually somehow was on social media and right after kind of like seeing, hey, what are they going to do with this? And it went nowhere for a good 30 minutes, when it usually you know things, things hit the media and just go, and it was silent for a very long time and I actually was like, wow, so this is where you know whether it's persecution. You consider it or things like that were things that are, you know, meant for good, but you know whether it's, yeah, something that no one, someone doesn't want out there.

Speaker 2: 8:50

And I was really. I was frustrated because I was like Wow, that was like the gospel is shared in, you know, at a platform that can reach some people, but you know nothing's being done with it. So I was like, okay, you just have to. I was being faithful with what was said and we did a great job of just being bold and sharing. And so what was? It was funny because it didn't do what I expected initially and then it did a complete 180 to where now it's pushed out and so many people are encouraged.

Speaker 2: 9:21

So that was kind of the inside scheme of what happened with that. And then I didn't expect it to do that, but I'm I'm very thankful and to this day I listened to those clips and I'm even reminded of my own words that I said I need to be reminded of them daily to continue to be joyful, no matter the circumstances in life beyond sports that I'm living in now.

Speaker 1: 9:44

Yeah, no, that's that's really good, grace, so that's that's really good. You have that like audio clip for you, because there's something I I was told a long time ago when I got into ministry, and I tell anyone to like anytime you get called into into something, specifically I was like write down that calling Anytime you have doubts, because you, it's not a matter of yeah, but it's a matter of when you have doubts. So you hit, you know, like tough patches, you need to go back and like read that, you know. And so the fact that you, that you've already been been experiencing that and you're using that audio clip like that, that's that's incredible. So that's that's awesome. I'm glad you, glad you're able to, to be wise enough to go back and watch that, not from a vain perspective, but from just like, okay, this is. I need to be encouraged like this.

Speaker 2: 10:30

Right? No exactly.

Speaker 1: 10:31

Yeah, I know that's, it's incredibly cool. Just, you know, being so faithful with that, with that platform and with that opportunity, you know where the world's looking and all of you girls up there have the opportunity to point to all the hard work that you've done your mom, your dad, everyone around you Personally and and how great you are and and it wasn't that way at all and it's just, it's such a breath of fresh air for people like myself that you know, watch sports clips or watching sports, you know, all year long, and you're so tired of the, of the vain champions, you know, just pointing to themselves. You know, and if they do make a reference to God, it's a very I don't know, just watered down, just crossed their heart when they, you know, when they pass on plate and then that's as far as it goes, right. But you know for you, for you know For you girls at that time to be that that bold and that direct was just like I think that's probably what caught everyone so Just kind of off guard was like whoa, like who, who, who does this, who says this, like and it wasn't even just you, it was everybody was like what is in the water in Oklahoma, like what is going on and and yeah, it was just really encouraging.

Speaker 1: 11:53

So I, yeah, love, I just, you know, I don't ever want to build any ones head up any more than it already is, but I just always, any time you know a fellow believer has done something, you know that is just, you know, done amazing things for the kingdom. I just I don't want to, just, you know, pat them on the back for that. And it's like, you know, because you, you don't know how many people you reached, you know, by by saying those words. Right, you just don't know I mean, you're gonna continue to hear stories. You know, years down the road, grace of like hey, you never knew me, but I was a softball player and you know Southern California and and I saw your clip and I was like, wow, if, if, she could be that humble and has, you know, faith in God. Like maybe I should. I mean, you're gonna hear stories like that forever and so it's just the fruits of of that is just gonna manifest, you know, for for years to come.

Speaker 2: 12:45

Yeah, no, and I feel like it's always. It's an encouragement to always be ready as believers, just be ready for any opportunity we have, like that to share the gospel, because you know I've had times where I've passed on opportunities and I just know I, man, like I wish I took on that one. Yeah, you know, obviously God is never gonna miss an opportunity. He's gonna find someone and he knows, we already know what's gonna happen. Yeah, we need was Christians and faithful Vessels to be ready for all these opportunities, because you never know who's listening, who it's gonna impact and the reach. You know it can, it can go.

Speaker 1: 13:25

Yeah, no, absolutely right, absolutely right, grace. So I want to own a transition transition to two years ago. I want to start with your, with your youth career as a, as an athlete Did, were you raised in the Christian home, grace.

Speaker 2: 13:44

Yeah, so that's I would say. I was raised in a Christian home and from what I knew at that young age, I would probably say that I was born a Christian.

Speaker 1: 13:53

Yeah, sure.

Speaker 2: 13:56

Throughout, you know high school, kind of the time that I think I can't pinpoint exactly when I was saved, but I can think back to you know pivotal times in the middle in, I would say, high school, no school, high school, to where I I finally learned you know what, what it was like to be saved and to realize what I was saved from and to realize my sin. And so then I quickly learned what I haven't kind of Christian my whole life.

Speaker 1: 14:22

Right.

Speaker 2: 14:23

Yeah, jesus itself sure and so I would say I grew up, you know, in a in a family that would go to church, but we also went to, you know, our sporting events and we prioritize things. You get us to the next level and I think that that's definitely something that taught me I had to go through and learn, you know where are my priorities at, and eventually to a point at the end of my college career where I was Finally understanding what it's like to play for the glory of God and not for my own Lessons. So it took a lot of grooming and you know change that happened throughout those years, but I would say around the beginning of high school is when I I understood the gospel and was baptized and Kind of from then on it became kind of my own personal relationship with the Lord.

Speaker 1: 15:13

Okay, we're. Were you a multi-sport athlete at that time?

Speaker 2: 15:18

Yes, I was playing basketball and Softball competitively, okay, all throughout high Middle school kind of plates, you know soccer, basketball, sure actually played baseball up until about 14 years old. So whatever people ask, when did you first place start playing softball? It kind of it's kind of interesting because I would say, you know, since the day I could pick up a bat, but really it was 14 because you're playing baseball up until then.

Speaker 1: 15:46

Yeah that's interesting, and so did they have Fiend like female baseball leagues, or did you just play with boys? I?

Speaker 2: 15:56

Played with the boys we. My dad was military, so we were over in Virginia, kind of when I was starting to play T-ball.

Speaker 2: 16:04

Sure it's literally there were not any developed softball league. Okay, there was not, that was not developed at all, and so my parents just threw me with the guys. My dad played baseball growing up. Yeah Eventually moved to Arizona where I spent most of my middle school, high school years and that's kind of where softball was taken off and yeah, they kind of. Yeah, we got to switch over because the guys are getting strong and college recruiting is.

Speaker 1: 16:34

Yeah, no, that's, that's interesting there. My, my son, played in a I a national tournament a couple, a couple years ago down in Tennessee and there was it was all boys, I mean, it was just you triple SA, but there was one team. So it was a compilation, so it was like the best, best players of each state got to represent their state and play down in Tennessee and there was there was just one team. Again, which team it was? There was a girl. I was like what's like it? Nowadays? You know, you have to take a double look because, like, just because they have long hair doesn't mean anything. And I was like no, that's a girl.

Speaker 1: 17:08

And so I stopped to watch it. Like this girl could straight up ball. And I was like, dang, like she, she was pitching and she would just hit nukes. And I was like, whoa, like that that that gives a whole another term to playing ball like a girl, like she was, she was, she was a Beast. And so Did you, did you pitch when you're playing baseball? I mean probably a little bit. I mean everyone did.

Speaker 2: 17:32

Yeah, I have a funny story. So one of my, one of the guys I played with growing up, his name is Nolan Gorman and he's with the, the Cardinals, right now. He's a second base in third base and kind of mixes around, but he just made it there recently. But kind of a funny story growing up. I Struck him out a few times and there might have been some tears on their end.

Speaker 1: 17:54

Nice.

Speaker 2: 17:54

Yeah, I had my fair share of pitching a little bit and Construct some of them out.

Speaker 1: 18:00

Nice.

Speaker 2: 18:01

Yeah they. They got strong and they could take over event. Yeah, I had them for a little bit.

Speaker 1: 18:06

Yeah, so do you. What was a transition like from baseball to softball? I mean the rules they're different. I mean the base pass are different.

Speaker 2: 18:15

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 18:16

I mean, obviously, pitching is night and day, you know as far as our arm action goes. But yeah, so so tell me, tell me what that was like transitioning, you know, from baseball to softball.

Speaker 2: 18:28

Yeah, it happened just before the baseball fields were getting to the 90 feet bases 60 feet catching now. So it happened. I didn't have to kind of shrink my field.

Speaker 2: 18:43

It happened at the time where I went straight from the same size and the same size of softball, but it definitely. I learned quickly that softball is a much faster game. They're different. Arm angle of pitching was super weird. Then there's also just some different rules that you can't. You can't lead off or steal until the pitcher releases the ball. Yeah, Baseball, you can't lead enough. There were some little things like that that I had to learn. But at the end of the day, I mean, you're hitting strikes and you're trying to. I was an infielder always, so just had to knock it down. I'll make the play at one.

Speaker 2: 19:23

So it kind of there are a lot of similarities, obviously, and then just some little differences.

Speaker 1: 19:28

Sure, yeah, I could imagine from a batter's perspective you go from hitting the baseball, which is smaller, to a softball, which is bigger, which is so advantage grace, but then you flip the script. Whereas in baseball the deliveries are typically a little longer, I mean like the wind up, I mean from the stretch, I mean it's typically a little longer delivery to where you can get timed up a little easier, from what I can tell, opposed to softball that they're closer and it's just like next thing, you know, the ball's in the catcher's mitt, like it's just like so quick, and so it seems like then that would be, that would be a little tougher. Is that true?

Speaker 2: 20:10

Yeah, I definitely think the differences in, like, how far they're pitching from them definitely is a factor, because so I would always do these calculations watching, like the Little League World Series. So from 40 feet I think it's, what is it? 45, 45 feet is kind of what youth baseball before you, you know, lengthen it out If you're throwing. If you're throwing like 70 from there, then that's an equivalent of like a 95 mile an hour fastball from the normal length.

Speaker 2: 20:45

And so I had to learn. You know, going to the softball that's the same. You know, distance for a pitcher that's an equivalent reaction time speed of, in the big skies, throw a 90 plus. And so you know, when you think about it like that, you realize, wow, like you don't have much time to react and yeah, obviously, yeah, those motions are a lot different Guys, yeah, just more drawn out girls, it's quick, so you really don't have much time to react. That's where you have to do a lot of work beforehand, just setting your timing up before to where you see, you know, you see what you're looking for and you go for it. If it's not what you're looking for, then you gotta quickly decide. All right, I'm passing on this?

Speaker 1: 21:35

Yeah, no, that's how it appears to me. As a layman watching, I'm just like this is insane, and I'm sure you've seen those videos. Gosh, I feel bad. I don't remember her name, but she was gosh, was it? Was it? Was it Texas the pitcher from Texas? That blonde girl from mid 2000s that, like struck out Albert Poole Halls and Ken Crafy Jr? You've seen that video?

Speaker 2: 21:56

Oh yeah, it was either Jenny Finch or Kat Austin. Jenny.

Speaker 1: 21:58

Jenny Finch yeah, yeah, yeah, and I watched that. I'm just like you just made these guys look like fools. And I'm just like for all those people out there that think, oh, it's a softball, I'm like you guys aren't watching it, like this is not okay. When guys play softball, it's when we're in our 30s, overweight, and we have to do slow pitch. We can't do fast pitch, like and so like it was. Just, you know it's, it's, it's a different game, like you said, it's, it's a much faster pace for sure. So well, that's cool. I didn't know you.

Speaker 1: 22:27

You played baseball growing up because my it's funny my daughter, she's she's eight now, she's she started, she tried softball when it was like softball T-ball and it was so slow paced. She hated it, you know, and it was so pointless to her because even if you threw a girl out since they wanted it to be fair, everyone stayed on base, no one got out, and so and so, because she would practice with me and her brother with baseball, so we'd play catch with baseball. I'm like man, I wish they just had like a girl's baseball league. That's because I'm surprised. That's really not a thing and you know, I'm sure it's in some places, but I'm just, I'm surprised that it hasn't caught on, but maybe that's because softball is, just, you know, still very, very, very popular.

Speaker 2: 23:11

But right and they. What's funny is they do have men's fast pitch and there's also there's women's like national, like there's a national team for women's baseball, but it's those girls are. After they finish softball, they're going there, they're not playing competitive baseball. And then the girls. So yeah they're far between.

Speaker 1: 23:34

Yeah, so so did you grow up watching a league of their own and like, want to be like Donnie Henson.

Speaker 2: 23:42

Yeah, yeah, I really thought I could go to the first girl, but sure I was not in the car.

Speaker 1: 23:48

Yeah, I mean that's. But I think you you pointed out there pretty clear when the guys start developing and it's just like it becomes a different deal at that point when guys you know they're they're 200 pounds, and yeah it just, it's just different, yeah it's. You know, it's not a one's better than the other, it's just, it's just, it's different.

Speaker 2: 24:08

Right. Yeah, so yeah, I had to. I had to humble myself and realize, you know, yeah time to move on.

Speaker 1: 24:15

Yeah, well, and it worked. It all worked out in the end. It all worked out in the end, so it did.

Speaker 2: 24:19

It worked out great.

Speaker 1: 24:20

Yeah, okay. So I know we kind of got off track there a little bit, so I apologize, but that was fascinating. I just didn't, didn't, didn't realize you played played baseball before softball, so so I like that. But I want to, I want to talk about your, your youth as a, as an athlete, and you know if, when and if you ever started, you know, having like an identity crisis. You know, I talked with athletes now that are, that are, that are young, and people like Mike, my age, that went through athletics and from a young age, you know I had no one telling them what their identity was and the only thing they were good at was a sport and so by just by nature, they put their identity into that. So I'm curious if anytime in your youth career that that that happened. Did that ever happen, grace?

Speaker 2: 25:12

Yeah, I definitely amassed this a lot and I love to speak on it because it's such a critical point in a young athlete's life and if they ever get to that point, I think obviously it's relatable, not even in sports, just in life. What? Where do you find your identity? If it's in something you do, what happens when you can't do that thing anymore? And so I, I never really I feel like I was hurt every so often. I would kind of have, you know, some, some times right after, sit out a little, play a little. So I understood kind of what it was like to be injured and to navigate that.

Speaker 2: 25:51

So I never really had a moment in those situations where, you know, I didn't know what to do, who I was, but I definitely kind of where my identity struggles lied, where I, you know, was riding the roller coaster of emotions. I call it because you know I'm on highs and good days I would be, you know, the happiest and would just be so excited and love what I'm doing. But then on days that you know didn't go my way, I was striking out, having a failure, I was, you know, down in the dumps, probably shed some tears, just upset and not a good teammate, and so I think it was almost like a an internal battle, not not so much like you know, other people could see it or you know, I needed to talk to someone about it. I was struggling on the inside of life. I don't want to keep riding this roller coaster of highs and lows and letting dictate how I was feeling.

Speaker 2: 26:49

And I still struggle with that throughout high school, even my freshman year of college, when I wasn't having the success that I was used to, but I was maturing in my faith and realizing that I could separate outcomes of my sport from just who I was in Christ, and that made all the difference. My last years of college, realizing, you know, I don't need this game to determine how my emotions are treating people, and it set me up now to realize, you know, I can apply that in my, in all areas of life, and I want to share with others. You know that it's a secret, but it's also, I hope I want everyone to know it, because realizing the key to just having a joyful life and knowing where your identity is, if it's in Christ, then you are, you are set, and God is going to guide you, you know, steer you wherever you need to go, however, you need to feel.

Speaker 1: 27:44

Yeah, no, that's, that's really good, and and I think it's important to point out too that you, you were feeling that struggle and that battle, you know, in high school when, when you were still, you were a Christian. You know, you, you were young in your faith, for sure. But I think there is that misconception that you know Christians haven't figured out right. Like you know, you're Christian athlete, you have your good athlete, god's got you, you don't really worry about it and like, but you said, though you're, you're internalizing all that. So I'm curious in your high school days, I know you mentioned earlier off the air that you, you had a FCA influence in high school. Was that right Grace, or was that after?

Speaker 2: 28:25

It was about my freshman year of high school.

Speaker 1: 28:27

Okay, so did anybody during during your time of high school, fca or church related, come alongside you as as an athlete, and and and see? You know the struggle you were going through, that you had had the opportunity to, to open up and share and, you know, did anybody walk alongside you in that, in that journey as a, as a, as a Christian athlete?

Speaker 2: 28:49

Yeah, I think that was one of the most pivotal points in my life, when it was about my eighth grade, freshman year, like I said, when an FCA staff member who was in my area came alongside me. She was coming in, you know, working in our school at our meetings, but you know I was really interested. I thought she was really cool. She played college basketball. I was super hooked on just hanging out with her, but she wanted to pull me aside and go and read the Bible with me, take me out to coffee, things like that, and I could tell she really to invest in me personally and I loved everything that she was sharing with me. And that's when I learned, hey, this is a personal walk with a Lord, not just something that you grew up saying you were or your family was like you needed. I needed to grow my personal walk. So that was super influential in my life. And then even throughout high school, she continued to work with me. We'd meet, you know whether it was a weekly or monthly basis, but she helped me navigate kind of the this identity just all throughout high school. And you know what actually happened was it turned from an identity crisis, which is you know where is? Where do you find your fulfillment and true Like, where's your salvation at? You know, do you, are you saved or are you still living, living in sin overall?

Speaker 2: 30:18

And I think once I put my identity in Christ, then I would say throughout high school, as I was navigating kind of the outcomes, determining how I was feeling, that was more of chasing idols because my identity was in Christ. So it wasn't like I was in and out of identity in Christ. My identity was in Christ. I, you know, surrendered my life to him. But that's where we separate it and notice different idols in our life that are stealing our joy and in it.

Speaker 2: 30:48

So I had to, I actually, I, I love sharing that because it it doesn't let you off the hook but it lets you realize once your identity is in Christ, it is there and it's going anywhere. Obviously, you know we, we live in the world where we're tied to our flesh, so we're going to struggle and we're going to idolize above the Lord at times, but we got to be pulled back to him and remember and you know, and ask for forgiveness and all that. But I would just make a clear distinction of you know, once your identity is in Christ, then you know we're still going to struggle and idolize things. We need to be just reminded that we are in Christ and we are. He says we are.

Speaker 1: 31:28

Yeah, no, that's. You couldn't say any better than that grace. That's just the yeah, that's just the truth of it, right, like when we become Christians, when we surrender our life to Christ, it's almost like all of our, our faults kind of get exposed, right, and it's not that you're perfect overnight and you're going to battle with stuff. And you're going to struggle with stuff and you're going to continue to grow and mature and and that's such an important part of the walk of a Christian. You know, that's, that's what makes us the Christian now, that we weren't yesterday, last year or 10 years ago, right, it's, it's that, it's that journey.

Speaker 1: 32:03

So I'm, I'm curious did you have anything that like practices that you put in in in place when you were in high school that helped you deal with that, with that roller coaster? Because, yeah, you're, I mean absolutely right, softball and baseball are two of the meanest sports out there because they you can't win. I mean, like it just, you can't be perfect at it and it's just it's, it's unforgiving, to say the least. So so I'm curious if you had anything. You know, as you're going through that roller coaster and you realize your identities in Christ, and and and and whatnot. But I'm curious, when you started to kind of fight that battle, you know what, what were some practices you were putting into place to help, you know, help, fight that.

Speaker 2: 32:53

Yeah, I realized that I wanted to go and you know, share with more people. What you know, who God was, what he was doing in my life, and so I definitely, you know, was inviting more people to church so that I was around more shins, and I think that was huge because, you know, maybe I was. I definitely know that. You know, at some points in my walk, younger years, I definitely was trying just to do the right things because I thought that's what we had to do, to check the box, so. But that doesn't mean that you know me surrounding myself with good friends, you know, trying to make wise decisions was bad, that was awesome. But I also, you know, needed to check myself and realize that's not what saved me, you know, doing the right thing, was it? You know what I had to do, that's just what I wanted to do, so I think that was huge. Or just being around solid people, you know, constantly hanging around Kelly, my the staff member, who you know we kept meeting, and, you know, reading the Bible together.

Speaker 2: 33:58

I had to eventually learn to open my Bible. You know my own quiet time and time with the Lord there, and that was another obvious, obvious practice that we have to do. You know, to grow our personal relationship with the Lord, we need to read and pray and, you know, get to know who our father is. Yeah, and I would also say I I took a bold leap of faith. Actually, my coach encouraged me to do this, but to pray, you know, with my team before game. And then my coach challenged me hey, let's invite the other team to come and pray with us. And so I had to, for the first time, pray out loud beginning years of high school, which is terrifying, but I knew God was was, you know, challenging me to do that to our in college.

Speaker 2: 34:43

I love doing it, so that was something that I needed to be put outside of my comfort zone for but, I didn't know why, but now I now I see why and yeah, that was really cool, just leap of faith yeah, no, that's, that's cool and that's huge.

Speaker 1: 34:58

I mean, we, as well as a coach. I've always prayed with, with our teams before each games and and last year my son was 11 and it was his first year that he he led his team in a prayer every single game and he was, he was uncomfortable, I mean like, like you know first-hand and but you, just you look around and it just hits differently when you have a teammate praying for you rather than than a coach. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it just it hits differently. And if your identity isn't something, and what happens right when, when, and if you can't do that thing anymore, you know that's, that's when you have an identity crisis and that that is an epidemic that I am seeing so much today that these, these youth athletes my myself was, I was one of my.

Speaker 1: 35:51

I had an identity crisis when I was 20 years old in California, when my career's like just blue-blind, blue-blind, and I know how devastating that can feel, and I think even more so now and I'm curious if you can speak to this when, when you were playing, you know, opposed to now, like in the speed of things, but kids are playing high, high, high, competitive sports at a even younger age. Now more than ever, right, it's seven, eight, nine, ten years old, very highly competitive. It's travel, travel, travel, train, train, train all these different things. Right, and even even as a Christian, even as a lot of Christian families struggle with this that they're doing all these things they're, they're taking their son, they're taking their daughter to these practices so they can develop. They can develop and they can get better because their son or daughter, they genuinely love the sport and these parents genuinely love these kids.

Speaker 1: 36:46

But when it comes to the point where we're we're talking more about the sport and developing more than we're talking about about Jesus, we are indirectly and directly sometimes telling these kids this is your identity, you know, because if that's all the only time they get solid affirmation, solid attention from mom or dad or coaches or their, their friends, that's where they're gonna put their identity in, unless they have someone like Kelly in your life to come alongside you and and and bring you back to reality, like, hey, what you're competing in is fantastic, but grace lions is not defined by softball. Much like every other youth athlete out there is not defined by how well they perform in whatever sport they want to perform in.

Speaker 2: 37:38

They're defined by their creator, who created them way, way, way, way long ago, and the sooner we can instill that and youth athletes, the more like we're setting them up for for success at a younger age yeah, I think I'm thankful that I kind of learned that piece in high school, to where, when I went to college, I was way more prepared and I was ready to kind of be the encourager and be the Kelly, I guess, to another, you know other. So like I felt like the Lord did that in a great timing, to where you know I was ready to go and take on that role in college. So I definitely saw a lot of teammates, you know, come to the Lord after situations like that where they, you know, are so passionate and motivated by their sport. But they're continued, they continue down this road of being unfulfilled by, like, a national championship. You heard in that press conference Jada Coleman, who's one of the best softball players to play, is saying that she didn't feel fulfilled after a championship and I, I 100% agree with that and I think you know that feeling that she had one of the years led to conversations with me and other teammates of hey, maybe why do you feel that way?

Speaker 2: 39:01

Or what you know, let's talk about it some more. And she eventually, you know, fully, you know, believed it and realized and eventually, you know, wanted to get baptized and understood. You know what, what this was all about, but she had to come to the end of herself in, even in success. You know she's crazy to hear like, even after so much success and realizing that's not all it's made up to be and that's not what's gonna fill you. So, yeah, there are plenty more instances like that, but it's cool to just watch it happen and guide the conversations to the gospel to realize like what's what's really important in this?

Speaker 1: 39:42

yeah, even at the highest level of college softball, yeah, well, and that's so important, grace, that you were, you were able to be that. You know that. That Kelly I'm sorry I'm gonna keep using her name is that, you know, type of person you know for for your team, because there's there's not enough Kelly's out there, right there. There just isn't. You know the. You have these youth athletes. You know that grow up and they go to college and they're phenomenal athletes and, like you pointed out, if you're chasing that pot of gold, it's always gonna be elusive. You know it's national championship, great you're, you're riding that high for an hour a day and then it then what, okay, like, then what's next? Then? Like, if you fulfill that, then then what, then what, then what? And then, if it, then if it let's you down, then what?

Speaker 1: 40:30

And so you know it's, it's just, and and I'm care, I'm sure this is partly why God, god, called you into ministry and why you jumped on it but the importance of Creating, in instilling youth athletes that have a Passion for Christ that burns deep, and and allowing and training them to to play at a high level so they can go into college, so they can go and play professionally to be those, be those Kellys right, because we need more of those out there.

Speaker 1: 41:05

I mean, there's so many Teams out there, there's so many sports out there where God is just he's an afterthought or not even a thought, and the, you know, the dream I have is like man. What would it look like if we had someone you know, a chaplain, a Kelly type person, who's there on every single sports team in America and in the world, because you know you're, you're there competing alongside and you're loving you know your, your teammates and You're you're not wanting them to hit a wall and break down and have an identity crisis, but it's gonna happen and you're gonna be there to show them and tell them about the love of Jesus when that happens. And you know that's. That's what really keeps me motivated.

Speaker 2: 41:47

I feel like that's what led me to want to do FCA. Yeah, I get to do that, and I feel like God is preparing me all those years To want Continue that, even beyond playing in the sports with teammates, like now, I get to do that with middle school, high school, college Athletes that I myself, as yeah, I know it's, it's so fulfilling and it's so encouraging, you know, because I'm sure, yeah, you, you look at some of those, those young girls, and you're just like that was me and you know I, I know that's how I am.

Speaker 1: 42:19

I'm just like if I can be out there and I, if I can help prevent someone from going down the road I went, then I want to. You know, if I could be, you know, be an encourager in in any way, shape or form.

Speaker 2: 42:32

It's important to.

Speaker 2: 42:34

That's a legacy you're leaving and that you want To model and whether it's you filling those gaps or you know you're, you're Encouraging and impacting other ones who will go and do that. I think that's In general, as you know, believers, what we're supposed to do so that we, you know, raise up kids who love the Lord and hopefully, they raise up kids who love the Lord. And, yeah, that model we hope are, you know, athletics. We hope that that's the model there, because athletics is just such a universal language, just for how we all want to compete and relate.

Speaker 1: 43:11

So, yeah, yeah, 100% is definitely why I'm doing what I do the next thing I want to talk about, grace is, is this idea that there's one way to Just get a cat. Essentially, you know, I have a, I have a son or I have a daughter. They want to play at a D1 level, they want to play professionally. Well, society is telling me, I have to do X, y and Z. And if you don't do that, if you don't play High-level you know club, club, sports, movie from a young age If you don't travel around the country, if your family doesn't sacrifice everything they own, if they don't have a third mortgage on their house so they can travel the country with you and and all this stuff, you don't sacrifice all this stuff, you will not make it to to a D1 or to a professional level.

Speaker 1: 43:57

Did you experience any of that? I mean, like, did you hear any of that stuff when, when you were I mean because I know you when you were coming up through High school, was right at the cuff of like really cut of club sports, kind of kind of getting its wheels. But I'm, but I'm curious if you, if you saw or heard anything like that or or if you're, or if your parents did to have, if your parents have said anything to you like since then.

Speaker 2: 44:21

Yeah, I think Lee was in a household that you know. They just encouraged us to work hard and there was never like a stigma that this needs to be done or else. And honestly, outside of my house, I think in the community, in the sports I was around, I think that was a similar concept of just work hard and be where your feet are and Keep competing. Obviously, things will things line up to lead you to different opportunities. So for me, I, like I said, played baseball, then transition to softball and I was been playing softball for about three years and I actually committed about a year after I switched over. So it was very soon when I committed to play at OU, kind of uncharacteristically, was recruited in eighth grade, kind of before the rule change.

Speaker 1: 45:19

Yeah, now, it's junior year.

Speaker 2: 45:21

You can talk and commit. But mine happened very soon after I transitioned from baseball, so there wasn't a lot of do this, do this, to go to this school. It was for me it kind of happened very naturally to where, you know I, I started playing softball and then From there it was okay, you need to. This is just the recruiting camps that you're off, you know you're given an opportunity to go to, and so it kind of just all happened without having the pressure to, you know, do everything the right way. Yeah, perfectly.

Speaker 2: 45:59

So I think that was a blessing, because I I really wouldn't, I don't think I would like the pressure and the expectations of all those different things that, yeah, everyone says you have to do. So it's kind of a bummer that it's moved to that. But, yeah, I definitely mean I, I trust that you know All these opportunities, if we're just faithful and obedient, then I believe they're all Happen for good, even even the bad ones. But in the sense of recruiting, I feel like work hard, you know, see what opportunities are in front of you, if, if things line up to where, okay, you're given an opportunity to go play for a different team, maybe a little better team, or hey, you can, you can get some lessons here to strengthen your skills, but there I would say, when you get to the top of the line, there I would say it, when you start going into the category of, I need to check all these boxes in order to give myself the best chance for success, I think you're you're doing a disservice to just hard work and, you know, just being thankful for the opportunities you have, because we, we all, are so Unaware of what God has for us.

Speaker 2: 47:05

We may want some certain things and those things don't work out. Or, yeah, you may be working hard for something and it does work out, but at the end of the day, I have to know that my hard work, yes, we're. We're told in the Bible to work hardily, as if serving the Lord, but our hard work doesn't Equal certain outcomes. In a sense of, like you know a magic ball that we shake right now it's gonna equal. That's. That's not how it works.

Speaker 2: 47:32

And I think, Having the mindset of just let's work hard, you know for the Lord, let's glorify him with what we do and let him take care of the outcomes. And you know what's what happened, because you never know Anything, nothing's nothing certain. So yeah, that's what I have to say on that topic, just because no, that's kind of had a Mission and I it's sad that it's kind of going that direction.

Speaker 1: 48:00

It, it really is and and I'm glad that you said that, because you know we're, we're reminded, you know, to be anxious and nothing right. You know the things that we cannot control, we, we need not be concerned with. You know, like you said, it's working hard and that's something that, like my son and I, like we have a lot of conversations, and this is, this is a boat that I'm even in. You know, I've got a son who he is a hundred percent sold out. The baseball that is his board, that's all he wants to do, and he eats, sleeps and breeze it and he's just very, very committed, very diligent and just excellent at it and loves it.

Speaker 1: 48:35

And I'm just like, okay, how, how do I help foster? Foster that without buying into some of the lies that you know and won one differentiating truths and lies in this road of development? And so how do you protect and how do you encourage? And basically, what I've, the conclusion I've come to, is like you're gonna pursue excellence and this is gonna be a recipe for success in life. If you can learn to be excellent in anything, that will translate into everything, because life is about excellence. God wants us to be excellent. Excellent does not mean perfect. Excellent means that we are giving our absolute best, and I liked how you said it work where your feet are, be where your feet are, and so you're being excellent. I love that quote from Rocky Balboa it's not about how hard you hit, but it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, and that's how winning is done. And I'm like that's exactly what excellence is. It's being able to rise up from failure and say, okay, what's next? And so that's kind of the mantra I've gone with, and I try to even put that out there to my friends and their kids and kids that I coach.

Speaker 1: 49:57

Because the fact is there's so much deception out there, because there's so much money to be made in the world of club sports grace, it's just insane. Last year they grossed just under what the NFL made. It was like $28, $29 billion. It's just insane that it's turned into just this giant money grab. And I hate to say that because there's club sports can be a great thing, because it's a platform for youth athletes to develop lifelong skills, because majority of them aren't gonna play high level, so you're developing high level skills that are gonna take you into the real world, into school, into the workplace as a husband, as a father, all these different skills that are gonna be useful.

Speaker 1: 50:44

But at the same time there's so much deception and there's so many parents that I talk to that are good parents, smart parents, but they're just like I don't know what to do. I've got a girl and she's very competitive in volleyball or softball or whatever it is. What should I be doing to help that? And the one thing I always try to say as a Christian I was like how much time are you spending developing their character, their spirituality? Because that was something that humbled me a little while, grace, that I realized that my son, he just practices and grinds and I help push him Because I was a very competitive athlete all my life and so I get that drive. But I had to kind of take a step back and I was like how much time am I spending developing his spirituality? And I was like I need to take a step back from that. And so it's the benefit of my role at FCA, with being in club sports.

Speaker 1: 51:43

We've now kind of spun that into something that we're gonna offer up here in the Omaha Metro, which is gonna be FCA Sports Academies, and what that's gonna look like is gonna be sports specific academies where kids can come and there'll be a weekly base where it's the same group of kids and they're gonna have physical interaction. They'll work on not high level skill development, they'll be going on just basic, fundamental development. But, more importantly, it's gonna be teaching those kids how to play that sport from a biblical perspective. Right, teaching those kids going through issues like, okay, you're a Christian basketball player, what happens when you get found flagrantly and no one calls it, how should you react? All those types of things, right, like you're being coached by someone who's a non-Christian and they swear at you, to you. Like, how should you handle that? Things that these kids are gonna have to answer and deal with eventually. And so why don't we start dealing with this now?

Speaker 1: 52:41

And so that was something that, like, god convicted me with and I was like, wow, that would be something that no one's doing, that I've seen there's plenty of like physical development out there and I'm not saying any of that's bad Like, yeah, yeah, it's important, that's good, and there's a lot of kids that are getting spiritual development from awesome coaches that are Christians and they're able to teach them how to be the best athlete possible along with teaching them how to be a solid Christian. But for a majority of athletes out there that's not the case, and so but I'm curious. So, now that you've been on FCA staff for a bit and you're able to kind of give back and kind of pour into youth athletes, I'm sure you've had some conversations just from a softball perspective, like you know, hey, I want to play at a high level, grace, like what should I be doing? So I'm curious what those? You know if you've had those conversations and walk me through one of those.

Speaker 2: 53:43

Yeah, I definitely would answer it similar to how I just shared with you on people kind of coming at the angle of you know what are all the different things I need to do to equal, you know, d1 or certain outcome you want.

Speaker 2: 53:58

And I would mirror that same response of saying work so hard and pursue excellence, like you just said, and the outcomes, the exact outcomes you want, are actually completely out of your control, because I've seen it firsthand with so many athletes, different sports of.

Speaker 2: 54:19

They could be the best athlete in their category but you know the Lord, you didn't protect them from something or it's just not how it's supposed to go and they need to pursue something else and so we need to change our mindset on you know, certain work equals certain outcomes that you know that are out of control.

Speaker 2: 54:40

So I would say, the development, the personal development to becoming a solid athlete, most of that you can control because you can put in effort, you can put in hard work. That obviously doesn't include the possibility of injury, but you, the work that you put in, like you know putting in extra hours outside of practice time, you know having a coach to coach you on a certain skill, like those are all great and you're going to become a better athlete at that, but you have to separate that development from the specific outcomes that you expect, because it is literally not guaranteed, and I have seen so many examples of that, and so that's why I caution any athlete to expect certain things like that to happen from the work that they can do, because it's not like a vending machine you put in and you get out what you put in. That's kind of the false narrative of you know hard work.

Speaker 2: 55:39

You put in what you put out, and you actually have to put a little disclaimer on that of oh, it's not guaranteed. So you can do everything you want and you think is right, and you're setting yourself up for success, which is what we want to do excellence but you can't your identity. Again, we go back to identity. It can't be in expect that one outcome to lead to your fulfillment. If it's not that and God closes that door, then okay, let's see what's next.

Speaker 1: 56:07

Well, that's all the time we got for today's episode. Guys, again huge shout out to Grace for taking time at her schedule to sit down and share her story, not just with me, but with you, guys. I know a lot of you out there have heard part of her story when it went viral last year on social media, but there were some bits of her story that a lot of you probably never heard before and so, again, I hope it was a blessing to you. I know it was a blessing to me. It was a reminder and encourager to me as a coach and as a parent. So again, guys, you're a huge blessing. Be an even bigger blessing to me by liking the podcast, share the podcast. We're really trying to get the awareness of this out. So again, guys, you're blessed. Go out there, be a blessing, take care Well, see you later.