Well, the last two weeks of my life have been quite interesting! About two weeks ago I received an email from Coach Pole of Dakota Wesleyan University; he offered me a Graduate Assistant coaching position on his staff. The coaching GA would afford me the opportunity to learn a new offensive system, be a part of an up and coming program, a free education, and a chance to be closer to my family and friends in South Dakota. Also, Coach Pole has rave reviews from two people I admire and respect: by best friend Mason Vig, and my high school football coach and mentor Arlin Likness.
It would be a very hard offer to turn down, however, I was not ready to commit immediately. I still had a lot of interest in the Seattle University graduate program and returning to USF to pursue my Masters in Education. To make matters even more complicated, last Saturday I received a contract offer from a professional football team in Germany.
I called and sent emails to Seattle U after receiving the offer from DWU and still have yet to hear a thing from them. The acceptance letter and financial aid packages for SU come out on the 15th of April and I needed to know much earlier.....needless to say, they won't have me in their cohort next year.
It came down to three options. I had until April 1st to decide where I would be this fall: DWU, USF, or Germany. Like all of the major life decisions I have made in the last few years I knew the Lord would guide me to make the right choice. And, even though I was confident the Lord would lead me, I still felt incredibly conflicted with the choice I had to make. The weekend of the 28th and 29th of March had different twists and turns as I awaited news from USF and Germany. USF was unable to come up with any competitive offer by the deadline, so I was thinking I probably would be playing football in Germany.
I still had not received a final offer from the German team by the 1st of April, and I felt sick to my stomach because I did not want to keep Coach Pole waiting, but I was not yet ready to pass up an opportunity to live overseas. In the past the Lord has taken His sweet time showing me His will, but this was a little ridiculous(IMHO)! I called my parents asking for advice, which I'm sure they enjoyed, and then decided to let Coach Pole know I was still waiting to hear from Germany and asked him for another day to decide. Coach was understanding and said just to call him by the end of the week.
The next day I received another message from Germany saying, "We must withdraw our offer, Sorry..." I was a little disappointed, but the shadiness of the German Coach during the past couple of days actually made the withdrawn offer a bit relieving. Later in the afternoon I called Coach Pole, and instead of the sick feeling in my stomach I had the day before, I was excited and confident joining his staff was the right choice.
I know that the Lord's hand is in all of this. Next fall I will be living in the only place in South Dakota I vowed I would never live, and I will be coaching against my Alma Mater. I will also have the opportunity to earn my Masters in Education for free and coach for the most improved team in the conference. The Lord has blessed my time in Washington, and I am excited to see what He has prepared in Mitchell.
-Praise Him!
