Living the Dream

Day 4- Ben had a Cross Country meet Tuesday night, and came home later than usual.  The girls and I shared dinner, did baths and PJs and I got them snuggled into bed RIGHT before he came in the door (so they promptly got out of the bed to see him).  I'm reminded that I'm thankful for our jobs. 

I'm thankful for BEN'S job because it fits him so well.  I know at times he is exhausted or drained after such long weeks, especially in the Fall his schedule is just INSANE.  But his athletes respect him.  His athletes relate to him.  I believe deep in my heart that he is making an impact on their lives.  I don't know if you realize this but each sport has it's own kind of athletes.  Football and soccer are team sports, and while they require individual skills it's the efforts of the team that make a win or a loss.

 Cross Country athletes are different... maybe they put more pressure on themselves?  They are racing for their best times as individuals however as a whole the top five runner's rankings determine how they will place.  This year Ben's Cross Country teams won District for boys and second place for girls, and he was SO proud of what they accomplished. 

Ben works so hard for 10-14+ hours a day to provide for our family AND to help kids improve their skills and just to learn about life lessons.  Teaching them to accept and embrace the kid on the team who has some learning delays.  I love that Ben can describe the personality and tell a story about each one of these kids at the end of the season, and they just LIGHT UP when they realize that he has taken so much interest and observed and cared for them. 

He's not a yeller, and he's not a hugger.  He's somewhere in between.  And in my opinion he's just awesome at what he does.  In the words of the Bralley monsters (Betsy and Ella "Yeah Coach-Soccer-Daddy-Bem")

Also FYI if you wear red, black or white Adidas clothing around my children expect them to call you Daddy.