03/09/2025
“Bring Us Together”
It’s that time of year again. I know my husband, like many others, has been waiting expectantly for football season. I, myself, have realized over the past few years that one die hard fan in the family is more than enough for our household. It is probably not a big issue at your house, but in our household, we have favorite college teams that happen to be nothing short of enemies. I used to laugh at those signs that read, “We pause this marriage for football season.” Now, I cringe at the thought of it. That saying definitely has a deeper meaning for some marriages more than others.
One thing that we do both agree on is that sports have played a huge role in the lives of our family. Being a household blessed with two boys, our garage looked reminiscent of the clearance aisle at Dick’s sporting goods with every kind of ball and sports gadget thrown around. We even had a batting cage in our back yard for years until the boys were teenagers. Many a young baseball hopeful stepped through the tattered net and got a chance to hit off our own personal pitching machine or faced Dave’s aging pitching arm.
Memories. Good times. Laughs. Tears. Sports seem to have always been a part of the life we led. When I was in labor with Holt, waiting for him to be born, I remember hearing Sports Center on ESPN playing over and over again until I wanted to scream. Little did I know then that I would endure many hundreds of episodes and replays of Sports Center as he grew up to be a young man who had a favorite sport with every season. Some kids pride themselves on information like learning their states and Capitols at an early age. Not my boy. He was a genius at knowing every teams’ colors and mascots by the age of 10. You could quiz him until you could think of no more teams, but with no hesitation, the boy would know it!
Memories like that make me smile. I can see him
sitting there with eager anticipation of the next team I could think of. Even when I could think of no more, he would call out more himself just to tell me about them. Chubby cheeks and a head full of insignificant sports facts made my boy a sports svante. That was Holt Rowland. Full of life and diving head first info things he cared about.
Why this trip down memory lane, you ask? Why today when I have been silent for so long? Well, my answer is simple. It’s just time. Time to remember things that make me smile. Time to remember good times and happy memories. Time once again to share. I know that God made Holt love sports for a reason. I have always believed that he was big and tall and played first base for a reason. My dad always said it was because he loved people and always got to talk to anyone on first base. And we know that to go any farther, you have to pass first base, so he had a greater chance to talk to people than any other player. God made him that way and through that opportunity, he got to know a lot of people.
If it had not been for sports, Holt would have never asked to go on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. The trip used baseball as a platform to play and share the Gospel and although he loved Jesus and missions, the opportunity to play baseball against Dominican baseball players while on the trip was an added bonus. From the beginning of starting Holt’s House, hard to believe, almost ten years ago, Dave and I have prayed about a way to incorporate sports within the ministry. A way to combine the love of Jesus, missions, and sports together much like Holt’s original trip did. It has taken some time and looking back from this side, I now know why. We have had to transition, learn, and grow. We have had help doing those things from two American missionary couples to whom we are very grateful: Chris and Abby Tanton and Fernando and Joie Cuevas. Through their organization, dedication, and sacrifices in the past, we are prepared to transition to a future that will incorporate sports. In 2026, we will begin mission trips for boys baseball and girls basketball teams ages 12-18. These trips will involve the opportunity to serve in the daily ministry at Holt’s House with our boys and girls plus the added bonus of playing those sports with Dominican young people.
Why is that important? Because if we are honest, sports do bring people together. It is a common ground which makes us all equal. Whether we have talent or just know all the colors and mascots of every team, sports give us something to cheer about. Even if the outcome is not what we wanted, sports give us the hope that we will get them next time. There is always hope for the next shot, the next play, the next bat, or the next game. Yes, that hope is short lived, but when paired with a mission to share Jesus, the only hope that lasts forever, it is a winning combination. It certainly made an impact on Holt. When he came home from his trip, it was not the baseball games in the Dominican that he talked about but the opportunity to play with kids and spend time with people he had never met before. Sports is the avenue, but Jesus is the destination.
If you or anyone you know would be interested in learning more about upcoming mission trips to Holt’s House in 2026, please contact me or Dave (912-282-3821) for more information or trip details. I promise you may never know the impact the trip could make on you, your child, or your own family.
