Built to Last

“Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain.” Psalm 127:1

It’s no secret to those who know us that football is a family affair for our entire family.  It’s been that way since Bruce & I married, and he began his coaching career in 1975.  We couldn’t afford babysitters, so I took our four children with us whenever and wherever the team played. Our kids grew up with athletics and realized early on that the stakes, both financially and emotionally, are high. Coaches ultimately get paid to win ball games.

Honestly, I thought high school football was behind me when my husband retired in 2013. I had no way of knowing that our oldest son would eventually come back home to the school and community in which he was raised. Since his hire in 2022, Robert’s mantra for our players, parents, staff, and community has been “Build with the end in mind.” “BUILD It” signs have been seen in players’ front yards throughout our community.

Athletics provides an opportunity for learning many valuable life lessons. Hard work, setting goals, persevering, discipline, teamwork, dealing with disappointment, and overcoming adversity are just a few of the many rewards. By far, however, the most important aspect for most players and coaches are not the wins and losses, but the relationships that are forged and formed in the fire of building. That principle is also true for families that are built to last.

Only God can build families that are built to last, but I have no doubt that athletics and having a special needs brother played important roles in developing my children’s relationships with each other. We all had to pull together as a family to take care of James Bruce. It wasn’t just a matter of necessity, but also one of responsibility. We needed and depended on each other.

That was also true as each new spouse was added to our family. Clay, Anne, and Olivia, all joined us with their eyes wide open knowing that one day they might have or share the responsibility for overseeing James Bruce’s long-term care. They never flinched and they never wavered; they joined us anyway. I will always be grateful. Everyone understood the stewardship that came with having a special needs sibling. When James Bruce suddenly died, our family bonds were strengthened by our collective grief and loss.

This week is the beginning of the 2026 Alabama high school football playoffs. It’s the culmination of work done over the last ten months. Officially the 2026 high school football season began August 3, but both the preparation, groundwork, strength and conditioning sessions, sacrifice, and hot summer workouts began months before.

Today’s Bible Bits post is a compilation of Evans family photos taken throughout this football season as we’ve done life together at the ballpark. Our high school team enters the Alabama 6A state playoffs with a 7-2 record and plays host to a first-round playoff game next Friday night. It’s the first home playoff game we’ve hosted since 2013. There’s a lot of community excitement and anticipation surrounding playoffs. Realistically, however, only one team out of the 24-team playoff bracket comes home with a state championship. From here on, it’s one and done.; if you lose, your season is over.

No matter the outcome of this week’s game, I am grateful for this season of family life. We’ve been all in. Our Evans and Hamblen families have truly done life together helping Anne with Birdie James and Poppie; cheering, supporting, encouraging, praying, and yes, building, not just a football team, but our family. I couldn’t see it while we were in the middle of parenting, but I can see it clearly now, how God used James Bruce to build our family.

Scripture teaches, “The wise woman builds her house, but the foolish tears it down with her own hands” (Proverbs 14:1).  For years, I leaned into that wise counsel somehow foolishly thinking that I was the one doing the building.  In truth, it was God, the Master Craftsman (Hebrews 11:10), building us for our good and for His glory.

“Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.” Psalm 127:1 (NIV)