Parent Corner #33: The Invitation

A Fields of Faith Story

Troy Farley • FCA Sports Leagues Director
September 27, 2026

3 Minute Read

Sometimes the biggest moments in a kid’s life start with something incredibly small.

An invitation.

“Want to come with me?”

That’s it.

No perfect speech. No pressure. No guarantee they’ll even say yes.

Just an invitation.

That’s what Ray and Meg are learning in this week’s story as they experience Fields of Faith.

They show up expecting an event. They leave thinking about people.

Friends. Teammates. Classmates. The kid sitting beside them at lunch. The person they pass in the hallway every day.

Because somewhere along the way, the question changes from:

“What did I get out of tonight?”

to:

“Who could I bring with me next time?”

Your kid already has a mission field

Sometimes we make sharing our faith feel much more complicated than Jesus did.

Our kids don’t need a stage.
They already have hallways.
They don’t need an audience.
They already have teammates.
They don’t need thousands of followers.

They have the kid sitting beside them on the bus, the friend they FaceTime after school, the teammate standing next to them in line, and the classmate they see every single day.

Those relationships matter.

And sometimes the most powerful thing our kids can do is simply notice the person God has already placed in front of them.

Who needs a friend?
Who needs encouragement?
Who needs to know they belong?
Who could I invite?

An invitation can change a story

Think about how many important moments in our own lives started because somebody invited us.

Come sit with us.
Come play.
Come to practice.
Come to church.
Come with me.

An invitation communicates something before the event ever begins:

I thought about you.
I want you there.
There’s a place for you beside me.

That’s something our kids can carry into their schools, teams, neighborhoods, and friendships every day.

And parents, we can model it too.

Our kids are watching how we welcome people. How we notice people. Whether our circles stay closed or whether we’re willing to make room for somebody new.

Maybe one of the best questions we can ask around the dinner table this week isn’t:

“How was school?”

Maybe it’s:

“Who did you notice today?”

And then eventually:

“Is there someone you could invite?”

One field.
One invitation.
One next step.

On Sunday, October 11 at 4 PM, we’ll gather at Lampson Stadium in Kennewick for Fields of Faith. (Learn more HERE)

There will be worship. Stories. Jesus. Students from different schools and different teams coming together on one field.

But I want to make something really clear:

This invitation is for EVERYONE.

Bring the whole family.

Bring your FCA Sports athlete.

Bring your middle school athlete. Your high school athlete. College students, parents, grandparents—you’re invited too.

Seriously. All the way up to my dad, who at a young and fit 80 years old better be there too.

This isn’t an event where parents need to drop their kids off and come back later.

Come experience it together.

And afterward, stick around. We’ll keep the night going with a tailgate and free food.

But before October 11 gets here, there’s one question worth asking your family:

Who will you invite?

Maybe it’s a teammate.
A classmate.
Another family.
A neighbor.
A coworker.

Someone who has never been to anything like this before.

You don’t need the perfect words.

Sometimes two are enough:

Come with me.

One field.
One invitation.
One next step.

Win the Day – Troy Farley

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From this Author: Troy Farley

October 26, 2026 • 4 Minute Read

Basketball 6-7 Year Olds Launch

FCA Sports Families, Basketball season is almost here! We are just ONE WEEK away from kicking off our 6–7-year-old basketball league, and we couldn't be more excited to welcome your family to another season of FCA Sports! Whether this is your first season with us or you've been part of the FCA Sports family for years, thank you for trusting us with your athlete. Here are a few important things to know as we get ready! SEASON KICKOFF & SCHEDULES Practices begin NEXT WEEK — Monday, November 2, or Tuesday, November 3! Our 6–7 basketball league is a weekday league, meaning practices and games will take place during the week. Practices: Mondays or Tuesdays, beginning November 2–3. Games: Wednesdays or Thursdays, beginning the following week. Location: Bethel Gymnasium for ALL practices and games. Your athlete's specific team schedule will be available through the FCA Sports App. WHAT TO EXPECT AT YOUR FIRST PRACTICE Before practice begins, please meet your coach in the Bethel Gymnasium lobby for a quick parent meeting with your team. This is an opportunity to introduce yourselves, connect with your coach, and hear what to expect this season. A few simple reminders: Bring a water bottle for your athlete. Basketballs are provided, but your athlete is welcome to bring their own. Basketball rules will be emailed to families this weekend, before practices begin. Our first week is all about getting comfortable, meeting teammates, learning the game, and having FUN! DOWNLOAD THE FCA SPORTS APP The BEST way to stay in the know throughout the season is through our FCA Sports App! Simply open your phone's App Store and search FCA Sports. Log in using the same email and password you originally used to register your athlete. Forgot your password? No problem! You can reset it directly through the app. This is where you'll find your athlete's schedule, team information, and important league updates. If you have trouble logging in, please reach out to me. I'm happy to help! INTRODUCING THE RAY & MEG FILES! This season, we're excited to introduce something brand new to FCA Sports! Our first-ever young athletes' devotional story, featuring our character Meg! The Ray & Meg Files: Ignore the Noise We've been working hard to create a story that helps young athletes discover what it means to grow in character, confidence, and faith while navigating the noise around them. And parents, this isn't just for your athlete. It's for you too! Our hope is that these stories create conversations that continue long after practice ends—in the car, around the dinner table, and at home. READ THE RAY & MEG FILES: IGNORE THE NOISE HERE Take a few minutes to read it together before the season begins. It's a great way to get a head start on our season theme! INTRODUCING OUR PARENT STANDARD One of the things we care deeply about at FCA Sports is the culture and environment we create together. That includes our coaches, athletes, referees, and especially our parents. This season, we're introducing our FCA Sports Parent Standard, a simple reminder of how we carry ourselves on the sidelines and how we partner together to create a positive experience for every athlete. Our kids are watching. They see how we encourage, how we respond to mistakes, how we treat officials, and how we celebrate others. We all have a role in setting the temperature. Please take a few minutes to review our Parent Standard before our first games. REVIEW THE FCA SPORTS PARENT STANDARD HERE MEET YOUR FCA SPORTS TEAM We're here to serve you throughout the season. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to reach out! Troy Farley — FCA Sports League Director tfarley@fca.org Zach Lewison — Associate Director & Bethel Game Day Coordinator zlewison@fca.org Connor Davis — Bethel Game Day Coordinator cmdavis2802@gmail.com Amber Lewis — Operations Coordinator amberlewis@fca.org Hannah Fiocchi — Volunteer Coordinator hfiocchi@fca.org LET'S GET READY! At FCA Sports, our mission is to see every coach, athlete, and FAMILY in a growing relationship with Jesus and His Church. Basketball is simply the opportunity we get to use to build relationships, teach life lessons, and point families toward something greater than the scoreboard. We're excited to partner with you this season! Every Coach. Every Athlete. Every Family. See you in the gym! Win The Day, Troy Farley FCA Sports Leagues Director

Troy Farley

FCA Sports Leagues Director

October 26, 2026 • 4 Minute Read

THE PARENT CORNER #38 → THE LETTER

More Than a Letter What Meg’s Coach Needed to Hear Meg almost left the letter in her backpack. It was the last practice. Teammates were gathering their things, parents were waiting, and her coach was collecting volleyballs. “Coach? I made something for you.” She held out a folded piece of paper. Her coach smiled. “For me?” Meg nodded. “You can read it later.” What Meg didn’t know was how much her coach had needed something good that day. A painful divorce was unraveling life at home. Concentrating at work had become difficult. Conversations with her own children left her searching for answers she didn’t have. Then came practice. Wipe your eyes. Grab the whistle. Smile. “Bring it in, girls!” She wanted to be there for this team. But lately, showing up took more than anyone realized. A parent’s frustration over a game decision had followed her home. A forgotten drill felt like one more failure. Some nights, she wondered whether anything she did mattered anymore. She wasn’t just tired of coaching. She was tired of trying to hold her life together. After the last family left, she sat down and unfolded Meg’s letter. Meg wrote about being nervous to try volleyball. About being hard on herself. About the times she had wanted to quit—and how glad she was that she hadn’t. She wrote about belonging to a team. The encouragement during practice. The huddles that helped her understand she was chosen and didn’t have to prove her worth. Then her coach reached the part about mistakes not defining her. She read it again. That was something she had wanted Meg to understand. Somewhere along the way, she had stopped believing it about herself. She lowered the letter into her lap. The divorce wasn’t over. Tomorrow would still be difficult. She still needed support. But sitting there in that quiet gym, she could finally see something her exhaustion had hidden. She hadn’t failed at everything. Something good had happened this season. That evening, she called a trusted friend. “I’ve been saying I’m fine,” she admitted. “I’m not.” Meg hadn’t known the whole story. It wasn’t hers to fix. She had simply put her gratitude on paper. And her coach carried it home. Beyond the Story: The Parent Corner This story was inspired by a real letter an athlete wrote to her coach after a recent season. One line stopped me: “You have shown me that my mistakes don’t define me.” Think about that. We see a practice. A game. A decision we disagree with. But what about the rest of the week? The person coaching our child has a life beyond the sidelines. There may be burdens we know nothing about when we approach them frustrated. That doesn’t mean our concerns don’t matter. It means the person receiving them matters, too. Proverbs 12:25 puts it this way: “The weight of worry drags us down, but a good word lightens our day.” A good word. Not a perfect speech. Not an answer to every problem. Sometimes, a simple letter that says, “What you did mattered to me.” And maybe you’re the one who needs encouragement right now. Then let this Parent Corner offer you some: A difficult season is not the whole story of your life. You matter beyond what you accomplish. You don’t have to carry everything alone. One More Step Together Who came to mind while you were reading? A coach? A teacher? Your spouse? A friend who keeps showing up? Write to them this week. Tell them something specific they did. Tell them why it mattered. Don’t assume they already know. And if you’re struggling, let someone you trust know what you’re carrying, too. I believe we’re all one thought, one word, or one action away from a totally different life. Not because one moment fixes everything. But because one moment can become the beginning of something different. You don’t have to know someone’s whole story to offer a word that helps them keep writing it. One more step together. Win The Day, Troy Farley FCA Sports Leagues Director

Troy Farley

FCA Sports Leagues Director

October 26, 2026 •

The Ray Files: Fall 2026 — Volume 8 (The Finale)

Troy Farley

FCA Sports Leagues Director

October 18, 2026 •

The Ray Files: Fall 2026 — Volume 7

Troy Farley

FCA Sports Leagues Director

October 17, 2026 • 6 Minute Read

READ THE PARENT CORNER #37 → ZERO TALENT

10 Things That Require ZERO Talent What Ray Learned from Aggie "Ray! Get yourself over here and help your grandma with these flowers!" Ray looked up from where he was sitting on the porch steps. Aggie was standing beside a flowerbed, holding a watering can in one hand and pointing toward a bag of soil with the other. "Coming, Aggie!" "Well, don't wear yourself out getting here!" she called back with a grin. Ray laughed and made his way over. As they worked, Aggie noticed something wasn't quite right. Ray wasn't his usual talkative self. "What's eating at you, sweetheart?" Ray shrugged. "Nothing, really. Just thinking about practice yesterday. Some of those kids are so good at everything. It's like they don't even have to try." Aggie set down her watering can. "Well, let me ask you something. Do you think being the most talented person is what makes somebody successful?" "I guess it helps," Ray replied. "Sure does. But talent isn't everything. In fact, some of the most important things in life don't require any talent at all." Ray looked puzzled. "Like what?" Aggie smiled. "Oh, honey. You better sit down. Grandma's got something to show you!" She reached into the pocket of her sweater and pulled out an old, folded piece of paper. The edges were worn, the creases deep, and the handwriting looked like it had been there for years. "What's that?" Ray asked. Aggie smiled as she carefully unfolded it. "This belonged to your grandpa Jack." Ray leaned in a little closer. "Grandpa Jack wrote that?" "He sure did. Your grandpa was a man of many talents, but he always believed that some of the most important things in life had nothing to do with talent at all." She handed Ray the paper. "He wrote these ten things down a long time ago. Said they were worth remembering. And you know what? I think he was right." Ray looked down at the faded handwriting. Across the top, in big letters, were the words: 10 THINGS THAT REQUIRE ZERO TALENT He began reading. Being on time. Making an effort. Being high energy. Having a positive attitude. Being passionate. Using good body language. Being coachable. Doing a little extra. Being prepared. Having a strong work ethic. Ray looked up. "That's a lot of things, Aggie." "Sure is. And here's the best part. You don't have to be the fastest, smartest, strongest, or most talented to work on a single one of them." "But what if I'm not good at something?" Aggie leaned back in her rocking chair. "Ray, I've lived long enough to see plenty of talented folks go nowhere because they wouldn't put in the work. And I've seen people nobody expected much from do remarkable things because they kept showing up." She pointed toward the flowerbed. "See those flowers? They don't all grow at the same speed. Some bloom early. Some take their sweet time. But they all need someone willing to water them, care for them, and keep showing up." Ray glanced at the watering can. "So you're saying I should just keep trying?" "I'm saying you can't control every gift you've been given. But you can be faithful with the gifts you have." Ray smiled. "And I suppose you're going to tell me to finish watering those flowers?" Aggie winked. "Now you're catching on! Number eight, sweetheart. Do a little extra!" Ray laughed, then looked down at the old piece of paper one more time. "Grandpa Jack must've been pretty smart." Aggie smiled, her eyes drifting toward the farmhouse. "Oh, he had his moments, sweetheart. He certainly had his moments." Beyond the Story: The Parent Corner Ten things. Zero talent required. Sounds pretty simple, doesn't it? But here's what I've been thinking about. Just because something doesn't require talent doesn't mean it doesn't require intentionality. Think about it. Showing up on time when life is pulling you in a hundred different directions. Giving your best effort when you're tired. Choosing a positive attitude when things aren't going your way. Being coachable when someone points out something you could do better. None of those things necessarily come easy. And yet, none of them require us to be the most gifted person in the room. We spend so much of life comparing what we can do with what someone else can do. Who's faster? Who's smarter? Who has more opportunities, more experience, more ability? But what if we spent a little less time worrying about what we don't have and a little more time being faithful with what we do? Colossians 3:23 puts it this way: "So no matter what your task is, work hard. Always do your best as the Lord’s servant, not as man’s." (The Voice) No matter what your task is. I love that. Whether we're coaching a team, raising a family, leading at work, serving in ministry, sitting in a classroom, or simply trying to get through another Monday, the invitation is the same. Give your best with what you've been given. Not someone else's best. Not perfection. Your best. And maybe that's what makes Aggie's list so powerful. These ten things don't come with an age requirement, a talent evaluation, or a certain level of experience. They're available to every one of us. Now, does that mean we'll get all ten right every day? Absolutely not. Some days our energy is running on empty. Our attitude needs adjusting. We show up unprepared, resist correction, or simply go through the motions. But tomorrow gives us another opportunity. Another chance to show up. Another chance to grow. Another chance to be faithful with what's right in front of us. Because at the end of the day, it's not always about what we're capable of doing. Sometimes it's about what we're willing to do. One More Step Together Here's my challenge for all of us this week. Take another look at Aggie's ten things. Don't just think about your kids, your teammates, your coworkers, or the people around you. Think about yourself. Which of these ten things comes naturally to you? Which one requires a little more intentionality? Pick one. Just one. Maybe it's showing up a few minutes early. Bringing a better attitude into a difficult situation. Listening instead of defending. Or putting in a little extra effort when nobody would notice if you didn't. Whatever it is, take that step. Because talent may help determine what we're able to do. But our choices help determine what we actually do with it. One more step together. Win The Day, Troy Farley FCA Sports Leagues Director

Troy Farley

FCA Sports Leagues Director

October 11, 2026 •

The Ray Files: Fall 2026 — Volume 6

Troy Farley

FCA Sports Leagues Director

October 10, 2026 • 5 Minute Read

Parent Corner #36: Open Doors

I turn 42 next month. And I've already made a decision about 42: I want it to be the best year of my life. For my family. Professionally. Personally. Spiritually. And I want to keep doing things that remind me I'm still living, learning and becoming. I want to ride the Seattle to Portland bike ride in honor of my dad. I want to finally learn how to play the piano. I've wanted to for years but have never taken the time. And I want to release my first full children's book, Just a Donkey—the story of my donkey friend JJ, who keeps wrestling with a question I understand more than I'd probably like to admit:“What could somebody like me ever do?” At 42, I still have things I want to try. Things I want to learn. Things I want to create. Ways I want to grow. Which is probably why these words have been sitting with me lately: “There is no cut-off age for development.” I love that. Because I spend a lot of time thinking about the development of kids. Their gifts. Their character. Their faith. Their leadership. Their next step. But this Parent Corner isn't really about them. This one's for us: The parents. Your story isn't over. You still hold the pen. What will you write next? That thought makes me think about one of my favorite authors, C.S. Lewis. I love the way Lewis could take something ordinary—a wardrobe, a painting, a doorway—and suddenly another world was waiting on the other side. I've started thinking about our lives that way. Open doors. A conversation can be an open door. A book can be an open door. A new friendship. A class. A ministry. A job opportunity. A decision to finally get healthy. Picking up something you put down twenty years ago. Trying something you're terrible at. Saying yes to something that scares you. Sometimes the next world doesn't require us to find a magical wardrobe. Sometimes it begins by changing our mind about what is still possible. Dad's Open Door One evening Ray walked into the garage and found Dad staring at an old guitar case. Ray had seen it plenty of times. He'd just never seen it open. “You play guitar?” Dad laughed. “Used to.” He picked it up and tried a chord. It wasn't pretty. Ray laughed. Dad did too. “I was actually pretty good once.” “So why'd you stop?” Dad didn't really have an answer. Life, probably. Work. Marriage. Kids. Schedules. Responsibilities. None of them bad. Somewhere along the way, though, “I play guitar” became “I used to play guitar.” Ray looked at him. “So...why don't you play anymore?” Simple question. Hard answer. Dad looked down at the guitar. Then back at Ray. Maybe the door wasn't locked. Maybe he'd just stopped trying the handle. So Dad played again. Badly. Then again the next night. And again. A few weeks later, Ray walked through the garage and heard music. Not perfect music. Developing music. And maybe that was the point. We Don't Graduate From Growth There is no age where God looks at us and says: That's enough development for you. Scripture keeps giving us language of renewal, growth, transformation and becoming. Romans 12:2tells us to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Not have been transformed. Be transformed. That's movement. That's development. That's an open door. And history gives us some beautiful reminders. Leonard Cohen had already built a life as a writer before beginning his recording career in his early 30s. Giuseppe Verdi could have comfortably let an extraordinary career be finished. Instead, after stepping away from opera, he returned and created Otello in his 70s and Falstaff around 80. Their stories weren't over. Neither is ours. Keep the Doors Open Maybe that's part of what we owe our kids. Not just telling them: Keep learning. Keep growing. Try something new. Don't be afraid to fail. But letting them watch us do it. Let them see Dad be a beginner. Let them see Mom change her mind. Let them watch us read, learn, create, train, apologize, ask questions, develop a gift, deepen our faith or walk through a door we once assumed had closed. Because it's hard to convince our kids that growth is lifelong if they think we stopped growing at 35. Maybe the question this week isn't: What does my kid need to work on? Maybe it's: WHAT'S MY NEXT OPEN DOOR? What have you been curious about? What have you talked yourself out of? What gift have you stopped developing? What has God been nudging you toward? What would you try if you weren't worried about being a beginner again? Your story isn't over. You still hold the pen. There is no cut-off age for development. Keep as many doors open as possible. And when God puts one in front of you...turn the handle. Win the Day Troy Farley FCA Sports Leagues Director

Troy Farley

FCA Sports Leagues Director

October 4, 2026 •

The Ray Files: Fall 2026 — Volume 5

Troy Farley

FCA Sports Leagues Director

October 4, 2026 • 4 Minute Read

Parent Corner #35: Sidelines to Sunday

SIDELINES TO SUNDAY I need to be real with you, parents. I struggle with Sundays. More specifically, I struggle with the gap between our Saturday sidelines and our Sunday mornings. Sunday comes. We smile. We show kindness. We raise our hands in church. Our kids sit beside us. In that setting, living out our faith can feel pretty comfortable. But rewind 24 hours. Your kid didn’t play enough. Your kid had a bad game. Their team lost badly. You didn’t like the officiating, your coach’s decisions, or how the opposing coach handled their team. Shall I go on? I see it every week. I hear it. I experience it. The outbursts. The dirty looks. The league gets blamed. I get blamed. There are rude emails, passive-aggressive texts, and hard phone calls. And here is my part: I have lost my cool on some of those calls. Some have ended with someone hanging up. I’m responsible for how I respond, and there are conversations I wish I had handled better. Leading a faith-based league doesn’t give me a pass. I’m in this conversation too. People sometimes wonder why I’m so passionate about the sidelines. Because I believe they reveal things about us that we need to pay attention to. How do we respond when we don’t get our way? When our child struggles? When someone makes a mistake that affects our family? Those moments put our character under pressure. And our kids are right there, watching. I’m concerned about how quickly we step in to remove every disappointment. How easily protecting our kids becomes blaming someone else. How much of our character we’re willing to surrender over a 45-minute youth recreational game. The game matters to our kids. I understand that. But that Saturday score will not determine their future. The way we teach them to handle it can help shape it. Let’s get even more real. Your athlete might not be very good at this sport yet. Their team might struggle all season. They might play their hardest and still lose by a lot. That is a reality we have to leave room for. It says nothing about their worth, how deeply they are loved, or what they can become. They need adults who can help them face disappointment without treating every difficult experience as an injustice. Ask questions. Bring concerns. Hold us accountable. We have things to improve too. We can have those conversations with honesty and respect. And about the cartoons I create, the stories I share, and the JESUS WON shirts I wear—please understand how seriously I take the message behind them. Those stories carry the things I want our families to wrestle with: Character Responsibility Forgiveness Courage How we treat people when life gets hard. There is a deeper message in them for us as parents too. My love for Jesus is where I find strength to keep showing up, have hard conversations, set boundaries, and own my mistakes. It also calls me to apologize when I fall short. Being a faith-based league means we should be willing to practice all of that. Here is why I’m writing this If we can raise our hands on Sunday after tearing people down on Saturday, without stopping to recognize that something needs to change, our theology is off. What we say we believe about Jesus needs to reach the way we treat people. Including me, our referees - coaches - other parents my - the people answering our emails. I’ve done this long enough, had enough conversations, and watched enough sidelines to know we need to talk about this honestly. Our kids need to see us live our faith when the score is ugly, the call goes against us, and we are frustrated. They also need to hear us say, “I handled that poorly.” - “ I’m sorry.” Me included. I will keep fighting for the sidelines. I will keep caring about your kids and the adults we are becoming in front of them.Check out our Parent Standard HERE But I won’t promise you that your child’s team won’t get blown out again. We all have growing to do when it happens. Win The Day, Troy Farley Tri-Cities FCA Sports Leagues Director

Troy Farley

FCA Sports Leagues Director

October 3, 2026 • 6 Minute Read

Parent Corner #34: Give it Away

There is an idea about purpose that I haven't been able to shake from a quote I recently read: The purpose of life is to DISCOVER your gifts. The work of life is to DEVELOP your gifts. The meaning of life is to GIVE your gifts away. Discover. Develop. Give. Those three words take me back a long way. Years ago, I felt like God gave me a compass for what I was supposed to spend my life doing: Help people DISCOVER and DEVELOP their gifts for Jesus. The older I get, the more I realize how much that compass has shaped my life. And honestly, it explains a lot about why I care so much about FCA Sports. Why 46 Weeks? We operate FCA Sports nearly year-round. 46 weeks throughout the calendar year. Sometimes I look at that number and think we're crazy. Soccer becomes basketball - Basketball becomes soccer again - Then volleyball - Camps. Flag football - Cheer - REPEAT and around we go. But the sports have never really been the point. They're the opportunity. Every practice, game, conversation, win, loss, mistake, new friendship and hard moment gives a kid another opportunity to discover something about who God created them to be. Maybe a kid discovers: I can lead. I love encouraging people. I'm a great teammate. I can do hard things. I'm good at bringing people together. I care about the kid nobody else notices. And yes, sometimes they discover they can really shoot a basketball, kick a soccer ball or throw a football. That's great too. Because gifts come in all kinds of packages. The question is what happens next. DISCOVER Isn't Enough Once we discover a gift, we have to develop it. That's where sports can be such an incredible classroom. You practice. You fail. You listen. You try again. You learn from a coach. You encourage a teammate. You keep showing up. Little by little, something God placed inside you begins to grow. Scripture puts it this way: “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others.” — 1 Peter 4:10 Notice the progression. You've received something. Now you're supposed to use it. But sometimes our kids need someone else to see the gift before they can see it themselves. Ray Discovers Something Ray wasn't the best player on his team: He knew it too. There were kids who were faster. Kids who scored more. Kids who seemed to make everything look easy. For a while, Ray assumed that meant they had something he didn't. They had the gift. Then one practice, Coach pulled Ray aside. “Do you know what happens every time someone on this team makes a mistake?” Ray shook his head. “You're the first person to encourage them.” Ray hadn't noticed. Coach had. Then Coach said something Ray wouldn't forget: “You see people, Ray. That's a gift.” That sentence stayed with him. So Ray started paying attention. When a teammate missed a shot, Ray was there. When the new kid didn't know where to stand, Ray helped him. When practice got hard and everyone got quiet, Ray found a way to bring some energy. At first, it was something Ray did without thinking. Then he started doing it on purpose. He was developing his gift. And eventually something changed. Ray stopped asking: “What am I good at?” and started asking: “How can what I'm good at help somebody else?” That's when a gift becomes more than talent. You discover it. You develop it. Then you give it away. And parents, maybe there's a question for us buried inside Ray's story: What do I see in my kid that they may not see in themselves yet? Maybe part of our job is helping them name it. GIVE I don't want our kids to discover their gifts simply so they can become more successful. I don't want them developing their gifts only so they can collect trophies, followers, scholarships, applause or accomplishments. Those things may come. But there's something bigger available. Give it away. Use your leadership to help somebody else. Use your encouragement to lift up a teammate. Use your creativity to build something. Use your strength to protect somebody. Use your influence to point people toward Jesus. Use whatever God has placed in your hands to serve the person standing in front of you. That's purpose. Parents, This Includes Us This is also why I keep working to build a library of resources for our FCA Sports parents. Parent Corner. The Ray and Meg Files Devotionals. Stories. Conversations that hopefully make their way from a phone screen to a dinner table, car ride or sideline. I'm not creating these because families need more content. We have plenty of content. I'm praying something SPARKS. Something that makes a kid—or maybe a parent—wonder: What has God put inside me? Then: How can I develop it? And eventually: Who can I give it to? Because maybe somewhere during those 46 weeks, a kid discovers something. Maybe a coach calls something out of them. Maybe a parent sees something they hadn't noticed before. Maybe a story about Ray or Meg starts a conversation. Maybe a season of soccer becomes the place where a kid realizes they were made to lead. And maybe years later, that gift gets given away in a place that has absolutely nothing to do with sports. That's the dream. More Than Sports So yes, we'll keep playing games. We'll keep keeping score. We'll keep practicing, competing, laughing and learning. But underneath all of it is something much bigger. DISCOVER your gifts. DEVELOP your gifts. And then don't keep them for yourself. GIVE them away. For your teammates. For your family. For your community. For the person God puts in front of you. For Jesus. That's my purpose. That's the purpose behind these leagues. And maybe that's a pretty good picture of the purpose of life. Discover. Develop. Give. Win the Day, Troy Farley FCA Sports Leagues Director

Troy Farley

FCA Sports Leagues Director

September 28, 2026 •

The Ray Files: Fall 2026 — Volume 4

Troy Farley

FCA Sports Leagues Director

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September 27, 2026 • 3 Minute Read

Parent Corner #33: The Invitation

Sometimes the biggest moments in a kid’s life start with something incredibly small. An invitation. “Want to come with me?” That’s it. No perfect speech. No pressure. No guarantee they’ll even say yes. Just an invitation. That’s what Ray and Meg are learning in this week’s story as they experience Fields of Faith. They show up expecting an event. They leave thinking about people. Friends. Teammates. Classmates. The kid sitting beside them at lunch. The person they pass in the hallway every day. Because somewhere along the way, the question changes from: “What did I get out of tonight?” to: “Who could I bring with me next time?” Your kid already has a mission field Sometimes we make sharing our faith feel much more complicated than Jesus did. Our kids don’t need a stage. They already have hallways. They don’t need an audience. They already have teammates. They don’t need thousands of followers. They have the kid sitting beside them on the bus, the friend they FaceTime after school, the teammate standing next to them in line, and the classmate they see every single day. Those relationships matter. And sometimes the most powerful thing our kids can do is simply notice the person God has already placed in front of them. Who needs a friend? Who needs encouragement? Who needs to know they belong? Who could I invite? An invitation can change a story Think about how many important moments in our own lives started because somebody invited us. Come sit with us. Come play. Come to practice. Come to church. Come with me. An invitation communicates something before the event ever begins: I thought about you. I want you there. There’s a place for you beside me. That’s something our kids can carry into their schools, teams, neighborhoods, and friendships every day. And parents, we can model it too. Our kids are watching how we welcome people. How we notice people. Whether our circles stay closed or whether we’re willing to make room for somebody new. Maybe one of the best questions we can ask around the dinner table this week isn’t: “How was school?” Maybe it’s: “Who did you notice today?” And then eventually: “Is there someone you could invite?” One field. One invitation. One next step. On Sunday, October 11 at 4 PM, we’ll gather at Lampson Stadium in Kennewick for Fields of Faith. (Learn more HERE) There will be worship. Stories. Jesus. Students from different schools and different teams coming together on one field. But I want to make something really clear: This invitation is for EVERYONE. Bring the whole family. Bring your FCA Sports athlete. Bring your middle school athlete. Your high school athlete. College students, parents, grandparents—you’re invited too. Seriously. All the way up to my dad, who at a young and fit 80 years old better be there too. This isn’t an event where parents need to drop their kids off and come back later. Come experience it together. And afterward, stick around. We’ll keep the night going with a tailgate and free food. But before October 11 gets here, there’s one question worth asking your family: Who will you invite? Maybe it’s a teammate. A classmate. Another family. A neighbor. A coworker. Someone who has never been to anything like this before. You don’t need the perfect words. Sometimes two are enough: Come with me. One field. One invitation. One next step. Win the Day – Troy Farley

Troy Farley

FCA Sports Leagues Director