BONNIE LAUGHLIN'S ANSWERED PRAYER
Psalms 27:13 says, “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”
One sacrifice made by Bonnie K. Laughlin was the Christian homeschooling of her son, Caleb Laughlin. Bonnie saw that Caleb needed to develop his athletic skills. When she tried to get Caleb involved in the Norton School Athletic System, Kansas State school rules would not allow it. While sitting on the couch in our living room, Caleb had to be told that he could not play football. We told him, through prayer, "The Lord would change hearts, and there would be a day he would play football for the Norton Bluejays."
By Caleb’s eighth grade year, he was in the public school system so he could develop his God given athletic skills.
By Caleb’s high school football years, the Lord answered yes to Bonnie’s prayer. He brought a Christian Football Coach into Caleb’s life. While Bonnie sacrificed homeschooling so Caleb could play football, Caleb sacrificed time and strength to be a football kicker. All through his high school years, winter, spring, summer and fall – good weather or bad, Caleb would kick the football. He often kicked 100 times a day, all the time being blanketed in prayer.
By the time he was a high school senior, Caleb received a scholarship to kick for a nationally rated college football team with the motto, "God, Family, Football," placed on their locker room wall. Caleb’s high school Coach was not ashamed of the Lord or prayer. Neither were the coaches and players of the college he received a scholarship from.
Eight years before the Caleb’s scholarship offer, Bonnie had been diagnosed with an astrocytoma (brain cancer), that normally takes the life of its victims within 18 months. The Lord was gracious, He enabled Bonnie to live long enough to see Him bring Christian Coaches and players into Caleb’s life. The Lord gave us opportunity after opportunity to remind Caleb of God’s faithfulness to open doors for him to play football in this life.
Out of 1 million Senior High School Football players, only 30,000 go on to play college football. Bonnie saw her son receive a College Football scholarship from one of the top rated college football teams in the nation. She enjoyed the "goodness of the Lord in land of the living."