Moments....Toby

Bear with me.  I have to find some more photos on my camera to include here, but there's an important story I feel the need to pour out.  I'll probably gush about all three of my kids and the role that hockey plays in their lives, but I'm going to start with my youngest son, Toby.  He is, after all, the biggest reason all of my kids started playing the game.  For now, I'm posting the photos I've collected to help tell the story, in no particular order.  I'll come back later to finish the story.

Here's a picture of a special moment for our whole family .  Looking back at this, my kids all look so small! Toby now wears the black jersey that Tucker is wearing in this photo, and the jerseys worn by Toby and Maxine don't fit either of them anymore.  We don't have many pictures of all of us together.

I loved this moment.  Along the way, I tried to take a picture of him inside the net each year.

Captain Toby! Chris Hepp is an incredible guy, and I think will someday be back to coach.  He was probably the best team captain the Lancers have ever had.  I'm so glad Toby got to spend a moment with him and has this image to cherish it forever.  I hope someday it reminds him of the character and leadership a hockey player needs to exhibit.

Toby and Maxine love each other very much, and don't have a lot of tender brother-sister moments.  I hope someday they look at this picture and see the same thing I do.

Toby spent almost the whole event skating with Drew, his favorite all-time player, and I have a lot of photos, but this is my favorite.  In fact, we had a shirt made for him with this picture on the front and "My Hero", with #28 on the back.  He always got a lot of complements from Lancer players when he wore it.  I love the fact that the two of them are facing forward, looking towards the future.  There an incredible bond there.

This whole day was an important moment for Toby, and letting the kids get the picture taken with the team made them feel like they were a part of it.  In Toby's heart, he always will be.  We still follow the careers of everyone on that team.

This picture was taken right after the championship.  It's one of those pictures worth a thousand words.  We feel privileged to have witnessed it.  Drew and his goalie, a brotherhood that will last forever.  I hope someday Toby understands why this picture is so important.  

The raising of the trophy! I wonder how many little kids solidified their love of the game from seeing this.

Toby hanging out with Danny Kristo, another favorite Lancer buddy.  Danny has boundless energy, just like Toby.

Toby was amazed with all the equipment in the locker room.  He loves working out!

Yeah, this probably wasn't the best thing to introduce Toby to, but he loved it!

Skating with the players, he wanted to know who wanted HIM to sign their jerseys! How cute!

Another year, he hung out with John Keeney, who wasn't a very good influence, as he kept telling Toby to skate up to other players and slap them on the behind.  Toby loved the attention, though, especially since JohnnyBoy was such a kid himself.

Costume contest at the Lancers, Toby wanted to be a knight, just like the Lancers, and he won! I love this moment! It was down to him and the ladybug girl, and he stepped forward and raised his shield to the crowd to cheers!

This was taken after one of Toby's first practices.  I love that special smile he has only when he's playing hockey!

Toby always takes the time to skate to the glass and give Mom a smile, wave, and thumbs up.  It's like he's checking in to let me know how happy he is, how much he thanks us for letting him play, and how much fun he's having.

Toby's first jersey number was 21.  My kids have always attached themselves to whichever player wears their same number.  Whitey was even more special, though.  Though Toby has a lot of favorite players over the years, Whitey is special because it is most like him that we see Toby when he's in action.  He seems to see the ice, sit back and wait patiently, and seize opportunity with fire and enthusiasm.  

Toby's not in this picture, but it was taken last year at the Hamilton Bulldogs kids club party.  See the player in the middle? I don't care what anyone says about Drew, he's awesome with the young fans and so gracious.  His infectious love of the game is in his eyes every time he's on the ice, and I am proud that he's one of Toby's heroes.

This is important.  The moment when hockey and God came together into Toby's life was huge.  I can't say enough how this gives him guidance and confidence, and how it bestows blessings upon us, Toby especially.

At the first FCA camp we went to, Coach Mike Kemp took my daughter aside and spent two minutes with her to make sure she mastered the hockey stop.  To this day, it's textbook.  All last season, I begged Toby's coaches to work with him to master his hockey stop.  He was forever sliding into people and knocking them down, skating away from the puck, because he didn't have the control the stop or change directions.  Soooooooooo, this past summer, I thanked Coach Kemp for what he did for Maxine, and humbly asked if he would do the same for my son.  He did.  From that point on, Toby changed, his hockey changed for the better, and our lives were once again blessed by another great.

Gary Steffes - he was a Cedar Rapids RoughRider, their enforcer, and went on to play for Ohio State, winning the Frozen Four his senior season there.  Then, he came to Omaha, on his way to tryouts for the Detroit RedWings, and met Toby.  This is one of the only people whose passions for hockey and God can match Toby's.  He let Toby hang out with him, hang on him, goof around with him, and just be a big kid.  That grin is almost always on Gary's face, and he has so much giddiness that lights up a room.  After that first summer camp, I did the usual thing in thanking the coaches, especially for putting up with Toby.  I love him like crazy, but I also know how aggravating he can be to guys who know how to coach hockey, but don't know how to deal with kids like Toby.  Gary told me something that amazed me, surprised me, and changed me.  It changed how I looked at my own son, and I will forever be grateful.  He told me it's awesome that Toby has the confidence to go off and do his own thing, that sometimes that's part of God's plan, and how brave it makes Toby. This awesome hockey player pointed out to me that sometimes we have to be strong enough to stand out from the crowd to be a leader, and that Toby, my son, has the holy spirit at work through him.  He suggested we let Toby be Toby and let it take him where God's path leads.  I thanked him graciously, though no words can describe the impact of that moment.

This is Toby with Gary at camp again the 2nd summer.   I don't think it's an accident, flaw, or coincidence that  the light from behind them is shining that way.  We check up on how Gary is doing from time to time.  He's now in his 2nd season with the Tulsa Oilers of the CHL and very active in FCA.   He's a great hockey player, but also a vessel for God's message to all of us.  If we honor Him, we will be rewarded.  I'm still learning to step back and let God guide Toby's path, trust Him to steer Toby right, and bless Toby and our family in our hockey journeys.  So far, things seem to be working out better and better.