October 8, 2019 • 31 mins
Cathy Parker was a bank employee, a wife, and a mother of 4 student athletes. She didn't have a lot of money, or power, and had ZERO knowledge of artificial athletic turf... but when her children called to her to watch a documentary about a town in the northern reaches of Alaska, struggling to keep kids safe, engaged, and in school, she took action!
Cathy answered a whisper in her heart, which led to a whole lotta shouting on the sidelines! Her book, "Northern Lights" tells the story of how she was able to get an artificial athletic field, purchased, transported, and installed in a town with no roads in or out. And, how she changed countless lives in the process, but none so much as her own.
Northern Lights was my book club pick for August - check it out on my web site - and join us for this inspiring episode of LOVE SOMEONE with Delilah! ~ Delilah
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi there, Welcome aboard, Welcome to Love Someone with Delilah.
Maybe you're a listener to my radio show, or maybe
you're just somebody who loves loves listening to podcast and uh,
(00:20):
it's great that you can download these podcasts and listen
while you're commuting or listen at your leisure. This podcast,
Love Someone with Delilah is aimed straight at your heart.
I'm doing this thing with a single focus to inspire you,
to inspire your heart. Now, my radio show at night,
(00:43):
a lot of times we talk about romantic love or
people call in who are falling in love for the
first time. That's not what this podcast is about, not
that kind of heart. I am here to encourage your
heart to make the world a better place. We've all
heard the sayings follow your dreams and do what you're
(01:05):
passionate about. But sometimes in the face of these well
meaning motivational mantras, you can get overwhelmed. What is my dream?
What is my passion? What's wrong with me that I
can't figure it out? What I'm supposed to be doing?
Does that sound like you? You're like I want to help,
(01:28):
I want to make the world a better place, but
I don't know where to start. Well, I'm here to
take a little pressure off of you. I'm here to
tell you that you matter. Whatever it is that you're
doing matters, Whomever it is that you're connected to with
that matters. And I'm here to encourage you to do
(01:49):
just a little bit more, to step out of your
comfort zone. Maybe nothing earth shattering. I'm here to tell
you you don't need a giant bank accout out or
connections with the Jets set. You don't need a law
degree or a medical degree. The only thing you need
(02:11):
is a heart that is willing to serve. My guest today,
I love someone with the lyland. This podcast personifies what
it means to follow the whisper in your heart. Kathy
Parker was a wife, a mother of four student athletes,
had a full time job in a bank, and was
(02:33):
living in the southernmost state in the US in Jacksonville, Florida.
She saw an ESPN clip on TV about a suffering
town in Borrow, Alaska. In desperation, the town had formed
a football club so that it's teenage boys could have
(02:56):
some kind of healthful activity. These inspiring activities to help
them stay focused, to help motivate them. Unfortunately, in a
land of perma frost, their field was nothing more than
a frozen patch of rock and gravel. When Kathy saw
that little clip on ESPN, she was about to get
(03:19):
moved off the bench, so to speak, and into the game.
Kathy is on the phone lines and we're going to
talk about her experience. But before we get into that,
I want to take a moment to thank the sponsor
of my podcast series, the Home Depot. Your Home Depot
likely has the largest selection of new appliances in stock.
(03:40):
That's helpful when you want to see all the options
available to you. And every one of those appliances have
a guaranteed low price attached to it, so you know
you're getting the best deals. If you're in need of
a new appliance, don't put it off. Visit the Home Depot.
More saving more are doing. Hi, Kathy, Hi de La La.
(04:05):
Welcome to Love Someone with Delilah. Oh, thank you. I
have been looking so forward to this, so I'm just thrilled.
That's what my executive producer said when she called my
executive producer of this podcast being my sister. You know,
if your sister loves you and brags about you, then
you're doing pretty good. Well, my sister loves me ferociously
(04:28):
and fiercely and completely, even when I was a horrible
big sister to her growing up. Well, there you go.
You're blessed. Yes, I tell you. Since I had the
privilege of being chosen for your book club my book
Northern Life for August, and then people knew that I
was going to be on your show, I have heard
(04:49):
so many testimonies and I'm telling life changing stories to
La La on how when people were going through a
hard time, maybe through a divorce, and you know, it's
not just women. And there was a man the other day.
It was working on my website and he was retired
military and he was like, Oh, I just loved Lalla.
(05:09):
You've got a lot of fans out there. I tell people,
when you hear something inspiring, something powerful, something that speaks
directly to your heart and what you're going through, that's
when God borrows my voice. When you hear me being
jerky and egotistical, that's that's me taking back over that. Yeah. Yeah, yeah,
(05:31):
Because I can mess up anything, but when I step
back and let God work, it's pretty amazing what he
can do and your book northern Lights. Throughout the book
and everything, you give God the glory uh for this
little miracle, not not little miracle, but huge miracle uh,
(05:52):
that you got to orchestrate, or you got to be
used to orchestrate. So let's start from the very beginning
of your story. Cathy Parker. You wrote the book Northern Lights,
which was our August book Club pick, but the story
goes back a couple of years. What did you see
that started this whole journey to Alaska? Well, the reason
(06:14):
the book goes back a couple of years is I
turned in the original manuscript with David Thomas, bestselling writer
that was helping me, and the publishing company sent it
back and they were like, now you're leaving out some
stuff And I said what And they said, we want
to know what has happened in your life that you
(06:35):
would have such great faith. And it really took me back.
I didn't really want to open up and be personal.
I just wanted to tell all the good stuff. You
don't want to tell any bad stuff. But it made
me really think about that and I knew why, because
God had healed helled me. He'd helled my marriage, a
(06:55):
marriage that was really in trouble and given me hope.
And that's what I was trying to do for these
new friends in Alaska, give them hope. So that's why
the book goes back to some of those struggles that
I had early um in our marriage and then throughout
(07:17):
just um in a family that was packed with a
bunch of wonderful athletes and and just had been given
great talent um and really um superstars in my family
that God hadn't something for me too. So obviously you
know a lot about the game of football going into
(07:38):
this little project. Uh, you had sat on the bench
or sat in the bleachers for how many years? Oh,
a long time because my my husband played ball. We
got married really young in college and he played, um
you know, we're high school sweethearts. So he played high
school ball, college ball, and then went on to play professionally.
And then we had more children, three boys and our daughter,
(08:02):
and they were all athletes and so they were all playing.
So had spent a lot of time and I used
the phrase that I raised my children at the ball field,
and that is so true. We spent so much time
and so much of our effort and money and everything
else was spent at the ball field. Yeah, because it's
not cheap. Those clubs are not cheap. I've got girls
in volleyball, and I have sons that are older that
(08:25):
played club soccer, and and that's not a cheap commitment.
That is a choice. I need a new Washington dryer
or I need to get my boys signed up for
a club soccer. And then like you're talking about multiple
children in a family that are all going in different directions.
Oh yeah, yeah, it is. It is definitely something that
(08:45):
you spend a lot of time, a lot of money,
a lot of effort goes to raising kids at the
ball field because it's not just done for enjoyment anymore.
It's it's it's a commitment, huge commitment, not just on
the kids par but on the mama bear driving them. So,
so you were you were watching ESPN because you come
from the sports background or your how do you hated Ona?
(09:06):
How are you watching? My kids actually were watching ESPN
and they called my husband and I in and they said, mom, Dad,
you've got to see this. And it was about very Alaska,
the most northern American settlement with no roads going into it.
It's on the frozen tundra. And if you don't know
much about the frozen I knew nothing about the frozen tundra.
(09:28):
Alaska to me was mountainous that with evergreens, but the
tundra is not like that at all. It's very flattened
and barren and no trees, no bushes, it's just um,
the frozen tundra. And so they had started a football
program there, and the reason why is because in this
isolated community of less than five thousand people, they had
(09:51):
a lot of social problems that came from kids not
staying in school, and so their dropout rate was extremely high.
A end their team suicide, as well as um drug use,
just things that kids could get involved in when they
had a whole lot of time on their hands, when
they were not motivated, that kind of thing. And they
(10:11):
had done a survey and asked the kids, well, what
could we implement in the school. They were given a
one time funding to implement a program that would keep
kids in school, and the kids came back and said, well,
if we had football, but it was it was extremely
problematic because there's no roads going in or out the
closest communities miles away. They have to fly to play
(10:32):
every opponent or fly the opponent in, And then where
are they going to play a game on the frozen
tundra When it dolls with the ice during the wintering.
In the summer months, it just turns into mush. So
they played on this gravel covered field, and you can
imagine the cuts and sprained ankles and all the things
that came from that. So it was a real eye
(10:53):
opening especial that we were watching. But I knew that
that sport would work. I had seen what had done
in our community. My husband was coaching, and I saw
him mentoring young men and we'd have them over to
our home and they stay with us, meat with us
and all that, and I knew that it was something
that could have a profound impact on that community. In fact,
(11:15):
they even said to my husband, I said, I understand
why people up in arms about the money that it's
going to cost. I said, but that football program, it's
going to save their lives. And my husband said, you're right,
Well what do you do about that? So I had
never been to Alaska. I didn't know anyone from Alaska.
But my husband was overseeing putting in an artificial turf
(11:37):
field in our area. And sunny Florida, And it was
like God said, if your kids need this, how much?
Just more? Did they need it there where they can't
even grow grass? So I had this bright idea of
raising the funds, giving them an artificial turf field like
the one we had, and teaching them how to play football. Okay,
(11:59):
I minister, I'll be right there for just a second, Cathy,
hold on, we need to hear a lot more of
this amazing story, but I also need to give some
time to this message. So how soon after you saw
this special on ESPN did you have this bright idea of, Hey,
(12:19):
you know what, we're putting artificial turf in here in Florida,
Let's just head to north to Alaska and do the
same thing there. How soon after that thought came to you,
did the thought come to you that this is gonna
be a really hard, almost impossible task. Well, you know,
I had this tendency of jumping off the cliff, you know,
(12:40):
and I think that it was quite soon. It was
that same day that we saw that special on ESPN.
I announced to my family, what, you know, I felt
like God had shown me and that what we were
going to do. And they again, you know, mom, that's
that's impossible. And my husband was the same way, and
(13:00):
I kept trying to get him to let me talk
to the turk company that was putting in our field,
and finally he said, Okay, I'll get you a meeting,
and I just kept talking about it and talking about it.
I think that I really started realizing how hard it
was going to be, but I was already well into
(13:21):
the process. Now. I tried giving it away. I tried renigging,
I tried everything you could do um to say of
I've made a big mistake here, but just could not.
It was such a burning in my heart that I
just could not give up on it. And so when
we held a press conference at our high school and
(13:43):
announced to the world, that was probably the hardest thing
that I had to do, because I knew then there
was no going back. There was no going back. You're
exactly right, there's no going back because you said it
publicly and you can't take it back, that's right. And
so that I was sick, I mean just literally sick
(14:04):
to my stomach. But we did that press conference and
the story just spread like all across the United States.
We started getting cards in the mail from people all over,
just ordinary people that would say things like, you know,
athletics had a great impact on my children or my grandchildren.
(14:24):
I want to be a part of this. We had
a family whose son was killed on nine eleven in
the World Trade Center, and it was the money from
his estate. They said, he would love to be a
part of something like this, and just people from all
over wanted to be a part of it, and they
started giving. And so that was extreme motivation to keep going.
(14:46):
And yes, there were tremendous obstacles, so many times where
we thought that it couldn't happen. We UM had six
hundred and fifty thousand pounds of products transported out of
the state of Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Canada into a place
how many pounds into it over six hundred fifty thousand pounds,
(15:06):
six hundred and fifty thousand pounds, taking it to a
blaze with no roads exactly, and it went by every
means of transportation. Ups was a huge component through the
Lower forty eight through semis and trains and then uh
tote a big barge company out of Seattle. I mean,
(15:27):
just on and on and on, partnering together to see
this come to fruition. So from the time frame, Delila,
when we made that announcement in that press conference, that
just you know, just made me so I was so
afraid to do to watching them play on that bright
blue it's bright blue with yellow end zones and sits
(15:51):
just a hundred yards from the Arctic Ocean. It was
less than six months, so it was just a tremendous miracle.
So did you go to to Barrow before that trip? No,
that was your first trip. Was actually delivering it first trip.
We'd already sent installers there to work on it and
(16:13):
to get it ready. I actually flew in with thirteen
others from Jacksonville, Florida and national media to watch that
first game. Wow. So you didn't go up there beforehand
and meet the kids and meet the coach and get
inspired that way, you just kept working diligently behind the scenes.
(16:34):
Most of our communication was over the phone. Now, we
did bring the team to Jacksonville during that time after
we had made the announcement. Our head coach at the
time in um in Jacksonville, Florida, Darryl Sutherland, just a wonderful,
godly man, and he said, Cathy, it's not good enough.
To just give them a field. We need to teach
(16:56):
them what it's like to be student athletes. They need
to come down, participate and spring practice with us, stay
in our homes, and so we did that and that
was life changing for us. You know how when you
go and you want to do something for someone, you
think I'm just so gonna bless them that you end
up being the one so blessed. That was exactly what
(17:16):
happened when the team came to Jacksonville and stayed in
our homes. Our eyes were open the things we had
taken for granted for so long, and just an amazing
thing to be able to reach out and help that
community and get a relationship with people that had really
sort of been forgotten there on the outskirts on that
(17:38):
North Slope Borough Um people of Indigenous people, their Native
American people, and they have amazing cultures, amazing things that
they hold strong too, like taking care of their neighbors
and respect for elders, and just amazing kind of way
of life living off the land, sea in the air
(17:59):
and not taking anything for granted. And we had gotten
far away from some of those concepts, and so making
the relationship with these people and just seeing what wonderful,
wonderful people they were. It was an amazing thing for us.
It really really blessed us much more than we ever
blessed them. And your kids, how did it impact your
(18:21):
four kids when that was going on, Well, to be
caught hotest. When it first started happening, they were like,
mom has lost it this time, and she's really good
to embarrass them. This is not going to be good.
But that's our job, isn't it. You know it is.
I constantly come up with ways to thoroughly embarrass my
children just so that they will have a story. It's
(18:42):
when they're older. I mean I rolled down the windows
of the car and sing out loud at the top
of my yeah exactly exactly. So they were very skeptical
calls at first, but then when we ended up bringing
the team and they go to share, you know, especially
with with athletes. So I'll let you know, your kids,
(19:05):
you spend so much time on your diet, your exercise,
your performance, your workout, your your your you spend so
much time on that. But to be able to take
something that you're good at. My kids have been playing
ball since they were babies, so to be able to
take something that you knew how to do and teach
(19:25):
someone else who had never played that game before. That
was an amazing thing to see happen, and it was
so rewarding for our kids to be able to transfer
their knowledge onto this team who never played. Now, do
your kids or anybody in your community that helped take
on this challenge, did they still have relationships with the
(19:46):
team in Barrel. Yes. In fact, I'm going in about
a week and a half back to Barrow. I've been
several times and the name has changed to the Chiavic
and that the people are amazing. The relationships have grown strong.
Now the young people that we've helped on that first
(20:08):
team have grown up and we get to see what
kind of husbands they are and what type of fathers
they are. We went to that first game in two
thousand and seven, and then seven years later I went
on my second trip and we had a party and
had a gathering of all that original team that could
(20:29):
come just to see how they turned out who they were, Because,
quite honestly, if these were young people who had not
turned out to be great citizens and community leaders and
and fathers and husbands, and there would there would be
no story, because it would not have worked. It would
have been a waste of money. But they were just
(20:52):
in the with what had happened in their lives and
the things that have happened through then being able to
participate in that sport and to have home it was
an amazing thing to see. So did they see did
the school see like a change? Was there a drop
in the dropout rate? Was there a drop in the
suicide rate? Was there an increase in test scores? Did
(21:14):
they see the direct correlation? Oh? Yeah, we had that
data pretty quickly. Within two years of starting the football program.
The graduation rate had been in the forties. It went
into the high eighties, So it almost doubled in two years.
We had tremendous data to pull from as far as
(21:37):
what had happened in the school. I will tell you
in two thousand and seventeen, just two years ago, that
football team won the state championship, and I would have
was very fortunate to be able to attend that game.
And of course I'm just crying and thinking it cannot
get any better than this. And then over the intercom
(21:59):
they announced the highest g p A for the football
teams in the state and they won that one too. Whoa, Yeah,
So it didn't just didn't just it wasn't just a
football game, right, It really had so much more to
do about who they were and for other people caring
(22:20):
about them. They became pretty well known throughout of the
United States is that team, And they had a lot
of publicity. They had ESPN, they had Sports Illustrated do
something on them. They had the NFL network to a
whole series about that team called Football Town. So they've
had a lot of publicity that came from that, a
(22:41):
lot of things that let them see that there were
people who really cared about them, and they had fans
all over that we're pulling for them. That all those
things really helped them to become even more proud of
their community and their heritage and their culture. And so
it all worked to other people started really coming and
(23:02):
supporting the games and the youth and putting back into
the community. So it started prospering in every way. And
is it still growing? Are other people continuing because the
turf isn't gonna last forever and there's got to be
other things done. Are other people continuing to build this
(23:25):
this blessing? Well, I will tell you this and this
was a really great example of the impact that has
been seen in Barrow. There have been over a dozen
artificial fulfilleds put in the state or high schools that
are in a remote areas so other communities, and I've
talked to some of the leaders in those communities and
(23:46):
they say, when we saw what happened in Barrow and
the change that happened there, we want that for our community.
So they were just going forward with that. And it's
just sewing back into the youth, Delilah, And that's how
you make great change. Is just a community that has
said number one, they admitted that they had some problems.
(24:08):
They admitted that they had some things that needed to
be corrected, and I think that has to be the
first step. You have to admit that, Okay, we need
some help here. And they let someone like me, an outsider,
come in with these crazy ideas and partner with it.
So it was an amazing partnership between the most southern
(24:29):
community and the most northern community in relationships. And what
would you, Cathy say to somebody who sees a story
on ESPN, or sees the story on the news, or
picks up a magazine and reads the headline. In my case,
it was an email that I got where a lady said,
would you adopt? My children were starving to death in
(24:51):
West Africa? And I'm like, WHOA, what are you talking about?
And three months later I'm on a plane flying to
West Africa and adopting an entire refugee camp. Wow, what
would you say to somebody who is in that situation?
This is what I would say. I looked back on
this project and I thank God that I didn't give
(25:16):
up on this one, because I could have many times.
It was very difficult, had tremendous obstacles, and I thank
God that I just didn't miss it. I'm sure there's
been many opportunities that I have, but now when i'm person,
it was something I remember. I remember that I don't
want to miss it. I don't want to miss it anymore.
(25:38):
So who do you think reaped the bigger blessing out
of that ESPN special? The community? How do you say
their name now that they've changed it back to the
indigenous name Kovik? Who do you think received the bigger blessing?
The the community of us Kiovik or the community that
(25:59):
you built in Jacksonville and the community that you're a
part of. I think in my case, I feel like
our community of Jacksonville got the biggest bood thing. That's
the way I feel, because it opened up our eyes
to so much that has continues to happen because everyone
that was involved it built our fights so much and
we started looking for other opportunities and we're able to
(26:22):
start a nonprofit and help there, and they're you know,
just in several different areas. So I think that it
just continues to multiply. I don't know that it will
ever stop, and I hope it doesn't. I hope it doesn't.
I hope this thing continues to grow and that bridge
that you've built between the northern most point and the
(26:42):
southernmost point, that that bridge becomes a super highway of love. Absolutely,
I agree with you because what an amazing story. And
like you said, lives are transformed when the kids chooses
to stay in school and chooses football over drugs. When
a kid chooses to become are they do they have
(27:02):
a cheerleading squad? Oh yeah, they do. So when those
girls choose to you know, stay aff for school every
day to practice and to learn to do the splits
instead of dropping out of school or choosing a destructive
path that changes lives. It does, it exactly does. So
(27:24):
there's just a whole lot of things that have come
from just an act of kindness and and from putting
down our our prejudice and putting down our fears and
just embracing one another. Amen. Well, thank you, thank you
for writing Northern Lights. Thank you for not listening to
your own fears or to those who would say, mom,
(27:46):
what are you thinking. Blessed are the feet of those
who bring good news and who bring artificial turf. I
love that. Thank you, Thank you, Kathy. And let's stay
in touch because I want to see how how God
is going to continue to grow this highway, this this
super highway of love and relationships. And you know there's
(28:08):
a movie. There's a movie that is based off the
book that is going to be start filming next year.
Oh how exciting is that? I know? Do you get
to play you? Or are they finding unlike an actress
to play you? Yes, they're going after some A listers.
It's a it's quite a large budget film. It's going
to be directed by Andy Tennant, who was the director
(28:32):
for Sweetholme Alabama and Pitch and in the King. So
we've got a wonderful director and just going to be
quite a quite a wonderful movie. So I'm looking forward
to seeing who they choose. I don't know who they're
going to choose, but I'm sure I'll be happy with it.
I'm sure you will, and I'm sure I'll be happy
(28:52):
to talk about it when that happens. Thank you, d
La La, Thank you God, Bless you, God, bless you.
Isn't it amazing what can happen when someone follows the
whisper in their hearts. A wife, a mom, a bank
employee somehow managed to raise five hundred thousand dollars and
(29:14):
get an artificial turf athletic field transported and installed in
the far reaches of the Alaskan Tundra. How about you?
Where could you create some space in your life and
your routine in order to brighten up someone else's day?
Have you ever volunteered to pick up a few groceries
(29:36):
for a friend or a neighbor that's been under the weather.
We all do these things, and they all matter. But
if you yearn to do more, to be more, I
am here to encourage you to listen listen carefully to
that whisper in your heart. The next time you're engaged
in an activity that serves others, think for a moment
(29:58):
on how you're feeling right then and there. If the
answer surprises you in a good way, like Wow, this
is amazing. I'm feeling happy, I'm feeling useful, I'm feeling energized,
I'm feeling inspired because I'm not focusing on my own troubles,
my own pain, Then you, my friend, have hit upon
that passion. Didn't think out loud with as many people
(30:22):
as possible on how delivering groceries to your friend in
need might be expanded. Maybe you make a Facebook post
and say, hey, neighbors on Helpful Street, I shop on
Thursday afternoon and I'm happy to pick up a few
staples for folks on my weekly run if you've had
a hectic week, if you can't make it out, Maybe
another neighbor chimes in and says, yeah, Tuesday's after work
(30:44):
are my shopping days and I could help too. I
don't know. Maybe it takes off. Maybe you find yourself
delivering a carton of milk or eggs to a neighbor
and you find out she's battling breast cancer, or you
that his son just had his tonsils taken out and
they don't have any help. Maybe you decide to organize
a bit and figure out a better system. Maybe you
(31:06):
recruit other neighbors, and before you know it, you're building
community and you're helping people. Kathy that we just listened
to was able to get a lot done and in
her service, she was able to lift the spirits of
dozens of people and encourage young men to heights they
(31:27):
had never imagined. Who knows what can happen if you
take the time to listen. Join me on my next podcast,
where I'll try to inspire you further with another great story.
Until then, my friend would take the time to slow
down and love someone
Hi there, Welcome aboard, Welcome to Love Someone with Delilah.
Maybe you're a listener to my radio show, or maybe
you're just somebody who loves loves listening to podcast and uh,
(00:20):
it's great that you can download these podcasts and listen
while you're commuting or listen at your leisure. This podcast,
Love Someone with Delilah is aimed straight at your heart.
I'm doing this thing with a single focus to inspire you,
to inspire your heart. Now, my radio show at night,
(00:43):
a lot of times we talk about romantic love or
people call in who are falling in love for the
first time. That's not what this podcast is about, not
that kind of heart. I am here to encourage your
heart to make the world a better place. We've all
heard the sayings follow your dreams and do what you're
(01:05):
passionate about. But sometimes in the face of these well
meaning motivational mantras, you can get overwhelmed. What is my dream?
What is my passion? What's wrong with me that I
can't figure it out? What I'm supposed to be doing?
Does that sound like you? You're like I want to help,
(01:28):
I want to make the world a better place, but
I don't know where to start. Well, I'm here to
take a little pressure off of you. I'm here to
tell you that you matter. Whatever it is that you're
doing matters, Whomever it is that you're connected to with
that matters. And I'm here to encourage you to do
(01:49):
just a little bit more, to step out of your
comfort zone. Maybe nothing earth shattering. I'm here to tell
you you don't need a giant bank accout out or
connections with the Jets set. You don't need a law
degree or a medical degree. The only thing you need
(02:11):
is a heart that is willing to serve. My guest today,
I love someone with the lyland. This podcast personifies what
it means to follow the whisper in your heart. Kathy
Parker was a wife, a mother of four student athletes,
had a full time job in a bank, and was
(02:33):
living in the southernmost state in the US in Jacksonville, Florida.
She saw an ESPN clip on TV about a suffering
town in Borrow, Alaska. In desperation, the town had formed
a football club so that it's teenage boys could have
(02:56):
some kind of healthful activity. These inspiring activities to help
them stay focused, to help motivate them. Unfortunately, in a
land of perma frost, their field was nothing more than
a frozen patch of rock and gravel. When Kathy saw
that little clip on ESPN, she was about to get
(03:19):
moved off the bench, so to speak, and into the game.
Kathy is on the phone lines and we're going to
talk about her experience. But before we get into that,
I want to take a moment to thank the sponsor
of my podcast series, the Home Depot. Your Home Depot
likely has the largest selection of new appliances in stock.
(03:40):
That's helpful when you want to see all the options
available to you. And every one of those appliances have
a guaranteed low price attached to it, so you know
you're getting the best deals. If you're in need of
a new appliance, don't put it off. Visit the Home Depot.
More saving more are doing. Hi, Kathy, Hi de La La.
(04:05):
Welcome to Love Someone with Delilah. Oh, thank you. I
have been looking so forward to this, so I'm just thrilled.
That's what my executive producer said when she called my
executive producer of this podcast being my sister. You know,
if your sister loves you and brags about you, then
you're doing pretty good. Well, my sister loves me ferociously
(04:28):
and fiercely and completely, even when I was a horrible
big sister to her growing up. Well, there you go.
You're blessed. Yes, I tell you. Since I had the
privilege of being chosen for your book club my book
Northern Life for August, and then people knew that I
was going to be on your show, I have heard
(04:49):
so many testimonies and I'm telling life changing stories to
La La on how when people were going through a
hard time, maybe through a divorce, and you know, it's
not just women. And there was a man the other day.
It was working on my website and he was retired
military and he was like, Oh, I just loved Lalla.
(05:09):
You've got a lot of fans out there. I tell people,
when you hear something inspiring, something powerful, something that speaks
directly to your heart and what you're going through, that's
when God borrows my voice. When you hear me being
jerky and egotistical, that's that's me taking back over that. Yeah. Yeah, yeah,
(05:31):
Because I can mess up anything, but when I step
back and let God work, it's pretty amazing what he
can do and your book northern Lights. Throughout the book
and everything, you give God the glory uh for this
little miracle, not not little miracle, but huge miracle uh,
(05:52):
that you got to orchestrate, or you got to be
used to orchestrate. So let's start from the very beginning
of your story. Cathy Parker. You wrote the book Northern Lights,
which was our August book Club pick, but the story
goes back a couple of years. What did you see
that started this whole journey to Alaska? Well, the reason
(06:14):
the book goes back a couple of years is I
turned in the original manuscript with David Thomas, bestselling writer
that was helping me, and the publishing company sent it
back and they were like, now you're leaving out some
stuff And I said what And they said, we want
to know what has happened in your life that you
(06:35):
would have such great faith. And it really took me back.
I didn't really want to open up and be personal.
I just wanted to tell all the good stuff. You
don't want to tell any bad stuff. But it made
me really think about that and I knew why, because
God had healed helled me. He'd helled my marriage, a
(06:55):
marriage that was really in trouble and given me hope.
And that's what I was trying to do for these
new friends in Alaska, give them hope. So that's why
the book goes back to some of those struggles that
I had early um in our marriage and then throughout
(07:17):
just um in a family that was packed with a
bunch of wonderful athletes and and just had been given
great talent um and really um superstars in my family
that God hadn't something for me too. So obviously you
know a lot about the game of football going into
(07:38):
this little project. Uh, you had sat on the bench
or sat in the bleachers for how many years? Oh,
a long time because my my husband played ball. We
got married really young in college and he played, um
you know, we're high school sweethearts. So he played high
school ball, college ball, and then went on to play professionally.
And then we had more children, three boys and our daughter,
(08:02):
and they were all athletes and so they were all playing.
So had spent a lot of time and I used
the phrase that I raised my children at the ball field,
and that is so true. We spent so much time
and so much of our effort and money and everything
else was spent at the ball field. Yeah, because it's
not cheap. Those clubs are not cheap. I've got girls
in volleyball, and I have sons that are older that
(08:25):
played club soccer, and and that's not a cheap commitment.
That is a choice. I need a new Washington dryer
or I need to get my boys signed up for
a club soccer. And then like you're talking about multiple
children in a family that are all going in different directions.
Oh yeah, yeah, it is. It is definitely something that
(08:45):
you spend a lot of time, a lot of money,
a lot of effort goes to raising kids at the
ball field because it's not just done for enjoyment anymore.
It's it's it's a commitment, huge commitment, not just on
the kids par but on the mama bear driving them. So,
so you were you were watching ESPN because you come
from the sports background or your how do you hated Ona?
(09:06):
How are you watching? My kids actually were watching ESPN
and they called my husband and I in and they said, mom, Dad,
you've got to see this. And it was about very Alaska,
the most northern American settlement with no roads going into it.
It's on the frozen tundra. And if you don't know
much about the frozen I knew nothing about the frozen tundra.
(09:28):
Alaska to me was mountainous that with evergreens, but the
tundra is not like that at all. It's very flattened
and barren and no trees, no bushes, it's just um,
the frozen tundra. And so they had started a football
program there, and the reason why is because in this
isolated community of less than five thousand people, they had
(09:51):
a lot of social problems that came from kids not
staying in school, and so their dropout rate was extremely high.
A end their team suicide, as well as um drug use,
just things that kids could get involved in when they
had a whole lot of time on their hands, when
they were not motivated, that kind of thing. And they
(10:11):
had done a survey and asked the kids, well, what
could we implement in the school. They were given a
one time funding to implement a program that would keep
kids in school, and the kids came back and said, well,
if we had football, but it was it was extremely
problematic because there's no roads going in or out the
closest communities miles away. They have to fly to play
(10:32):
every opponent or fly the opponent in, And then where
are they going to play a game on the frozen
tundra When it dolls with the ice during the wintering.
In the summer months, it just turns into mush. So
they played on this gravel covered field, and you can
imagine the cuts and sprained ankles and all the things
that came from that. So it was a real eye
(10:53):
opening especial that we were watching. But I knew that
that sport would work. I had seen what had done
in our community. My husband was coaching, and I saw
him mentoring young men and we'd have them over to
our home and they stay with us, meat with us
and all that, and I knew that it was something
that could have a profound impact on that community. In fact,
(11:15):
they even said to my husband, I said, I understand
why people up in arms about the money that it's
going to cost. I said, but that football program, it's
going to save their lives. And my husband said, you're right,
Well what do you do about that? So I had
never been to Alaska. I didn't know anyone from Alaska.
But my husband was overseeing putting in an artificial turf
(11:37):
field in our area. And sunny Florida, And it was
like God said, if your kids need this, how much?
Just more? Did they need it there where they can't
even grow grass? So I had this bright idea of
raising the funds, giving them an artificial turf field like
the one we had, and teaching them how to play football. Okay,
(11:59):
I minister, I'll be right there for just a second, Cathy,
hold on, we need to hear a lot more of
this amazing story, but I also need to give some
time to this message. So how soon after you saw
this special on ESPN did you have this bright idea of, Hey,
(12:19):
you know what, we're putting artificial turf in here in Florida,
Let's just head to north to Alaska and do the
same thing there. How soon after that thought came to you,
did the thought come to you that this is gonna
be a really hard, almost impossible task. Well, you know,
I had this tendency of jumping off the cliff, you know,
(12:40):
and I think that it was quite soon. It was
that same day that we saw that special on ESPN.
I announced to my family, what, you know, I felt
like God had shown me and that what we were
going to do. And they again, you know, mom, that's
that's impossible. And my husband was the same way, and
(13:00):
I kept trying to get him to let me talk
to the turk company that was putting in our field,
and finally he said, Okay, I'll get you a meeting,
and I just kept talking about it and talking about it.
I think that I really started realizing how hard it
was going to be, but I was already well into
(13:21):
the process. Now. I tried giving it away. I tried renigging,
I tried everything you could do um to say of
I've made a big mistake here, but just could not.
It was such a burning in my heart that I
just could not give up on it. And so when
we held a press conference at our high school and
(13:43):
announced to the world, that was probably the hardest thing
that I had to do, because I knew then there
was no going back. There was no going back. You're
exactly right, there's no going back because you said it
publicly and you can't take it back, that's right. And
so that I was sick, I mean just literally sick
(14:04):
to my stomach. But we did that press conference and
the story just spread like all across the United States.
We started getting cards in the mail from people all over,
just ordinary people that would say things like, you know,
athletics had a great impact on my children or my grandchildren.
(14:24):
I want to be a part of this. We had
a family whose son was killed on nine eleven in
the World Trade Center, and it was the money from
his estate. They said, he would love to be a
part of something like this, and just people from all
over wanted to be a part of it, and they
started giving. And so that was extreme motivation to keep going.
(14:46):
And yes, there were tremendous obstacles, so many times where
we thought that it couldn't happen. We UM had six
hundred and fifty thousand pounds of products transported out of
the state of Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Canada into a place
how many pounds into it over six hundred fifty thousand pounds,
(15:06):
six hundred and fifty thousand pounds, taking it to a
blaze with no roads exactly, and it went by every
means of transportation. Ups was a huge component through the
Lower forty eight through semis and trains and then uh
tote a big barge company out of Seattle. I mean,
(15:27):
just on and on and on, partnering together to see
this come to fruition. So from the time frame, Delila,
when we made that announcement in that press conference, that
just you know, just made me so I was so
afraid to do to watching them play on that bright
blue it's bright blue with yellow end zones and sits
(15:51):
just a hundred yards from the Arctic Ocean. It was
less than six months, so it was just a tremendous miracle.
So did you go to to Barrow before that trip? No,
that was your first trip. Was actually delivering it first trip.
We'd already sent installers there to work on it and
(16:13):
to get it ready. I actually flew in with thirteen
others from Jacksonville, Florida and national media to watch that
first game. Wow. So you didn't go up there beforehand
and meet the kids and meet the coach and get
inspired that way, you just kept working diligently behind the scenes.
(16:34):
Most of our communication was over the phone. Now, we
did bring the team to Jacksonville during that time after
we had made the announcement. Our head coach at the
time in um in Jacksonville, Florida, Darryl Sutherland, just a wonderful,
godly man, and he said, Cathy, it's not good enough.
To just give them a field. We need to teach
(16:56):
them what it's like to be student athletes. They need
to come down, participate and spring practice with us, stay
in our homes, and so we did that and that
was life changing for us. You know how when you
go and you want to do something for someone, you
think I'm just so gonna bless them that you end
up being the one so blessed. That was exactly what
(17:16):
happened when the team came to Jacksonville and stayed in
our homes. Our eyes were open the things we had
taken for granted for so long, and just an amazing
thing to be able to reach out and help that
community and get a relationship with people that had really
sort of been forgotten there on the outskirts on that
(17:38):
North Slope Borough Um people of Indigenous people, their Native
American people, and they have amazing cultures, amazing things that
they hold strong too, like taking care of their neighbors
and respect for elders, and just amazing kind of way
of life living off the land, sea in the air
(17:59):
and not taking anything for granted. And we had gotten
far away from some of those concepts, and so making
the relationship with these people and just seeing what wonderful,
wonderful people they were. It was an amazing thing for us.
It really really blessed us much more than we ever
blessed them. And your kids, how did it impact your
(18:21):
four kids when that was going on, Well, to be
caught hotest. When it first started happening, they were like,
mom has lost it this time, and she's really good
to embarrass them. This is not going to be good.
But that's our job, isn't it. You know it is.
I constantly come up with ways to thoroughly embarrass my
children just so that they will have a story. It's
(18:42):
when they're older. I mean I rolled down the windows
of the car and sing out loud at the top
of my yeah exactly exactly. So they were very skeptical
calls at first, but then when we ended up bringing
the team and they go to share, you know, especially
with with athletes. So I'll let you know, your kids,
(19:05):
you spend so much time on your diet, your exercise,
your performance, your workout, your your your you spend so
much time on that. But to be able to take
something that you're good at. My kids have been playing
ball since they were babies, so to be able to
take something that you knew how to do and teach
(19:25):
someone else who had never played that game before. That
was an amazing thing to see happen, and it was
so rewarding for our kids to be able to transfer
their knowledge onto this team who never played. Now, do
your kids or anybody in your community that helped take
on this challenge, did they still have relationships with the
(19:46):
team in Barrel. Yes. In fact, I'm going in about
a week and a half back to Barrow. I've been
several times and the name has changed to the Chiavic
and that the people are amazing. The relationships have grown strong.
Now the young people that we've helped on that first
(20:08):
team have grown up and we get to see what
kind of husbands they are and what type of fathers
they are. We went to that first game in two
thousand and seven, and then seven years later I went
on my second trip and we had a party and
had a gathering of all that original team that could
(20:29):
come just to see how they turned out who they were, Because,
quite honestly, if these were young people who had not
turned out to be great citizens and community leaders and
and fathers and husbands, and there would there would be
no story, because it would not have worked. It would
have been a waste of money. But they were just
(20:52):
in the with what had happened in their lives and
the things that have happened through then being able to
participate in that sport and to have home it was
an amazing thing to see. So did they see did
the school see like a change? Was there a drop
in the dropout rate? Was there a drop in the
suicide rate? Was there an increase in test scores? Did
(21:14):
they see the direct correlation? Oh? Yeah, we had that
data pretty quickly. Within two years of starting the football program.
The graduation rate had been in the forties. It went
into the high eighties, So it almost doubled in two years.
We had tremendous data to pull from as far as
(21:37):
what had happened in the school. I will tell you
in two thousand and seventeen, just two years ago, that
football team won the state championship, and I would have
was very fortunate to be able to attend that game.
And of course I'm just crying and thinking it cannot
get any better than this. And then over the intercom
(21:59):
they announced the highest g p A for the football
teams in the state and they won that one too. Whoa, Yeah,
So it didn't just didn't just it wasn't just a
football game, right, It really had so much more to
do about who they were and for other people caring
(22:20):
about them. They became pretty well known throughout of the
United States is that team, And they had a lot
of publicity. They had ESPN, they had Sports Illustrated do
something on them. They had the NFL network to a
whole series about that team called Football Town. So they've
had a lot of publicity that came from that, a
(22:41):
lot of things that let them see that there were
people who really cared about them, and they had fans
all over that we're pulling for them. That all those
things really helped them to become even more proud of
their community and their heritage and their culture. And so
it all worked to other people started really coming and
(23:02):
supporting the games and the youth and putting back into
the community. So it started prospering in every way. And
is it still growing? Are other people continuing because the
turf isn't gonna last forever and there's got to be
other things done. Are other people continuing to build this
(23:25):
this blessing? Well, I will tell you this and this
was a really great example of the impact that has
been seen in Barrow. There have been over a dozen
artificial fulfilleds put in the state or high schools that
are in a remote areas so other communities, and I've
talked to some of the leaders in those communities and
(23:46):
they say, when we saw what happened in Barrow and
the change that happened there, we want that for our community.
So they were just going forward with that. And it's
just sewing back into the youth, Delilah, And that's how
you make great change. Is just a community that has
said number one, they admitted that they had some problems.
(24:08):
They admitted that they had some things that needed to
be corrected, and I think that has to be the
first step. You have to admit that, Okay, we need
some help here. And they let someone like me, an outsider,
come in with these crazy ideas and partner with it.
So it was an amazing partnership between the most southern
(24:29):
community and the most northern community in relationships. And what
would you, Cathy say to somebody who sees a story
on ESPN, or sees the story on the news, or
picks up a magazine and reads the headline. In my case,
it was an email that I got where a lady said,
would you adopt? My children were starving to death in
(24:51):
West Africa? And I'm like, WHOA, what are you talking about?
And three months later I'm on a plane flying to
West Africa and adopting an entire refugee camp. Wow, what
would you say to somebody who is in that situation?
This is what I would say. I looked back on
this project and I thank God that I didn't give
(25:16):
up on this one, because I could have many times.
It was very difficult, had tremendous obstacles, and I thank
God that I just didn't miss it. I'm sure there's
been many opportunities that I have, but now when i'm person,
it was something I remember. I remember that I don't
want to miss it. I don't want to miss it anymore.
(25:38):
So who do you think reaped the bigger blessing out
of that ESPN special? The community? How do you say
their name now that they've changed it back to the
indigenous name Kovik? Who do you think received the bigger blessing?
The the community of us Kiovik or the community that
(25:59):
you built in Jacksonville and the community that you're a
part of. I think in my case, I feel like
our community of Jacksonville got the biggest bood thing. That's
the way I feel, because it opened up our eyes
to so much that has continues to happen because everyone
that was involved it built our fights so much and
we started looking for other opportunities and we're able to
(26:22):
start a nonprofit and help there, and they're you know,
just in several different areas. So I think that it
just continues to multiply. I don't know that it will
ever stop, and I hope it doesn't. I hope it doesn't.
I hope this thing continues to grow and that bridge
that you've built between the northern most point and the
(26:42):
southernmost point, that that bridge becomes a super highway of love. Absolutely,
I agree with you because what an amazing story. And
like you said, lives are transformed when the kids chooses
to stay in school and chooses football over drugs. When
a kid chooses to become are they do they have
(27:02):
a cheerleading squad? Oh yeah, they do. So when those
girls choose to you know, stay aff for school every
day to practice and to learn to do the splits
instead of dropping out of school or choosing a destructive
path that changes lives. It does, it exactly does. So
(27:24):
there's just a whole lot of things that have come
from just an act of kindness and and from putting
down our our prejudice and putting down our fears and
just embracing one another. Amen. Well, thank you, thank you
for writing Northern Lights. Thank you for not listening to
your own fears or to those who would say, mom,
(27:46):
what are you thinking. Blessed are the feet of those
who bring good news and who bring artificial turf. I
love that. Thank you, Thank you, Kathy. And let's stay
in touch because I want to see how how God
is going to continue to grow this highway, this this
super highway of love and relationships. And you know there's
(28:08):
a movie. There's a movie that is based off the
book that is going to be start filming next year.
Oh how exciting is that? I know? Do you get
to play you? Or are they finding unlike an actress
to play you? Yes, they're going after some A listers.
It's a it's quite a large budget film. It's going
to be directed by Andy Tennant, who was the director
(28:32):
for Sweetholme Alabama and Pitch and in the King. So
we've got a wonderful director and just going to be
quite a quite a wonderful movie. So I'm looking forward
to seeing who they choose. I don't know who they're
going to choose, but I'm sure I'll be happy with it.
I'm sure you will, and I'm sure I'll be happy
(28:52):
to talk about it when that happens. Thank you, d
La La, Thank you God, Bless you, God, bless you.
Isn't it amazing what can happen when someone follows the
whisper in their hearts. A wife, a mom, a bank
employee somehow managed to raise five hundred thousand dollars and
(29:14):
get an artificial turf athletic field transported and installed in
the far reaches of the Alaskan Tundra. How about you?
Where could you create some space in your life and
your routine in order to brighten up someone else's day?
Have you ever volunteered to pick up a few groceries
(29:36):
for a friend or a neighbor that's been under the weather.
We all do these things, and they all matter. But
if you yearn to do more, to be more, I
am here to encourage you to listen listen carefully to
that whisper in your heart. The next time you're engaged
in an activity that serves others, think for a moment
(29:58):
on how you're feeling right then and there. If the
answer surprises you in a good way, like Wow, this
is amazing. I'm feeling happy, I'm feeling useful, I'm feeling energized,
I'm feeling inspired because I'm not focusing on my own troubles,
my own pain, Then you, my friend, have hit upon
that passion. Didn't think out loud with as many people
(30:22):
as possible on how delivering groceries to your friend in
need might be expanded. Maybe you make a Facebook post
and say, hey, neighbors on Helpful Street, I shop on
Thursday afternoon and I'm happy to pick up a few
staples for folks on my weekly run if you've had
a hectic week, if you can't make it out, Maybe
another neighbor chimes in and says, yeah, Tuesday's after work
(30:44):
are my shopping days and I could help too. I
don't know. Maybe it takes off. Maybe you find yourself
delivering a carton of milk or eggs to a neighbor
and you find out she's battling breast cancer, or you
that his son just had his tonsils taken out and
they don't have any help. Maybe you decide to organize
a bit and figure out a better system. Maybe you
(31:06):
recruit other neighbors, and before you know it, you're building
community and you're helping people. Kathy that we just listened
to was able to get a lot done and in
her service, she was able to lift the spirits of
dozens of people and encourage young men to heights they
(31:27):
had never imagined. Who knows what can happen if you
take the time to listen. Join me on my next podcast,
where I'll try to inspire you further with another great story.
Until then, my friend would take the time to slow
down and love someone
Host
Delilah
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.