Northern Lights

One Woman, Two Teams, and the Football Field That Changed Their Lives

De: Cathy Parker, David L. Thomas - contributor

Narrado por: Nan Gurley

Life is hard in Barrow, Alaska. Football mom Cathy Parker first caught a glimpse of this far-away reality from the comfort of her Jacksonville, Florida, living room while watching a 2006 ESPN report on the Barrow Whalers, a high school football team consisting mostly of Alaskan Inupiat Eskimo natives playing in the most difficult of conditions and trying to overcome the most unlikely of odds. These players - raised in the northernmost town in the United States, where drug abuse is rampant and the high school dropout rate is high - found themselves playing on a gravel field, using flour to draw the lines. And while the community of Barrow felt a strong pride for their boys, many felt football was not worth the investment. That is, until Cathy Parker became involved.

Overcome by a surprising stirring in her soul to reach out and help, Cathy was determined to build a suitable field for the Barrow Whalers. Not fully understanding the many obstacles, both financially and logistically, that would line the path ahead, Cathy charged forward with a determined spirit and a heart for both the football team and the greater community of Barrow. She spearheaded a campaign that raised more than half-a-million dollars through people all around the country rallying around one common goal: changing the lives of young men through football.

This is not just the story of how the Barrow Whalers became the first high school above the Arctic Circle to have a football program. This is the story of how we are sometimes called to the most unlikely of causes and to believe in something a little bit bigger, changing our own lives and the lives of others for the better in the most unexpected of ways.

Follow along on the journey with photos available in the audiobook companion PDF download.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Cathy Parker (P)2019 Thomas Nelson

Inspiring

Great story of following God’s word and how there will be trials to better show His hand on it all.

Cheered

Happy tears - loved feeling the emotions with the story! Best one yet and I knew it will be a best seller forever

Great story of faith and hope!

I enjoyed this story of faith and hope! I loved that Mrs. Parker felt driven by her Lord to DO something (to bring a football field to Barrow, Alaska) and she DID it! A lot of people TALK about doing something, or they DREAM of doing something, but that’s as far as they get. Mrs. Parker felt driven. She took the ball and RAN with it (no pun intended — really)!

Putting a real football field may have initially SEEMED like a small thing, but it turned into a huge thing, and at times, the obstacles placed in the pathway of making the dream of a football field in Barrow a reality, seem insurmountable. There were times Mrs. Parker wanted to give up, and a few times she was so close to doing so, but somehow, some miracle would happen — a connection to exactly the right person who could help overcome an obstacle exactly when he or she was needed the most, a monetary donation, a donation of someone’s time, skills or a companies physical items or transportation services.

Through all the obstacles, Mrs. Parker never let anyone forget WHY this project was so important — the purpose was to change the lives of the kids who were turning to drugs, alcohol and crime in the absence of a feeling of community, which sports seems to do across America. Not only did Barrow have no field, the small team they had didn’t have all the correct gear they needed and some really didn’t know how to PLAY football. It was a lot to overcome, but with the support of her husband, family, friends, schools, coaches, media outlets and SO MANY OTHERS, Mrs. Parker was finally able to make the dream a reality.

Within a few short years the high school drop out rate went from very high to non-existent. All the kids were graduating and had pride in their accomplishments.

I do have a few complaints about the story. It felt to me that an awful lot of the story was spent by Mrs. Parker bragging about the MANY accomplishments of every person in her family (her husband and four kids). Readers aren’t introduced to the Alaskan players until Chapter 10 or 11.

I would have liked a little more focus to have been on some of the individual Alaskan players and their homes lives in addition to all the Parker’s lives and accomplishments. How did what happened with the field changed or bettered their lives in general?

How about the lives of all the people in the town (and the SCHOOL who didn’t play football)? What about the GIRLS who don’t play football? Except for use of the field for the occasional picnic in the off-season, what did the girls get out of the bringing of football to Barrow? Only a few select boys actually got to play.

Overall I enjoyed this book. It was ALWAYS positive and upbeat and it is extremely clean in every way. It’s a book about listening to God and ACTING when you feel strongly called to a mission. It’s about giving unselfishly to others of yourself, your time, your money and your HEART.

It’s an uplifting story that will lift your spirits will leave you asking yourself, “What can *I* do to make my mark in this world, to inspire others, to spread God’s word and to INSPIRE OTHERS TO DO THE SAME?

I would recommend this book to a friend.

A faith building encounter!

I laughed and I cried. How one woman’s vision to bring a football field to a community inspired people from across the nation to come together and bring hope to an isolated community. This is a beautifully inspiring story of overcoming adversity through faith and determination, and how anything is possible with God. This is not just a feel-good story, it’s a faith building encounter.

Wanted to like

First off - I’m not a Christian. I wanted to like the book. I liked the family and the concept of what they were trying to do for less fortunate people in a far away place. But, I don’t react well to people telling me god told them to do something. And this was ever present throughout the book - to the point I just couldn’t listen anymore. To bad, because I was enjoying the story to that point. Maybe I don’t respond well to people who tell me they talk to god and he tells them what to do. I’m thinking “Under the Banner of Heaven”. Anyway - I wish that a review had told me this in advance - I would not have bought the book then.