Do you know what a Shepard does to one of his sheep that runs away? He breaks its legs and carries it on his shoulders until it heals. The sheep learns to trust and love the Shepherd as he takes care of it. In my case the One Good Shepherd went to that extreme out of love when I was running far away from his fold.

There is something about the season of March Madness that gets my adrenaline pumping. All you March Madness junkies know exactly what I am talking about. Maybe its the intensity of the game. Maybe its the sweat, tears, time, and heart behind the scenes that go into it. Maybe its my love and respect for the athletes who fight and give everything on the court and afterwards have no regrets; win or lose, because they know they gave all they had.  

Goal-setting party time was coming up in July. This was ritual. But one thing was different this time: we set the goal to be state champions. Why not? We were best friends, we had played together all year round ever since we were 13 years-old, and we played AAU basketball every weekend. Basketball was our passion and because of it, Petoskey was one of the best high school teams in the state of Michigan.

The season was off to a great start. We were 9-0. While listening to Kool and the Gang in the locker room, I never dreamt how much my life would change after this tenth game.

There was 1:38 left on the clock. A substitute was coming in for me, waiting to enter the game. I was at the top of the full court press. The whistle blew and the ball was about to be thrown in. I watched number 33's eyes as she scanned the court for her teammate whom I was guarding closely. The ball sailed through the air and I jumped hoping for the steal. I remember this moment as if it was slow motion. Knocking the ball out of bounds, I landed on my left leg trying to gain my balance, but fell to the ground. Something happened. Pounding the ground with my fist I knew something went terribly wrong. Every basketball players nightmare had come true.

The next thing I remember, I was lying on the bench, staring at the scoreboard with tears welling up in my eyes, thinking, "Why? Lord, why would you do this to me? You know how much I love playing. You know I want to play in college. Why would you ruin it for me?" I knew his hand was in this. I knew he had the power to prevent it from happening. My frustration and denial gave me false hope of returning by the end of the season. I'll be back.

The girls finished 24-2 on the season, winning the conference, district and regional championship and still to this day hold the best record in school history.

It was hard for me to accept that my knee injury put an end to my career. People always went out of their way to ask me how I was doing. Things like this only happen to good players, one coach said. Why? I thought to myself. That makes no sense. I could care less about the all-state honors, the newspaper articles or my scoring average. I just wanted to play. I wanted to play in college and I wanted to know why I couldn't. Only a few, turbulent years later did I receive the answer.

Life for a normal teenage girl isn't easy. She wants her freedom. She doesn't want anyone telling her what to do. Despite my Catholic values and love for the faith, I had other priorities; sports being at the top of the list. I had friends. I liked parties. I had a boyfriend, whom my parents weren't fond of. I kept on running far away from the fold not realizing the Good Shepherd was watching my every move. 

I, a stubborn sheep, worked hard rehabilitating my leg still aspiring to play college sports and leave the confines of home. Accepting that my opportunity for basketball was gone, I tried for softball. I received a scholarship, but something wasn't right. The coach and the university didn't fit. So, I tried again. I went to a university as a walk on for basketball. They were last in the league so I figured I could make it. The coach showed no interest.

I did everything in my power to get lost in the desert, but out of love, the Good Shepherd wouldn't let me go. He heard a silent plea escape my soul and he knew the moral misery it was immersed in. He started to reveal to me what I may have already known deep down; that my love for sports would not fulfill my desire for happiness, nor would parties or friends.

I began the healing process and the healing process is painful. Resorting to tough love to keep me safe from the fangs of the wolves is the choice I made him make. Who knows where I'd be if during that 10^th game of the season the Good Shepherd didn't go out to look for me

As you may or may not know, the consecrated women are intense basketball players so I still enjoy the game several times a week. Actually, Mater Ecclesiae- the formation center for consecrated women in the U.S. during their first years of consecrated life just became accredited as a college. So I can now say that my dream of playing college basketball is fulfilled. He is faithful and I am safe in the arms of the Church, in the fold of the family of Regnum Christi as a consecrated spouse of Christ, living with my eyes set on the final goal and eternal goal.

I am in my forth year of consecrated life, currently finishing m studies at Mater Ecclesiae College in Greenville Rhode Island. My current apostolic time is spent working with young girls, ages 10-16 in a club called Challenge and teaching catechism to middle-school youth . When the youth believe in something, when they are driven by ideals and when this ideal is love incarnated in the person of Jesus Christ, there is no stopping them. I love working with the youth because of their enthusiasm and pure, innocent love for our Lord. They are capable of moving mountains. When asked about what attracted me to the consecrated life I say, "To be honest, at first nothing attracted me to the consecrated life; it was the coworkers I saw who donated a year or two of their lives to Christ and worked alongside the consecrated that attracted me. I loved the fact that they were so normal but so in love with their faith at the same time. So after giving two years as a co-worker along side the consecrated women in Dallas, TX, Christ is the one who attracted me to my vocation. My whole life I wondered what His will for me was and how I would ever find it, so when I knew it was His will for me to be consecrated totally to Him how could I say noto eternal life?"

Nicole DeLyon can be reached at mec03@inteducators.org