A Most Memorable Moment

I shared a story with my Sunday School class yesterday morning as they have followed along with me during this journey. It was the story of flying to Amarillo, Texas in spring of 1976 to play in NWIT. Coach Yow had a huge fear of flying at that time and she had not flown very much. It was a beautiful, clear, sunny day when we flew out of Raleigh. She was very apprehensive about the trip and I kept telling her we would be okay, flying was safe, anything I could to help her relax. We boarded the plane and as I looked at Coach Yow, she was hanging on to the seat so tight, her knuckles were white, her eyes were closed, I asked her if she was ok and she said, "Melanie, just pray." We got to Dallas and got to our next gate, looking out the window, we saw a much smaller plane which we were taking to Amarillo. Coach Yow said, "I wonder where our plane is?", I told her she was looking at it. She turned pale and quickly said "I'm not getting on that plane, we'll have to do something else." I tried to console her and tell her it would be okay, it was a short flight. I said, "Coach Yow, we have to get on that plane, we have tickets to get on that plane, we have to get there this afternoon." That was even worse! She was ready to rent a car and drive to Amarillo! She said, " I will meet you there." Well, we convinced her to get on the plane and we made it safely there and back, and of course she has flown many times since then. We won't even talk about how Susan was on that trip!

However, my most memorable moment is one most people do not talk about or even know about, it is not about a win or a loss, or a plane or bus ride, or a funny incident or saying. It is about a week in fall of 1975 when Lori Moore (Staffer with Campus Crusade) and I went to see Coach Yow about having a team meeting with women's basketball team. She ask me to go with her, since as a maanger I had an "inside track" with Coach Yow. I was in a discipleship group with Lori and Campus Crusade had met with some of the other teams and she wanted to get in with the women's basketball team. We sat in Coach Yow's small office and told her we wanted to have a meeting after practice one day. She said "Okay, but I'm not cutting practice short and they have to get out in time to go eat at Case, we have to get ready to play." We agreed and set the meeting up for a couple of days later. The morning of the meeting, Lori and I had breakfast at the Student Center and then went over to the front steps of Reynolds to pray about the meeting. We asked for open doors and opportunities to witness to the players and staff, but I remember one specific part of the prayer, we prayed that "at least one person would make a decision for Christ and we could spend time with that person, disciple them and they in turn would have an impact on the rest of the team and others."
Practice was in Carmichael gym and was going as planned, but Coach Yow had reminded me about our deal, practice would go the full intended time. I told her it was okay. About the end of practice, Lori and some other staff members walked into the gym, Coach Yow told them she was just about finished, but had to go "one more time". We ended and headed across the way to a classroom. Lori introduced the staff, one of them shared a short testimony, we handed out some booklets and response cards. I had a lab to go to, so as I slipped out the door, I told Lori to call me later and let me know what happened. When I got back to my room, I had 3 messages that Lori had called. I anxiously called her and she was so excited she could hardly talk. She said, "Melanie, one person,we got our prayer answered, one person prayed with us today to accept Christ - -guess who!" I started naming players, she kept saying "no, guess again". I finally said, "I give up, who is it." She said, "Coach Yow. Coach Yow prayed with us today and asked Jesus into her life!" I said, "Lori, don't be pulling my leg, don't be teasing me about this." She assured me she was not. With the phone in my hand, I dropped to the floor in amazement, thinking, this is more than we asked for. That began a different part of the relationship I had with Coach Yow over the next 4 years and some 33 years later. She would sometimes drive her car on road trips and ask me to ride with her. I would get in the car and she would have her Bible open and we would talk about what the scripture said and what it meant. Most people thought we were talking basketball, but our conversation was far more important than that. We used to joke about the fact that sometimes she would ask me to do something and I would already have it done.. She used to say I could read her mind. We both knew it was more than that -- - it was a bond like nothing else, sisters in Christ.
As the tears flow from my eyes, I know that prayer has been answered over and over again as many of you are followers of Christ today because she shared with you the difference Christ made in her life and she wanted you to have that same relationship. Thank you, Lord.
Love you all,
Melanie (Oakley) Orton '74-'79