Packer back Lacy speaks of the power of prayer in Carthage visit for An Evening With Eddie Lacy
Green Bay Packers running back Eddy Lacy addresses the crowd at Carthage College on Friday night.
It’s hard to say what goes through Eddie Lacy’s head as the Green Bay Packers running back charges through obstacles standing between him and the end zone.
Even he admits to not knowing that guy on the field.
“I’m trying to figure out who he is, too,” Lacy laughed as he spoke to a crowd of about 300 fans at Carthage College Friday night. “I don’t know what the switch is that makes me go from who I am to who I am on the field, because it’s so not my personality.”
Friday’s fundraiser for Outreach Hope Ministries was presented by the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
In his appearance at Carthage College, Lacy spoke about his faith and how it kept him going when his family was displaced from their New Orleans area home following Hurricane Katrina.
Listening to him talk about those years, the audience began to get a sense as to why the otherwise mild-mannered, jovial 24-year-old has no problem overcoming challenges in his path.
Long and winding road
Lacy, who hails from Geismar, La., about an hour west of New Orleans, was in ninth grade when Hurricane Katrina hit. His family evacuated the area the day before the storm, but their home was destroyed.
“We took what we could from the house, but for the most part there was nothing,” Lacy recalled. His family found temporary housing through a home sharing program before eventually relocating to a small trailer.
“Nothing was the same,” Lacy recalled. “Before Katrina, I had your typical kid life, but then that all changed.”
The next three years Lacy describes as “a real dark place. The only thing I succeeded at during that time was football.”
Then, one night, Lacy’s mom came into his room crying.
“She began to tell me everything I was feeling and thinking,” Lacy said. “But the thing is, I’m someone who is really guarded with my emotions, so I was puzzled how she knew these things.”
When she was done speaking, Lacy’s mom turned and left the room. It was then that he realized how his mother knew the challenges and emotions he was battling.
Starting to believe
“My mom prays a lot. She prays for me so much,” he said. “And that is when I really started to believe I had a chance. I could do something more. Without that moment, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today.”
There’s no hiding Lacy’s gratitude for his parents (last fall, he made good on his promise to buy them a house), or the power of prayer his mother instilled in him. For other young people experiencing a dark place, Lacy left them with this advice.
“Your parents, they’re there for you no matter what. So let’s start there,” he said. “And it’s prayer. There’s definitely power in prayer. And I learned that the night my mom talked to me.”
He also learned dark times are meant to visit, not stay.
“Those times are building you up for what’s to come in the future,” he said. “And I think that’s what prayer and your parents help you with.”
Credit to SARA RAE LANCASTER
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