Faith + Athletics: A Mother’s Perspective

By Heather Thomson

This past month Texarkana celebrated its first Olympian athlete as Jarrion Lawson traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, competing and placing fourth in the Long Jump.

Jarrion’s parents, Carol and Jerrel Lawson, travelled to Brazil to watch their son compete. Before the Lawsons’ trip, they spent some time sharing stories about Jarrion’s youth.

Jarrion’s mother remembers he was always at the park and playing t-ball by the time he was three.

She says, “He was really good at baseball. He played first base and shortstop. We would watch him run the bases very fast.”

Eventually, Carol explains, “He got tired of baseball and so we put him in a summer track program. We thought that would be good from watching him run the bases.”

“We would really engage him in any activity that would wear him out by bedtime,” Carol Lawson says.

Jarrion Lawson attended Liberty Eylau Christian School for early elementary school, CK Bender Elementary School and Liberty Eylau Middle and High School.

“For me, the athletic part was always secondary to the academic part,” Carol comments. “When Jarrion came out of Liberty Eylau Christian School in third grade, he was testing ahead of his age. We wanted to keep that momentum going.”

“I did not mind he did it all – baseball, track, football and band.”

Carol says that when Jarrion went to school each fall she always met with his teachers and let them know her expectations and made sure he was on an accelerated academic track.

“To me, it’s the parents’ role to know what’s going on. Parents can be watchful and pay attention academically. Is your child being challenged? The child can excel academically without it being a hard thing to do. Excelling can become the norm for them, and that is what they come to expect.”

In Jarrion’s case, going above and beyond happened with his academics and athletics. HIs parents let him play and participate in many different sports growing up.

“We were always busy. Busy is good. As a parent you are trying to find out what your child is good at, which way is the best way for them to go,” she says. “You are learning about your child, you have to watch your child. What are they interested in? What do they excel in? And then use that.”

As a parent you also have to back up what you say. She says that Jarrion was always a good child so she did not have to discipline him very often. She remarks that if you are going to tell your child if they make a C in a class that they will have to sit sports out, then you have to hold them out of sports. You have to follow through.

Carol remembers having to discipline Jarrion at a young age and she would “shut him down from television and music. He could read a book, and it had to be a book I had already read so he could tell me about it.”

But she is quick to say, “He was a good kid, so I never really had to get on to him.”

She also describes guiding his independence. “When he was young, he always wanted to pick out his clothes. I would say, ‘oh no’ but I would give him three choices and he would feel he had a choice and made the choice he wanted.” She says Jarrion has always been very independent.

When asked if she always had high expectations for Jarrion she says, “My expectations are high. A child will usually rise to those expectations set high by the parent.”

She says you can help them meet the expectations by encouraging them and by letting them know what they have to do to get there.

Jarrion is a self-motivator, according to Carol. He will discipline himself to do what he needs to win. She remembers one instance in particular: “He was training for an event, and he was pushing hard at every practice. But he would not stop there, he was going out to the track after practice and I think the coach actually called and asked him to take a break and stop coming out so much.”

The Lawson family is a very spiritual family. They attend Mount Orange Baptist Church where Jarrion’s father, Jerrel is a Deacon. His mother has held various roles in the church, such as teacher and leading Bible studies.

Carol says, “We prayed every day before school. We discussed the importance of putting God first.”

She says they also taught how to pray and what to pray for as Jarrion grew up. She says, “Everything we prayed for we watched manifest; his scholarships, good grades, athletic performance. Watching those prayers manifest has increased his faith in God as a young man.”

Carol comments, “As parents, God shares a wealth of information about our kids if we seek and ask. He would love to help nourish them if you ask.”

Through Carol’s own personal spiritual life she has experienced in dreams that Jarrion would reach success and have influence over others later in life.

Through the church she says they groomed Jarrion to be in the public eye by allowing him to speak at functions and banquets and leading the welcome prayer. He also participated in a Junior Deacon program that gave him leadership roles.

“Every parent has expectations, but has to prioritize them, then balance them. For me, I am heavy in academics, what is in the mind. I prayed for his success, wisdom, knowledge and understanding to maintain it. I prayed for a young person with integrity and the ability to walk in all of that which develops.”

When asked the hard questions of how she prepared Jarrion for the tough issues that face teenagers in today’s world and also as an athlete that might have to face choices like performance enhancing drugs, Carol had one response to all the issues.

“There is a lot out there. Those are conversations early on. What does the Bible say? Regardless what society says. If everybody’s truth is the truth we’ve got a problem. The internet makes these conversations necessary early in life. As a parent you need conversations early because they are exposed.” She explains, “we have discussed with Jarrion, if the Lord has not placed that ability in you, then that’s not what he wants you to do.”

“You never have to sin to get what God has for you,” she says.

“We lose a lot of children from God in college. While he was away at college we would still talk about scriptures and engage him in daily prayer.”

Carol falls back on their foundation at home, the continuous teaching to him of who is God in your life. Then, as Jarrion left the house, she prayed that he would be continuously walking in the principles of God.

This past year Jarrion decided to go professional in his athletic competition when he signed a contract with ASICS.

“My role now is to help him through the transition to a professional athlete.” She says, “He is setting his own goals now, he set those goals to get where he is, that’s the pattern we set as he was growing up. I am starting to let go, but trust what we have instilled.”

Lawson’s 2016 Accomplishments:

Longest jump in the world, January 2016
SEC indoor long jump champion
SEC outdoor long jump Champion
SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year,(4.0)
SEC Field Athlete of the Year
NCAA indoor long jump Champion
NCAA outdoor long jump Champion
UofA Scholar Athlete of the Year
National Track and Field Athlete of the Year
CoSida Academic Award
SEC Male Athlete of the Year
Bowerman award finalist
ESPY Award Nominee
At NCAA championship in June:
100 meter chanpion,
200 m champion,
Long jump champion.
The first to accomplish 3 national championships in one meet in Jesse Owens 80 years ago. Jarrion waas only the 2nd man in college history ever to accomplish this feat
Scored 31.5 points at the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the most points by a single man in the modern day era of the meet.
6 time NCAA Champion
19 time All American
Member of Olympic TEAM USA 2016