Devotional
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February 03, 2012
Set:
As a University of Kansas Jayhawk, it’s hard for me to admit this. But this morning I was totally proud of Missouri men’s basketball coach Frank Haith. With the big KU-MU rivalry game coming up this weekend, there’s a lot of trash-talking going on between the schools, and in one of the most brutal rivalries in the country, it can get pretty nasty.
With the game being hosted at Missouri, Coach Haith issued a charge to the Mizzou fans to, instead of jeering KU, focus on cheering FOR Mizzou. In essence, don’t worry about trashing the opponent; concentrate on cheering for and supporting your home team. Now that was a classy move.
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February 03, 2012
Set:
I was raised a coach’s son and have coached football for 16 years at the college and high school levels. In that time, I’ve learned that both levels have had one thing in common. I’m not talking about blocking and tackling, but the time between the third and fourth quarters. When everyone in the stadium holds up four fingers representing that their team is going to close the game out by winning the fourth quarter.
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February 02, 2012
Set:
As athletes, most of us have experienced victory on the playing field, in the gym, on the road, etc., whether on a team or as an individual. Although we may not remember all the victories, we can probably recall how we felt during that time of victory. It was overwhelmingly satisfying, wasn’t it?
As athletes, most of us have also experienced defeat—maybe even more than victory. And just as we can remember the feelings of triumph, we also remember those of loss—the sadness, disappointment and remorse. Just plain defeated.
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February 01, 2012
Set:
A couple summers ago I was fortunate to travel to Manchester, England, as a coach for a lacrosse tour. The tour was a wonderful success and both the players and coaches made some awesome lifelong connections. For me, however, it went much deeper.
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January 31, 2012
Set:
When I read the story of Moses, most of the time I think to myself, “Why are these Israelites so whiny and doubting toward God? I mean, come on! He brings plagues; He parts the Red Sea; He feeds them for 40 years…What is their problem?" Almost every time I read a new verse, I see God doing something miraculous for them that causes them to believe again for about a millisecond before they turn away again.
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January 30, 2012
Set:
What does it mean to be sitting on the sidelines? It means we’re not in the game. In sports, there’s a limited amount of athletes who can be in a game at one time, and there are many reasons why certain ones have to sit out: they are injured, they aren’t starters, they’re lower on the depth chart, they don’t quite have the skills, or they’re just fans.
But what about those times when we are healthy, skilled and highly capable enough to be in the game, but we still choose not to go in? This is rare, but it does happen. Maybe we’re afraid, not comfortable with a situation, or that we’re losing and don’t want to be blamed for it.
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January 27, 2012
Set:
Sandi could tell you that your balance follows your gaze. He’d stopped his mountain bike just above a trail intersection. I was waiting for him on the trail below him and to his right. Being new to the kind of pedals that held his feet captive in metal clips, he focused on getting his left foot out before he lost all of his forward momentum. Proud of his success, he turned his gaze to the right to meet mine — and his weight followed his eyes. In slow motion he keeled over down the slope toward me, still unable to free his right foot from the pedal. He tumbled unhurt into an avalanche of late-autumn leaves, branches and his own bike.
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January 26, 2012
Set:
Last weekend I attended a three-day coaching clinic. It's always exciting, rejuvenating, and enlightening to listen to accomplished coaches explain their football "x's and o's." I always leave with more knowledge than when I arrived.
The day after the clinic I heard a sermon about bearing fruit and how the Lord expects us to grow spiritually. We all have to age physically, but growth and spiritual maturity are optional. In my life, I see such parallels between coaching and our spiritual walk, and between this clinic and the sermon.
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January 25, 2012
Set:
In sports, how many times have we heard someone tell us to get our game faces on? It’s a saying that’s used to bring up the idea of focus. When athletes put on their game faces, they are ready for competition. They’re ready for the trial ahead of them and prepared to give their all. They are totally 100-percent focused.
As athletes or coaches, most of us would, at one time or another in our careers, have put on a game face of our own in sports, but what about as Christians? Have we ever thought about a spiritual game face? The same things that help us put on our game faces for sports can help us put on our game faces for God.
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January 24, 2012
Set:
All through the NFL playoffs, I spent much time scanning the various channels and listening to the experts’ analytical approaches to each matchup: who was going to win, who should win, who won't win and why it was important to win at all.
