As I stood in the phone booth, tears came to my eyes. I had just called my parents to let them know that I would be flying home that night to Los Angeles. The Cleveland Cavaliers had become the third straight NBA team that I had failed to make.

How could this happen? I had such high hopes of realizing my dream to play in the NBA when I was drafted out of the University of Iowa, but it was becoming clear to me that dreams don’t always come true.

As the tears ran down my face, I thought that my days as a basketball player were over. I had lost my identity. Basketball was my life. What would the future hold now? I should have known that my future was in the hands of Someone bigger than myself. Yes, God was still in control, even if I was not aware of it.

It was shortly thereafter that I received an invitation to play fulltime with a sports ministry team. For the next nine years I was able to travel the country (and the world) playing basketball and sharing my faith with thousands of people. The tears were long forgotten as God began using me in ways that I had never imagined.

Today, as I minister to leaders in our nation’s capital, I am reminded daily that God still holds my future as well as the futures of those around me. I now know to hold plans loosely, resting securely in the knowledge that my Father may have a far different plan from my own.