Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. James 1:12
There are a lot of fun moments in my job as a football coach but, there is nothing funny about my job. That sounds like an odd statement to make but I honestly believe it with all my heart. I also honestly believe I have one of the most fun jobs on the earth. Does that even make sense? Hopefully I can explain. It is always fun to have a former player come back to visit and hear how his life is going for him and it is fun to have little kids get excited about meeting the head coach. Nothing is more fun than being with a group of young men after a win and celebrating with them in the locker room. It is fun to walk onto a field on Friday nights with a group of young men for competition but it is the farthest thing from funny. There should be laughter in the game of football and the young men who play should look back on their career and remember it as a fun time of their life. If they were to describe their career to me as fun, I would know exactly what they meant. Fun would mean that they totally immersed themselves into the game. They did not take a day of playing for granted and they were committed to being successful, whatever it took. For the players who are totally committed, the game is fun because their commitment always leads to winning. And winning on Friday nights is the ultimate fun. For a player who thinks it was all funny, I would probably also be able to describe his career exactly. He was the player who never totally committed himself to his teammates and never worked hard enough to make losing matter. He was so busy being funny that he never had any fun moments. His Friday nights ended with losses, but he really barely noticed because he was too busy being funny. As coaches, we often joke about the amount of difficulty we go through during a normal week, just to get to the game on Friday night with a hope of a chance to win and have some fun.
The fun moments in football usually come after many long days of tiring work and stressful moments. The funny moments in football are usually experienced by the members of the team who halfheartedly commit to their team and are too busy being funny to ever experience the fun.
I believe our Heavenly Father wants us to enjoy life and He wants us to have fun. He also tells us that a life, lived to glorify His Son, will be filled with difficult moments, days of wondering which direction He is leading, and a world of evil, constantly tempting us to live for ourselves. He also promises that a life lived for His Son will ultimately lead us to eternal life with Him. Until that day, He needs us to experience the fun of being used by Him to lead another to a relationship with His Son. So many in our world spend their life being funny, but their life is empty and they never experience the fun of seeing God's will fulfilled in their life. They never have the fun of witnessing God's calmness in their life while all around them are struggling through life. While the world is busy being funny and living a life of selfishness, He needs us to continue the daily tough work and wait for the fun days of an eternal life with Him.
Chad
Friday, October 19, 2018
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
"The game always pays you back"
12 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Luke 12:12-14
Throughout my coaching career, I have had the blessing of seeing the impact the game of football can have on a young man’s life. Whether it is a boy from a dysfunctional family who finds his, “family”, among his teammates or a young man from a supportive family who learns how to help others who are not as fortunate. I have seen the young man who the game forces to put away his selfish ambitions for the good of his team, when everything about his nature is saying to do otherwise. I have witnessed the young man whose life was headed in a terribly wrong direction but, when he felt accepted by a team, found something that made his life valuable. I have coached the young man who was a daily struggle for me as a coach only to return a few years later to tell me how great his life is and how much he credits the game. I have seen young men who do not have a father figure in their life and do not trust any men, find a coach who pushes them to succeed, holds them accountable for their actions, and counts them as their own son. I have also been blessed to coach the young men who are wise beyond their young age, whose character causes me to evaluate my own life, and who go on to change the world. I have been blessed to see the positive impact the challenges of this game can have on a young man and I have also known the young men who are never willing to commit to their team and continue on with a life of little commitment or devotion. They could never put away their selfish ambitions and accept the benefits the game has to offer those who totally put themselves aside for the good of others.
There is an old saying about the game that has always meant a lot to me because it is very true in my life. The saying is, “The game always pays you back”. There are some who the game repays them with stardom, popularity, or even a huge pro contract. Others are paid back through lifelong friends they would have only made by being a member of a team. Some are paid back on the day they walk into a job interview and meet the person making the decision, who was also a football player. Many others received the same payment from football that I received as a young man. The game gave me an opportunity to find out if I was mentally tough enough to handle the challenges of life. Through the game I learned that I could handle waking up and doing my job regardless of how I felt because I had proven to myself that I could on the many long days in a football players life. Whether the game pays a player back early in his life or years after the playing days are over, it always pays you back. The game also continues to pay back until the end of each players life.
Our Heavenly Father also repays our good deeds that are selflessly done for one of His children. In the verses from Luke 14, we are told about a banquet. At first glance the story does not appear to have anything to do with humbly serving others without expectation of being repaid. The verses tell us, when inviting guests to a banquet, to not invite our family, loved ones, or neighbors because they can repay you with an invitation to their banquet. You will receive your reward on earth instead of in heaven. Instead we should invite those who cannot repay us and make them our honored guests knowing that we will one day receive a reward in heaven that is much greater than a banquet invitation. The game of football always repays those who honor the game by giving our best efforts and seek to make their teammates better players and people. Our Heavenly Father also promises to reward us for living our life in a way to make others better without anyone ever knowing. And His rewards are much better than recognition and fame on the earth.
Chad
Throughout my coaching career, I have had the blessing of seeing the impact the game of football can have on a young man’s life. Whether it is a boy from a dysfunctional family who finds his, “family”, among his teammates or a young man from a supportive family who learns how to help others who are not as fortunate. I have seen the young man who the game forces to put away his selfish ambitions for the good of his team, when everything about his nature is saying to do otherwise. I have witnessed the young man whose life was headed in a terribly wrong direction but, when he felt accepted by a team, found something that made his life valuable. I have coached the young man who was a daily struggle for me as a coach only to return a few years later to tell me how great his life is and how much he credits the game. I have seen young men who do not have a father figure in their life and do not trust any men, find a coach who pushes them to succeed, holds them accountable for their actions, and counts them as their own son. I have also been blessed to coach the young men who are wise beyond their young age, whose character causes me to evaluate my own life, and who go on to change the world. I have been blessed to see the positive impact the challenges of this game can have on a young man and I have also known the young men who are never willing to commit to their team and continue on with a life of little commitment or devotion. They could never put away their selfish ambitions and accept the benefits the game has to offer those who totally put themselves aside for the good of others.
There is an old saying about the game that has always meant a lot to me because it is very true in my life. The saying is, “The game always pays you back”. There are some who the game repays them with stardom, popularity, or even a huge pro contract. Others are paid back through lifelong friends they would have only made by being a member of a team. Some are paid back on the day they walk into a job interview and meet the person making the decision, who was also a football player. Many others received the same payment from football that I received as a young man. The game gave me an opportunity to find out if I was mentally tough enough to handle the challenges of life. Through the game I learned that I could handle waking up and doing my job regardless of how I felt because I had proven to myself that I could on the many long days in a football players life. Whether the game pays a player back early in his life or years after the playing days are over, it always pays you back. The game also continues to pay back until the end of each players life.
Our Heavenly Father also repays our good deeds that are selflessly done for one of His children. In the verses from Luke 14, we are told about a banquet. At first glance the story does not appear to have anything to do with humbly serving others without expectation of being repaid. The verses tell us, when inviting guests to a banquet, to not invite our family, loved ones, or neighbors because they can repay you with an invitation to their banquet. You will receive your reward on earth instead of in heaven. Instead we should invite those who cannot repay us and make them our honored guests knowing that we will one day receive a reward in heaven that is much greater than a banquet invitation. The game of football always repays those who honor the game by giving our best efforts and seek to make their teammates better players and people. Our Heavenly Father also promises to reward us for living our life in a way to make others better without anyone ever knowing. And His rewards are much better than recognition and fame on the earth.
Chad
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