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There was a powerful calm in the air as Barton College Head Coach Ron Lievense prepared for the start of the 2007-08 men’s basketball season.
Alone in the Bulldogs’ locker room in rural Wilson, N.C., Lievense moved quietly from locker to locker, praying. He prayed not for a return of the international fame that accompanied Barton’s national championship victory a season ago, but for each of his players, that they would look to the Lord for guidance and give Him the glory in all things.
One is an unassuming, 6-foot-2 junior point guard who chooses to strike from afar. The other is a 6-foot-8, senior forward whose flashy, aerial deeds make the highlight reels. One comes from a Methodist background; the other Catholic. One was raised in a well-to-do family where life’s big challenge was growing up between two sisters. The other’s parents worked hard to steer him away from the dangerous, sometimes fatal, lawlessness that plagued his extended family.
For more than 30 years, women’s basketball coaches have stood on the shoulders of Kay Yow. An undeniable legend in the sport, her bio reads like an excerpt from “College Basketball’s Most Desirable Accomplishments.” But when thumbing through the pages of that biography, note that Yow’s fiercest competitor hasn’t been on the court.
Three times the North Carolina State head coach has been diagnosed with breast cancer, most recently stage IV in November 2006. But likened to any other rival, she has shown up for cancer’s game, determined to fight.
Satisfaction would seem to be one of the most elusive commodities on the planet. In the world of sport it is not uncommon for a sideline reporter in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl to ask a player or coach for his thoughts and to hear, “We’re going to win it again next year!” The game isn’t even over yet, but the player is already thinking of next year.
Sadly, this is often due to the inability of the highly achieving to simply be satisfied with their achievements. There is the constant push for more, bigger, greater and higher.
As athletes we have good days and bad. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. I like winning better. Enough losses in a row and any of us can get a little down. So how do we maintain a joyful life? The Bible provides some answers. In Paul’s first letter to Thessalonica, he wrote three directives and one reason combining to show us the way to a joyful life:
Rejoice always: More than a command, this reassures us that we can find something to be joyful about in every circumstance. Lead with our will, and let our emotions follow.
Pray constantly: If taken seriously, we’d never sleep, eat, or study—probably not what he meant. Surely he meant there is never a situation in which prayer is not proper and powerful.
If you are not eating breakfast, you are missing the most important meal of the day! When Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, He said, “Come and have breakfast.” It was a time of nourishment—physical, relational and spiritual. Too bad most of us just rush into the day, undernourished physically and unprepared spiritually.
Breakfast is essential for consistent energy, focus and concentration, easier weight loss and more consistent moods. But just eating breakfast isn’t necessarily going to get you started on the right foot.
Next time you are outside, take a moment to reflect on the wind. Consider how the contrasting currents of air can either wrench homes from the ground or gently spin the hairs on your arm. Consider that in one location there may be a powerful tornado and in another a gentle breeze. Both are distinct, but not separate. They are streams of air—winds that have been stirred up in different ways. The result of each is determined by the many factors that contribute to their development. And in many respects, our human condition is no different.
For a time, Iver McDonald was superhuman. Well, not really. But at least she felt that way. That’s what can happen when you’re young and brash and enter high school as an elite softball player good enough to make the varsity as a freshman.
“I had this horrible attitude,” she said. “I thought I was the stuff in softball—like I walked on water. I thought I was invincible, that nothing could touch me.”
But things weren’t going so well in her personal life.
It was once thought that shorter men made the best golfers. But that turned out to be a myth, facilitated only by the fact that the best players at the time were under 5-foot-11.
Stewart Cink is 6-foot-4, 205 lbs.—impressive stature compared to those tour champions of the past, and tall enough to set him above the tour leaders of the moment as well, but only by an inch or two. But those who know Stewart Cink wouldn’t likely reference his measurements as what separates him from the crowd. Because more impressive than his physical presence is his spiritual stature, which is created by the manifestation of the Holy Spirit inside him.
It was a first for the two brothers, playing on the same Major League field.
Graduating from the childhood batting cages of their backyard, life had come full circle for Matt and Jonny Diaz. Their parents smiled from the stands; they couldn’t have been more proud. Each young man had followed his own individual calling, but this Saturday night they both found themselves delivering for Braves’ fans at Turner Field—one with a bat, the other with a guitar.
Have you ever seen the show “MythBusters”? Every week, these two crazy guys try to separate truth from urban legend. They take commonly accepted ideas like the ones that say eating turkey makes you sleepy or that certain sodas will completely dissolve rusty bolts, and then they prove them to be true or false.
I have to wonder if the Apostle Paul would have been the host of this type of show from a spiritual perspective. He certainly would have had a blast busting the “irreverent and silly myths” of his day with the truth of Jesus!
Sheltered from the stark contrast separating the world’s “haves” and “have-nots,” FCA Colombia Director James Oilar was living the good life as a sports club manager in Chicago.
But when a friend asked Oilar a simple question, it took him on a journey that eventually landed him in Bogotá, Colombia, to help lead FCA’s first international Huddle.
The question? “James, what has to happen in your life so you don’t consider it a failure?”
Native Americans, after inventing lacrosse centuries ago, called it “the medicine game.” They said it was a supernatural gift, possessing the power to bond and heal communities.
“People from the tribe hoped if they played hard enough and the ‘Creator’ was pleased with the game, he would take energy from those who played and transfer it to someone sick in the tribe,” said Christian Zwickert, the fifth-year men’s lacrosse coach at Wesley College, a small United Methodist school in Dover, Del.
To this day, Leah O’Brien-Amico remembers the phone call. It came a decade ago, but it seems like yesterday. It was in the morning. O’Brien-Amico, who was at the time still in the process of building her softball-legend status as part of the U.S. National Team, was standing in the lobby of a hotel chatting with some teammates.
She was in a good mood; it was a joyful time. An Olympic gold medal-winning athlete, O’Brien-Amico had just wrapped up her final season at the University of Arizona, where her team had won the College World Series about a month earlier. It was the third national title Arizona had won while she was there.
One is a respected veteran rounding out an All-Star career. One is making a mid-career transition to the Arizona desert. One is a rising star coming off his first season in the majors.
Three men, all at different points in their game. Three men, all at different points in their faith. But three men, all with great insight on Christ and baseball.
Take note: This is wisdom from three of the most stand-up infielders in the game.
My morning run had been a battle of both mind and body. It had been incredibly cold outside--below freezing--and being pre-dawn, it wasn't the best time of day for speed work. I'd been frustrated for most of the way, asking my muscles to wake up and run faster when all they wanted to do was go back to bed.
One of the reasons Olympic athletes are so successful is that they are constantly training for an event. They spend most of their lives training for future competition. In fact, most athletes spend more than 90 percent of their time training for competition and less than 10 percent actually competing.
They train with tremendous focus and purpose because every day is important. Missed workouts are not an option. They have a goal in sight, which serves as a motivator and constant reminder that they need to stay on track if they are going to have future success.
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