On Monday we shared the story of Texas Rangers' All-Star Josh Hamilton, whose career was initially derailed by drug and alcohol addiction. After several stints in rehab, he was still unable to escape those vices under his own power. Looking back, he admits he didn’t realize how he was hurting those closest to him as his life revolved around satisfying his craving for more drugs and alcohol. Once he hit bottom at his grandmother’s home in 2005, his heart was opened to God’s love and how much he needed Him to overcome his addictions and heal the brokenness in his life.
 

The story of Texas Rangers' outfielder Josh Hamilton has been well-chronicled. Major League Baseball’s first overall draft pick in 1999, his career and future was derailed by drug and alcohol addiction beginning in 2003. In his own words, he hit rock-bottom on Oct. 5, 2005 when he stood on his grandmother’s porch, having nowhere else to turn after going on a drug binge. She took him in and under her care Hamilton’s heart was opened to God’s love and how much he needed Him to heal the brokenness in his life.
 

The freshmen football team opened their season with a 16-14 win. Even though the game was called at halftime due to storms their momentum would likely have carried them through the second half. They didn’t look like a newly formed freshmen squad. Their footwork specifically was like that of a more progressed team. Sure, there were a couple of plays and other things that needed to be corrected, but the practice they’d put in showed up in the way they played the game. There were well-executed routes, wonderful kicks, a quarterback who stood his ground, an NFL-like catch, a fantastic run and a blocking wall that was picture perfect.

It was an ancient custom to shoot an arrow or cast a spear into the country which an army intended to invade. We see this in college football when the Florida State Seminole rider hurls the spear into the ground or when the USC Trojan warrior pierces the soil with his sword.

An open window in the pasage above symbolizes a variety of opportunities that come to us during the course of a competitive contest. The release of the arrow in this opportune moment is our ability to capitalize on the opportunity and turn into a surge of momentum for the team. The bow and arrow represent the strategic development of our talents and deployment of our assignments.

As a basketball coach, I’ve always put a big emphasis on communication among our team during practice on the court because, without it, players seem lost. It’s frustrating as a coach to watch mistakes occur when all it takes is a little talking to one another to get things corrected. I sometimes stop practice and ask the kids why they can get in trouble for talking in class, or how they can talk for hours on their cell phones, but when it comes to communicating on the court, they just won’t do it.

It was the biggest decision of my life: What was I going to be when I grew up? I was a junior in high school, and I felt like I had to decide what college to attend and what my major would be. And to those pressure-packed questions I added the anxiety of getting a high score on my ACTs. I remember thinking, "How can I make such big decisions? There are so many choices! How will I know what to choose?"

There’s a scene in the Disney movie “Aladdin” in which Jasmine is out on the balcony of her palace and Aladdin is on his magic carpet trying to get her to come with him and go explore “A Whole New World.” The key line in the scene is when Aladdin says to Jasmine, “Do you trust me?” Jasmine agrees to trust Aladdin and is taken on the ride of her life!

That same type of trust is required from us as Christians when we decide to follow God. With God, belief alone is not enough; we must trust Him with our lives. Just believing in God is no good to us. We need to have faith in Him, and trust is the next step from faith.

Something I recently learned has come from watching cross country. My daughter started competing in the sport for the first time, and it’s been amazing to see the gifts God has given some of these teens to be able to run with such speed and just awesome talent.

The thing I have really come to love is watching the runners at the back of the pack—the ones who have to struggle and fight and overcome so many obstacles just to be out there to run. They fight just to finish as their teammates cheer them on. They are the ones who put me in awe and make my heart burst with pride.

What are athletes without goals? Goals are obstacles that help us reach higher levels of ability. In Philippians 3:14, Paul says we should keep running for the goal God has for us. In doing this, we all have to lean on the Lord to know where we are going.