Two summers ago I was working at a regular Universal Cheerleaders Association (UCA) residence camp at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Miss. It was the first day, and I was excited to be there. Everyone was getting to know each other, and we were all preparing for what the week would hold.

In sports, there exist two liars of the highest order. They lie to competitors of every level from novices to high achievers, the obscure to the famous. These liars are fluent in every language and are skilled in deceiving without awakening the conscience. They both whisper and shout with equal effectiveness, and they never tire, take a day off, or worry about being caught.

After moving around to several different places in the Midwest, my family landed outside of Chicago in Naperville, Ill. I was the oldest of three, and my brother, Marcus, and sister, Candace, and I all grew up loving the sport of basketball. Some of our favorite memories are from basketball trips to gyms all across the U.S.

While our family was close, we didn’t have much of a spiritual life. We went to church for Easter, Christmas and weddings, but that was about it. Looking back, I can see that I definitely had a Christ-shaped void in my heart.