Early Football Season Potential and Tension

A new season of American football has just begun. This year, some are predicting the Green Bay Packers will be in the Super Bowl championship. The Minnesota Vikings could be quite good as well. So locally here there is some excitement – and tension. We have heard things like this before. Dare we hope?

We hear about the potential. But there have been many years with potential. And when the potential did not become reality, we were disappointed. There is a tension inside. Dare we hope for success this year?

Sports fan know all too well that potential does not always pan out in the way we hoped. And outside of sports, most of us experience some of the same.

Each day there is potential. Each weekday evening has potential. Each weekend has potential. If you are anything like me (and hopefully not too much), you may have mixed success. The To Do list goes on for years. And I keep dreaming up new things to do and accomplish. I make plans sometimes. But then…

I come home. I fix something to eat. I might catch up on some news, mail, and personal news on Facebook. And before I know it, it is almost bedtime. Some of the potential seemed to get lost along the way.

This past weekend was a mixture as well. I had some firm plans. I had a bit of success. But other things I hoped for did not come through. A class went longer than expected. There were some things at home. I took time to blog. And other stuff… Some aspects of the weekend were quite disappointing. But I also must share that some things were much better than expected. So I suppose it all averages out to a B grade or something. It wasn’t all bad. But it had the potential to be better.

And where did the summer go? How about the past year, the past decade? How about our lives? How about our relationships, our careers, our parenting, our impact on the world? There was tons of potential. What happened?

Sometimes there are external forces and circumstances that hinder us. But mostly, we made choices. And I, personally, do not always choose what is best. Perhaps you have made a few choices here and there that could have been better as well.

And at this point you understandably may be feeling, “This is quite a downer.” But Jesus did not come to condemn the world. He came to save it. Refer to John 3:17.

Yes, most of us have not always chosen well, in big and small ways. And we have sinned and offended God and other people. But it does no good for me or you to say “We are bad and will never amount to much. We blew it.”

You are forgiven. Hear it. You are forgiven. Say it to yourself, “I am forgiven.” As a Christian, I have authority to declare that over your life. (John 20:23) And I am forgiven too. Just as sports teams start out the new season, we now have zero losses.

We are set free. It is a new day. There may be some consequences from the past. But we cannot change the past. We start with this moment forward. We can walk in freedom, freedom to do right, freedom to go higher, freedom to think higher. In the next minutes, in the next days, we will have choices set before us. With a clean slate, we can choose well. The coming days and years have incredible potential for amazing things. Lord, help us make it reality.

Football Camp

It was fun to join my sister Robyn and her family at a scrimmage between the Minnesota Vikings and the Kansas City Chiefs last weekend. I'm not a huge football fan. But my son is.

It was interesting to see how they do things. And we did get to see some good plays from fairly close seating. A key point for us this year is that the scrimmage was much more affordable than a regular game. Overall, I was glad we went.

I was disappointed they seemed to end early. A little fight broke out at the end involving a Viking player that needs to control his temper better. I am not sure if that was coincidentally at the end or they ended an hour early. Anyway, it was all kind of fun to watch them practice and scrimmage.

I am not big into celebrities. And that topic could easily be a whole article or two. But people do pay big bucks and dedicate many hours to view professional athletes, whether live or on TV.

Those professional football players we saw do have some special skills way beyond what most of us could do. And it is easy for us to start viewing life with a spectator mentality. Watching the professionals celebrates their abilities. But it can easily subtlely influence us into an attitude that the pros and stars are "better" than us.

God has created you uniquely. We share much of the same raw material. But the package called "You" ("Me") is special. Your physical abilities, your personality, your skills, your talents, the things you do more easily than others, your appearance, your voice, and many more things make you unique. And, for those committed to following Christ, additional giftings are available, consistently and "as needed".

All in all you have something unique to offer. You are designed to complete some tasks that no one else can do better. Your combination of who you are and what you have experienced has prepared you to impact the world and eternity in unique ways.

We have all seen how someone with experience can better help another person going through a similar situation. And even the painful events and struggles can help us empathize and serve in ways we could not without going through those upleasant times.

So celebrate who YOU are. Maybe you aren't a pro athlete or movie star. You actually get to be home most nights and weekends. Maybe you can do bookkeeping or run a machine or manage people or care for chidren far better than most of those pro football players could. They are good at their role. You are good at your role. Other than pay, there isn't much difference. They just have a different job.

There is no need to follow the crowd or try to be someone else. God created a variety of people. We can find things where we excel. And we can learn to say "No" to some tasks that are not a good fit.

Celebrate and embrace the special creation that is "You".