Never Meant to Carry the Game Alone

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor” – Ecclesiastes 4:9.

“There she is. Iceman” I heard one of them say as two of the boys from our football team passed me in the hallway. I laughed and stood a little taller that day. Funny how one word can instill confidence or help to build up a person. I didn’t know exactly what they meant, just that I thought Iceman was a pretty cool pilot in the movie Top Gun. The problem was I wasn’t anything like him. I mean I wasn’t a boy and I wasn’t a pilot, so what on earth could they mean? I didn’t expect a powder-puff football game to teach me anything about life, let alone about love or marriage. But looking back, I can see how the Lord uses even the smallest, most unexpected moments to shape us.

I wasn’t the quarterback or the star runner. I was a linebacker. My job was to go after the flag of the person with the ball. I took my job seriously, just as I tend to do with most things, but life has a way of reminding us that even our best efforts can become muddled. Sometimes I accidentally tackled the person rather than grabbing their flag. Sometimes I was not quick enough or went left when I should have gone right. At the time, I didn’t notice, but I realize now often I was carried by the strength of others. 

I was learning I could have never made those plays alone. It took each and every person on our team to cover one another. Our hearts, all quietly running after the ball, communicating “I’ve got you. We’ll do this together.” When one of us is going after the ball, another one of us is stepping back to fill in the gap or notice when someone needs help, thoughtfully assessing a situation, or standing beside someone when their confidence is shaken.

Looking back, I can see how God’s love often arrives through people. I can see the times He gently kept the ball from my grasp and entrusted it to someone else because His plan was always bigger than the play I could see. Again and again, like Iceman did for Maverick, God has taught me to trust the people He placed beside me—to believe that when my hands are full or my footing gives way, that it is okay to give space to someone to step in to fill the gap and say, “I've got you. We'll do this together. We'll make the plays neither of us could make alone.” 

Heavenly Father, thank You so much for helping us to make the plays we couldn’t make on our own by providing us with a team. Thank You for running beside us and removing the ball from our grasp when it wasn’t meant for us. Thank You for every teammate, every calling, and every season that reminds us we were never meant to carry the ball alone. Have a beautiful day, God. Amen!

Y'all have a beautiful day!

All My Love,

` Jen

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Hold the Football - Between the Laces - click here.