Chaplain’s Column

Are you ready for some football?

Can you feel it?

The passions are stirring! Excitement is in the air. The season of Fall is upon us.

The gridiron takes its rightful place at the center of our attention. This month is the “kick off” of football season. Everyone is putting on their team colors and jerseys. You have your fantasy picks in place. All eyes are on the field.

Do you see him?

That special player, that individual on the field who has the potential to change the game with one play.

In this game called life, who has their eyes on you? Are you willing to be someone’s game changer? What are you going to do today that has the potential to change the outcome of your life or those around you. The big question in life is not, what are you here for? But Who! Find your purpose not in what you do but for who you do it for.

Go out to the beach and get all the sand you want.

It is free.

The same sand that is free on the beach is $25 a bag when you go to buy that sand to put in a playground. The same sand that is free on the beach and $25 a bag on the playground, add some paper and glue and now that sandpaper is $5 a sheet. Take that same sand that is free on the beach, $25 a bag on the playground, and $5 a sheet on sand paper and go with me to Silicon Valley where they make computer chips, and now that sand is $500 minimum for a computer chip.

The same sand but different value. Its value is in its use. Your use is determined by whose hands you are in.

A football in my hands is just another football, not very valuable. A football in Tom Brady’s hand is priceless.

Your value is not in your abilities, or what you have or don’t have. Your value is priceless because you are in the hands of God. The scriptures declare that before you were a thought in the mind of your mother, God knew you and created you for a purpose. You were born for a purpose. You were created to be a game changer.

Be a difference maker in someone’s life.

Don’t settle for just ordinary. Ordinary is way overrated. Do what you were created for. If 100 other people can do it let them do it. You do what you were created to do. You do you!

In his book “In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day,” Mark Batterson wrote,

“Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshiping what’s right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze new trails. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don’t try to be who you’re not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Don’t let fear dictate your decisions. Take a flying leap of faith.”

Be a game changer!