Football is the American sport. I'm sorry to all those baseball fans, soccer fans, basketball fans, and the three hockey fans out there, but football is the greatest sport on the planet. From around September to February, we are graced with heavy pads, tall goal posts, and the chance to shout at the ref. It is a time that Americans can come together and fight about something we can all appreciate - large players tackling and beating the sense out of other players of a different uniform. What's not to love?
However, I am appalled at the shocking lack of football fans I come across at times. That is, I am amazed that anybody who is truly American would not like football. Although I respect their decision to be boring and forgo watching it, I still don't understand it. After next weekend (i.e. Superbowl XLV) ESPN will be forced to air all of the boring sports. Sure, we have March madness, but then what? Andre Agassi and Maria Sharapova? Baseball? Dancing with the Stars? Where's the blood, guts, and sweat in that? It will be a sad time when all my Tevo will record will be WEC fighting and the Ace of Cakes on the Food Network.
So where did this inset love for football arise in me? I have no idea. Probably because I am a product of my environment. It's been a love I've had to cultivate, but I don't think I'll be losing this love any time soon. For years, I've stood behind my Pittsburg Steelers and less-than-spectacular-at-bowl-games Texas Tech. I also remember the first time I watched the Pittsburg Steelers go to the Superbowl. Rookie quarterback, MVP/record breaking Jerome Bettis, my hero Hines Ward, and Bill "the Underbite" Cower. We won, we celebrated, we partied, we yelled, we celebrated some more and then --
We waited.
For September that is, although, we might as well have skipped September. The Steelers went from an 11-5, Superbowl-winning record to 8-8, less-than-desirable season. It was awful. Disappointing. Pathetic. We didn't even grace the playoffs that year. My dreams of a repeat were dashed in the preseason!
Isn't life like that sometimes? We come off of an astounding, unbelievable season of our lives and enter in to an awful, disappointing, and miserable season just like that? Sometimes it feels that we are on top of the world; other times, we are at all time lows. And this back and forth, up and down, good and bad swinging makes us nearly sick! If you are like me during those times, doubt occasionally creeps up. We wonder, "Does God really know what he's doing up there? How does this help me at all?"
There was good news with the Steelers, though. We came back in 2007 with a 10-6 record, then to another 12-4 Superbowl-winning season in 2008. Of course, had that awful 2006 season never happened, we would have never traded players only to get an improved line. We would also never had replaced our tired coach with Mike Tomlin, who would later become the youngest coach to win a Superbowl in history. We would have never rethought our offense and changed our strategy. We would have never changed, we would have never gotten better, we would have never improved.
Sometimes, the crud we deal with in life is for the better. It doesn't always feel like it but in the whole big scheme of things, it is worth it. If you are like me, then you experience ups and downs every once and a while. Heck, if you're like anybody, you experience them. Sometimes they go on forever; sometimes they seem to never end! But God, in his great and awesome plan for you and me, has it all figured out. Even though we would like to be in a constant state of bliss, he knows that the only way to grow and the only way to be effective and reach the full potential of who we are, we have to go through cruddy seasons. It is how we grow. It is how we adapt. It is how God uses us in the most profound and miraculous ways. If we simply dwelled in those blissful moments, where would our testimony be? How would our faith be tested? How would we stay standing when some garbage is thrown our way? Despite those low moments we go through, if we cling to the God who is always faithful, we won't fall over when adversity comes our way.
So here we are, in 2011, facing Superbowl XLV as the Steelers gear up for the big game again. I will don my Steeler's jersey, towel, cups, hat, and socks and head off to the festivities. I'm usually not into sports analogies, but hey, it's the Superbowl - I'll make an exception this time. No matter what your season has been right now - an awesome "12-4" or a miserable "8-8" or an even more regrettable "4-12" (Sorry Bronco fans) - know that God has been planning, even before the off season, to take you to heights you couldn't imagine! Allow him to teach you, to coach you, and prepare you, because your season is fast approaching!
KB
"Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down!" -Philippians 4:6-7a (the Message)
You hit it perfectly man.
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