(American) Football

In a way, I cannot believe I am writing this, but I am. For a long time, I understood "football" to be the sport in which players kicked a black and white ball with their feet. My minimal exposure to this other sport, known in the rest of the world as "American football," where people geared up with helmets and tons of padding in order to pile themselves upon one another, made it difficult for me to understand what this sport was about. For a long time, I did not understand why people used their hands to play FOOTball and how a sport was played based on human pileups.

Then I came to this land where everyone seemed to be crazy about this "football" game. I learned that people would pay a lot of money for tickets, begin their tailgating hours before the games, eat a lot of food, and dress up in team colors. In my case, it was orange and blue, a color combination which I first found quite unusual. I also quickly learned that game time was the best time to go to the library or grocery shopping.

Years later, things changed. I lived in a town during the time our NFL team won the Super Bowl and our young college football team had an undefeated first half of the season and blasted its way up to the number two ranking. Feverish atmosphere.

In between, I learned about this great coach by the name of Tony Dungy, who loves the Lord AND football. He won the biggest prize in professional football and gave all the glory to God in front of millions of people. The book he wrote after his Super Bowl win, Quiet Strength, is a great read, and I am looking forward to reading his new book.

There is also this guy named Tim Tebow. A missionary kid, and perhaps the best college football player as many have contended, he understands that his athletic talents come from the Lord, whom he unashamedly proclaims, and always carries quite an infectious smile on his face, which either says "Phil 4:13" or "John 3:16" during game time.

Slowly but surely, I began to understand that the pileups was a way the game was played. I began to watch it more often, and slowly came to understand the rules enough to know the happenings on the field.

And then...(gulp)...I began to...(hmm)...enjoy...(clearing throat)...football...A few weeks ago, I was cheering loudly for the Gators during the BSC Championship Game, almost as much as I would for Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal when I am watching my beloved tennis.

As a bonus, my orange and blue team won.

Give(n)

One of my New Year's resolutions this year is to give something to someone every day - a helping hand, a hug, a word of encouragement, a gift, a note, a ride......it is going quite well so far and it is a great way to get out of myself and think more about others. As a great bonus, it has been bringing me great joy.

But then, God showed me that there is another side of it, and that is to receive, to be given something.

Work has been keeping me quite busy, and I had to break two of my rules recently: not to check work email at home, and not to work over the weekend. I did both this weekend. But at the same time, many people are working way more than I am.

One of them is a lady with whom I had a meeting a couple of weeks ago. Every one in her admissions office has been working through our two-week University break and has been putting in twenty hours of overtime every week (not an exaggeration). But as I was sitting in her office, she was incredibly patient with my questions and spent an hour helping me. It struck me that given her busy schedule, she could have chosen not to meet with me or not to give me as much time as she did. But she gave me her precious time.

Then there is my wonderful hubby. I did not cook dinner for about two weeks because I was home late every night. But he did not complain about the TV dinners or having to eat by himself. Rather, he was incredibly understanding and helped with various housework. When I fell asleep on the couch, he let me sleep and just helped me up to bed. On the weekends, he still let me play my league tennis and gave me time to nap. :)

Thankfully, I were able to leave relatively on time on Fridays for our date nights; and so far this week, I have been leaving the office while there is still daylight; I even cooked dinner for the first time in a while last night. Things I took for granted felt so much like gifts.

Giving is a two-way street. Through giving, God gives me the joy of giving, and He has opened my eyes quite widely to see the many generous givers around me who shower me with many precious things I might otherwise have not appreciated as much.

Being Lukewarm, Being Wholehearted

Thanks to some time off around Christmas, I had a chance to read a book called Crazy Love by Francis Chan, a California-based pastor. He challenges his readers not to be lukewarm Christians but be wholehearted followers of Jesus Christ, not because of what we "can" do for Him but because of who He is. God is the Creator of the vast universe, yet He cares about every single one of His created beings and loves each of us with the kind of unconditional love which Chan calls "crazy love." Chan encourages his audience to go back to the Bible and read it for themselves, to study Jesus's example and understand how to be wholehearted followers of Him who hold nothing back.

As I was turning the pages, I was challenged and convicted, because it reminded me how comfortable and self-centered I am as a Christian. God has given me so much more than I need, yet I am not giving as much as I should in His Name, not only in terms of finances, but also time and abilities. I think more about myself than I do others. Sadly, I am lukewarm at times.

As I was reading and processing what the book presented, Hanes came to me. She settled on my stomach and I patted her, but she left soon afterwards. She did that a couple of times.

Then it hit me.

I was reading about not being lukewarm, yet that was exactly what I was doing - doing what I wanted to do and paying halfhearted attention to a cat! I was only mindlessly patting her and barely acknowledging her presence - and she knew it. That was why she left. Lukewarm attention was worse than no attention at all.

Thankfully, Hanes came back. This time, even though I only had about ten more pages and it was not the time I wanted to put the book down, I put it down.

I welcomed her with both arms and I gave her my full attention. I looked her in the eye and she knew I was being sincere this time. She stayed - for a long while. Through her, God showed me what it was like to be lukewarm, and thankfully, what it was like to be wholehearted.

Later, I finished the last few pages, challenged to put what I read into practice, wholeheartedly.

New Year

Happy New Year!

It has already been over a week since 2009 began, and I have been thinking about the new year.

During the last sermon of 2008, based on Philippians 3:13-14 from the Apostle Paul, our guest speaker reminded us that it was not another year that brought anything "new," but the condition of our heart. If we do not have Jesus in our heart, the new year would only mean the flipping of another calendar.

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.
But one thing I do:
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3: 13-14, NIV

The Message version is more straightforward -

I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made.
But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong:
By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this,
but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus.
I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.

The year 2008 was a significant, rewarding and very memorable one for me in many ways. I even - warning: tennis reference - witnessed the greatest tennis match ever played during the Men's Wimbledon Final in July (on TV). There were also weddings, graduation and many precious babies. At the same time, I also know many who were (are) going through difficult times, and there was (is) plenty of suffering everywhere around the globe. I recently heard for the first time a song called He Will Carry Me by Mark Schultz. It is very comforting to know that whether we go through mountaintop or the valley, God is there. And as the Apostle Paul said, we are to put our eyes not on what is behind, but on Jesus, and run to Him.

In last Sunday's sermon, our other guest speaker talked about the end times and part of the Scripture he used was -

Remember the former things, those of long ago;
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.

Isaiah 46: 9-10, NIV

What a great way to begin the year by being reminded that my God is the One who knows the end from the beginning, no matter what year it is. So take off, run towards Him and do not turn back!