Ah, football season is right around the corner and every guy, and even some ladies, are already gearing up for their fantasy football drafts. Would you believe that there is actually a sort of “fantasy football super bowl” in Vegas each year? It’s true. Those guys eat, sleep, and breathe fantasy football all year round. I thought I was hardcore by having 4-8 fantasy teams each year but these guys blow me out of the water!

Just like fantasy football, many real-life football games are won and lost in the 4th quarter. All of the training, film study, and hard work that goes into a season is really geared towards the 4th quarter. As a soccer player, I hated to run. I know it sounds a little ironic but I really didn’t like to run. Forrest Gump and I did not have that much in common because I could not “run like the wind blows.” Now, don’t get me wrong, I could run and hold my own but there were some guys who could just run all day long, and I hated them. . .kinda. It just came easy to them. But , nonetheless, we all trained for those final 5 minutes left in the match. Every sprint, jog, and run we did in practice paid off in those final few minutes if we gave it our all in practice.

I believe, if my research is correct, that the Miami Hurricanes were the team to begin the now famous holding up of four fingers at the end of the third quarter. The ‘Canes, to those of us who are fans, knew that in order to be the best you had to beat the best and for the majority of their games, they did. In fact, they hold the NCAA record for the most home wins which stands at 58. But, the crucial part of each game was the 4th quarter. It’s the part of the game when you’re the most tired. You either choose to give up, coast along and hope someone else makes a play, or you buckle up your chin strap and finish what you started.

Let me encourage you, from current and past experience, to let God finished what He started. It may hurt, it may take too long, and it may not make any sense, but God has a plan. Sometimes, I wish God would write them on the wall, or speak to me in an audible voice, but He speaks through His Word! In order to make it through the tough times, and the times in which life just seems to be standing still, you have to dig deeper. You don’t have to do anymore to prove yourself to God. He loves you how you are. But, the digging deeper requires a persistence that cannot be taught, but must be learned. My son likes to use the phrase, “this is taking forever”, and it usually involves either a road trip or the times when I pray with him, either way, he echoes what I want to say to God sometimes.

Thank God for all of the experiences, good and bad, that I have been through. It’s been training for this current journey and those same things have been training for your journey. It’s the 4th quarter, you’re tired, you might even be losing, but you have a choice to make, what will you do? Me? I HATE to lose!!