HONORABLE CHAMPIONS

They miss their #14….

This past week has been an emotional rollercoaster for my wife and I.  My son’s high school soccer team won the state championship this past Thursday night.  My son would have been a senior this year.  We lost him almost two years ago now, but he has not been forgotten by anyone.  His teammates hang his jersey behind the bench at every game, they had a senior flag made for him, they included him in the senior night presentation, and after every game they run to the fans with his jersey held high.  All those things are great, all of them are difficult, all of them are painful, but above all they are honorable.

They could have just celebrated their victory amongst themselves, but they chose to include the memory of their friend and teammate.  I got a bunch of sweaty hugs after the game, and several told me my son was with them that night, that he was the twelfth man on the field, that he drove them to success.  It was a beautiful moment, one that I will remember forever.  While everyone in the stands were cheering and celebrating, my wife and I were sitting down with tears running down our faces.  I can only speak for myself, but I wasn’t sad.  I was so proud of the boys.  We have known a lot of them for a long time, they played together for years, and with that championship they achieved what they planned and worked hard for all those years.  I wish my son was still here to be able to be a part of it and have the experience of that night, but I am glad all his friends were able to.  How they included my son means the world to me. 

These days, success normally means you must push someone out of the way or hold another person back.  That seems to be the typical mentality in our culture.  These young men prove that there is still honor in the world today, and that revelation is so refreshing to experience.  The world needs more honorable people in it.  If you must push someone else down in order for you to succeed, you probably are doing something wrong, or at least not the best it could be.   Becoming a champion, whatever that looks like to you, shouldn’t require you to lose honor or lose integrity.  You can succeed without losing the parts of yourself that people will look up to.

This week made me realize that, while watching a high school soccer game of all things.  You can play with dignity, not play dirty, not try to cheat, and still win and when you win, you can still win with honor. 

This week, look at whatever step you want to take in your life, figure out how to take the next step and then take that step with honor and integrity.  If you do that, there is no limit to what you can do.

Psalms 84:11 (NLT)

For the Lord God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The Lord will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right.