Facing The Giant

This spring, my 8 year old son, Jonah (#23) played his first season of tackle football. Never before in my "career" as a mom had I experienced the pride, anxiety, excitement, and trepidation that came with watching him play. See Jonah's a little guy. I mean little. He's about 3 inches shorter than most of his classmates, (don't tell him I told you this) and he's so skinny he could still fit into toddler clothes. But that didn't stop him from being willing to take on the world of tackle football! You can only imagine our surprise at that first practice when we realized that he was not the smallest child on the team. Jesse (#24), was even smaller than Jonah; by at least a good 3 inches.

This little guy was tiny. He wore the smallest size football pants possible. His knee pads acted more as shin guards (his thigh pads as knee pads). What's amazing though is that his height difference didn't slow him down. At practice he would be one of the first out on the field ready to roll. Then the first game came along. There's Jesse on the field, excited. Ready to see some action - and onto the field, comes the other team. And there standing just a few yards away from him - ready to demolish him is a kid who must have been nearly 5 feet tall. So now we're talking more than a foot taller than Jesse. This kid is the tallest kid in the division, and here's Jesse facing him head on. From the sidelines, I heard Coach ask him "You ready?" to which Jesse replied "I'm freakin' out in here guys!" and then the whistle blew.

The quarterback snapped the ball - and the game was in play. Jesse played hard. I mean hard. He stood strong against his giant. He didn't let his guard down. And he made history for that team. As the smallest (and one of the most adorable) players in the league - Jesse set the standard for his entire team.

He was afraid - but he didn't back down. His bravery, loyalty and commitment overruled his fear. He faced his opponent with determination to claim the victory. I don't remember the score of that game - but I can tell you - Jesse claimed the victory on that field when he refused to back down.

So what/who is the giant you're facing? How often do you think inside "I'm freakin' out in here guys!" and then what do you do with it? See fear is just an emotion. A feeling. Our feelings are not wrong - but how we act on them - that's what counts! So next time I'm faced with fear, anxiety, uncertainty or any other feeling - I'm going to choose to stand my ground. Stay strong and act with courage. Just like Jesse did. I'm going to claim the victory!