| I didn't grow up playing football like a lot of players. Actually, I didn't start playing until my sophomore year in High School. I was always able to smash the ball. God gave me the ability to kick it a long way. I just wasn't always sure where it was going.
In some ways, that's the way my faith has been. I was raised by very devout Christians. I grew up in the church. I was taught that Jesus died for me, and I always believed it.
I just didn't have the direction. I didn't know what a personal relationship with Jesus meant, or what it was about. Even though I had grown up in the church, I had no idea how wonderful it is to know Jesus, and to talk with Him, and to study His Word.
Some people have amazing stories to tell about an event or time in their lives that turned them completely around. I don't have such a story. There wasn't any specific catalyst or incident that changed my life.
I just started growing. I started studying the Bible. I craved more and more knowledge about God. And then it just all came together. I grasped it - not just in my head - but in my heart.
I had always thought I was a Christian, but as I look back on it, I realize I was just living for myself. I thought I could take care of everything. I thought I was strong enough to handle whatever came along. I wasn't a bad person, in fact, I was a good person, and I thought that earned me God's love.
Now I know better. I know what His love is. I know I can do nothing without Him. I've learned to lean on Him, and that takes so much pressure off.
And I've learned how much God loves me, and what that means. I heard a story that had an impact on me. A former minister said that a little boy in his congregation had been killed in a car accident. The minister was called to the hospital, to visit the parents. The little boy's father in anguish said, "If I could have prevented this, I would have." The minister had nothing to say at the time, but later realized the power of God's love. Here was a father who said, "If I could have prevented his death, I would have." God was almost the opposite. God said, "I could prevent my Son's death, but I won't."
I like that story a lot. It describes how deep the love God has for you and me really is. He could have prevented His Son's crucifixion. He could have stepped in and stopped the entire thing. But He didn't. He let that death run its course. And through Jesus' death, you and I are forgiven.
God is always there, with His love.
I experience that firsthand during the 2000 season. It was early in the season, and we were playing at Mile High Stadium in Denver. The field was sloppy, torn up. There was one spot along the 30 yard line that I knew was solid. I went to put my tee on that spot, and lying right on the 30 yard line, in the exact place I was going to put my tee, was a "WWJD" (What Would Jesus Do?) bracelet. I kicked off and ran off the field and told our team chaplain about that bracelet, and we were both thrilled by it.
The very next kickoff I was slammed so hard my back was broken in three places. I couldn't move my right leg. They had to carry me off the field. And all the while I was in the locker room I thought about that bracelet lying on the field. Who would have thought that just 15 minutes after finding the bracelet, I would have had a broken back? I know it was God's way of letting me know that He is still in charge, and that everything would be ok. I was lying there with a broken back, having just been reminded that God is with me. And three weeks later, I was back on the field, even though the doctors said it would take 8-12 weeks.
And I still want to know more. Now that I know God's love, I can't get enough. I still crave the knowledge of Him. And instead of doing what I want to do, I want to do what he wants me to.
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