Date: 10/16/2007
<br>Author: Devin Pickard
<br>Title: October 17, 2007
<br><br>Let’s get ready to rumble!  No, this is not famed boxing announcer Michael Buffer belting out his patented phrase for a world heavy-weight championship bout.  It is the sound of the Hickman County  Bulldog faithful preparing for this Friday night’s clash with neighboring Lewis County.  It has been quite some time since there has been this much excitement about an upcoming football game on the high-school level in our area.  Both teams are presently undefeated......but that will all change for someone by weeks end.  The Saturday morning edition of the Tennessean will have to report that one team or the other has acquired their first “L” of the season.  Some fans will suggest that the season will be a total wash out if this game is not won, along with the rest of the games all the way to the state crown.  According to some, anything less than a stellar, undefeated season will be unacceptable.   <br><br>There are many who have this opinion of life in general.  Perhaps even some of you reading this right now came from homes where anything less than perfection was not acceptable.  The grades were never high enough.....the batting average or free-throw percentage weren’t ever good enough..... the room was never clean enough, you get the picture.  Some of you could write this scenerio much better than I.  In many of these homes, honest effort and dedication weren’t rewarded.  Anything short of perfect was frowned upon.  In some cases, overachievers are the result of this type of environment.  These people work long hours constantly trying to prove themselves to everyone around.  They always want to make sure that they “measure up” to the standards set by everyone else.  In other cases, low self-esteem and low self-worth are the product.  Many of these folks just simply quit trying anything because they feel like they are not “good enough” to get it done the way others think it should be.  They give up altogether.  Either way, life becomes an up hill struggle for both camps.<br><br>I have heard many times in one form or another that a person is not measured by how many times they fall in life.....but by how many times they get back up.  It is impossible to get through this ole’ world without having a skinned knee or two....or a hundred.  Rick Warren in his book, “The Purpose Driven Life”, says that we are “transformed by trouble“.  He writes,  “God has a purpose behind every problem and he uses circumstances to develop our character.”  Peter said in 1 Peter 4:12, “Don’t be bewildered or surprised when you go through the fiery trials ahead, for this is no strange, unusual thing that is going to happen to you”.  Notice he didn’t say “if”, he said “when” they happen.  <br><br>Circumstances will overcome you.  Stumbling blocks will trip you up.  Some of life’s worst experiences will T-bone you.  Many of these will happen when you least expect it.  And sometimes, regardless of how hard you have practiced or how much you have prepared, you may still come up on the short end of the proverbial stick.  Christ didn’t call “winners” to him.  He called for all those “who labored and were heavy laden”.  Football players aren’t the only ones with bruises.  <br><br><br>Go the extra mile - Devin <br><br>