Nate Lewis, FCA area representative for Western Nebraska, was riding in a school bus full of high school students headed to an FCA event last year when he glanced back to see what the kids were up to.
 
 

As his eyes scanned the seats filled with laughing, talking teenagers, one stood out. “He was sitting there on the bus, reading his Bible with his FCA Bible reading plan in his lap,” Lewis said. “I didn’t say a word. I just shook my head and praised the Lord for the work He does in lives.”

Every summer at FCA Camp, Marla Williams prays that God will reveal to her one or two Huddle Leaders He wants her to invest in during the week — athletes for whom she can be that sharpening iron of the Lord. This summer, her pre-camp prayers were answered with stunning clarity.

In the first staff meeting at FCA’s Black Mountain camp in North Carolina, Williams, an FCA staff member in Alabama, felt almost an immediate calling to two young women from the U.S. Naval Academy: Ali Currier, captain of the Navy’s basketball team, and Aubrey Manes, an outside hitter for the volleyball team.

Last month I had a conversation with FCA President Les Steckel, who posed the following hypothetical situation.

“Jimmy,” he said, “what if I handed you the keys to a brand new car when you turned 16? How would you feel? And what if I then told you that it was the only car you would ever own and that it would have to last your entire life? Would that change the way you treated it? I bet it would. I believe it would radically change the way you took care of that car.”

As an environmental biology major who once had no aspirations of coaching, Bill Blankenship is a living testament to God’s creativity. But given the journey he’s taken, it seems somewhat divine that he has landed in his current position as the head football coach at the University of Tulsa.

I have noticed an alarming trend in sports over the last several years. The leaders have disappeared. I see it when watching both high school and college teams. Many of the teams with which I’m familiar seem leaderless, and their coaches are pulling their hair out.

For decades the world of sports has been an incubator for leadership skills, and both players and coaches have used it for training and development. That seemed rather natural for a long time, but no more. No longer do the strongest competitors and most powerful personalities become a team’s leaders. Too often they simply blend into the background and defer leadership to the coaching staff.

Next time you are outside, take a moment to reflect on the wind. Consider how the contrasting currents of air can either wrench homes from the ground or gently spin the hairs on your arm. Consider that in one location there may be a powerful tornado and in another a gentle breeze. Both are distinct, but not separate. They are streams of air—winds that have been stirred up in different ways. The result of each is determined by the many factors that contribute to their development. And in many respects, our human condition is no different.

When it comes to food, I’m amazed at how many times I’ll think I’ll be eating the right thing, only to find out I’m wrong. Eggs are bad—no, eggs are good. Butter is bad—no, butter is better. Fat is bad—no, the right fats are good. And on and on it goes.

Sometimes we can get by with this and not suffer any major consequences, but often not getting it right can have serious side-effects.

It was 54 years ago this month. A young, small-college basketball coach in Oklahoma realized his dream of providing major sports stars the opportunity to influence their fans to follow the only true Hero we can ever know—Jesus Christ. It marked the official beginning of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

That coach, Don McClanen, was overjoyed.

Define irony:
   1. A dead end sign is placed in front of a cemetery.
   2. Donald Trump wins the lottery.
   3. A Christian gets arrested on his way to a mission trip.

San Diego Padres pitcher Jake Peavy is quite familiar with irony. In fact, he’s the living example of #3. But before you pass judgment, let him explain.

There was a powerful calm in the air as Barton College Head Coach Ron Lievense prepared for the start of the 2007-08 men’s basketball season.

Alone in the Bulldogs’ locker room in rural Wilson, N.C., Lievense moved quietly from locker to locker, praying. He prayed not for a return of the international fame that accompanied Barton’s national championship victory a season ago, but for each of his players, that they would look to the Lord for guidance and give Him the glory in all things.

Her elementary school classmates used to mock her for her skinny “chicken legs” when she ran. But that all changed when she joined the track team in ninth grade.
 
Allyson Felix is still listed at only 5-foot-6 and 125 pounds, but she isn’t teased by those who watch her run anymore. Not since she became the fastest woman in the world.

I was recently walking through my favorite sporting goods store when I saw a huge Adidas banner that said, “Impossible is Nothing.” I actually had to reread it to let its simple message sink in.

This statement really refers to a mindset. It is a way of thinking. It is an approach to training, competition and life that requires a different way of looking at the challenges we will face: the unbeatable opponents, the unreachable heights, the unattainable records.
 
 

I believe that the single biggest obstacle we must overcome in life is a lack of belief.