As a baseball coach for twenty years, I often had to maximize the skills of my players and play “small ball” since my teams were not always blessed with great power. Consequently, the sacrificial bunt was an important part of our offensive arsenal.

Amazingly, the sacrificial bunt, which should be one of baseball’s easiest skills to master, was for some players the most difficult. Most of the players could square around, get the bat out over the plate, and with a relatively loose grip, let the ball hit the bat. But some failed because the player was not willing to “sacrifice” himself and give himself up to move his teammate forward.

During the 2012 Summer Olympics, the world watched as US athlete Gabby Douglas claimed gold in the all-around portion of the gymnastics competition after anchoring the team’s run to a gold medal two nights before. When interviewed immediately after the competition, Douglas flashed her trademark smile, then displayed a depth of maturity rarely seen: "I give all the glory to God. It's kind of a win-win situation. The glory goes up to Him, and the blessings fall down on me."

I had the privilege of working with Texas high school football coach GaryGaines, best known as the former head coach of State Football Champion Odessa Permian High School as spotlighted in both the book and movie, Friday Night Lights. Gary would often muse, “Coaching would be the perfect profession if only it did not involve the massive highs of winning or the bottomless depths that come about from losing. The extremes are too huge.”