One of the perks of being a college student is a three month summer break from school, but as a collegiate volleyball player, summer isn’t a time to take it easy. The spring offseason is an opportunity to build muscle, run faster and increase verticals, but all that hard work is for nothing if I chose to be lazy all summer. When August rolls around I have to report for two-a-days, and my work over the summer will be evaluated by a stopwatch, measuring stick and bench press bar. I have to set goals to accomplish and improve over the summer, otherwise I will lose motivation and not perform at my highest level.

While I was eating lunch one day in the teacher’s lounge, I overheard an office aide talking with her friend. The office aide could not understand how God could be God and Jesus at the same time—how He could be in heaven and on Earth at the same time! Her friend didn’t know how to respond.

I asked God to give me the words to help them understand this difficult concept, and the Lord, being gracious, brought an idea to my mind. So, feeling confident, I got up from my table and went to tell them about God and an apple.

As coaches, we have a rule on our hockey team. If you get hurt during play, you must do your utmost to stay involved in the play or get yourself to the bench. We expect this not because we are hard-nosed or don’t care about the well-being of our players, but because we expect our athletes to persevere and work through adversity.

I so enjoy going to Huddles to share about Christ. Recently, I visited Northwestern University and spoke to their group. As I was praying and waiting to speak, a football player came in and sat down. Now, I used to attend many practices, and I had seen this player in competition. And I’m sorry to say, but I had thought only an act of God would bring this young man to the Lord. He had been a player who used foul language, seemed angry all the time and was the first to rumble when the occasion was presented. So I was surprised to see him at FCA, but thankful.