God Can Use Anything, Even a Hockey Game

My wife and I had a once in a lifetime experience on New Year's Day this year. We went to an outdoor hockey game.......IN TEXAS. Before I get into tying in a Christ-centric message with a hockey game, I need to paint a picture for you of why this is so noteworthy.

Sports has held quite a significant role in my life. You could say that I have been passionate about sports throughout my life. A more realistic term for my attention to sports could be obsessed. My parents had season tickets to Baylor home football games since 1974, so needless to say, you knew where to find me on most Saturdays during fall months when I was growing up. When we were not attending the games, we would be watching them on television or listening to them on the radio. Our entire weekend was planned around when Baylor played. This attention to sports did not stop at Baylor football. My family did not miss many Texas Rangers, Dallas Cowboys, Dallas Mavericks, and Dallas Stars games on TV when I was growing up. Just as our entire weekends were planned around Baylor football games, our week nights were planned on whatever team or teams were playing. During a road trip to Boston in 1999, we even chose our hotels based on who had the best sports bar, so we could watch the Dallas Stars play in the Stanley Cup finals (they won it that year, btw). This obsession with sports carried on into college and even provided me with a half scholarship. I was a student athletic trainer for the Baylor football team my freshman year, then worked for track and cross country for the rest of my college years (there was a few months spent with the men's tennis team too). After I graduated from college, the obsession with sports continued further. My obsession with sports was well known among those who knew me. So much so that my best man told about how I used to dress up like Troy Aikman while Dallas Cowboys games were on television, and how my wife had gotten me to realize that there are more important things in life than sports. See, when I met my wife in 2011, I started realizing there are more important things than planning every day of your life around sports. Do not get me wrong, she never came close to forcing me to stop watching sports and she actually made the effort to learn about the sports, and became quite the sports fan herself. Even though my wife and I still enjoy watching and attending sporting events to this day (especially Baylor sports), we have grown together and realized that centering your life around sports is not near as fulfilling as centering your life around Christ......which brings us back to what God and hockey have to do with each other. One could not simply look at the pomp and circumstance surrounding this hockey game at face value, and see Christ being glorified. Due to the rarity of an event like this (remember we are talking about outdoor hockey in Texas), people were paying amounts for tickets that most would consider financially irresponsible. You had herds of people fighting for space on the trains and the entire way between the trains and the stadium. You had people who had already enjoyed quite a few adult beverages rushing to enjoy more adult beverages.....all while paying more amounts that many would consider financially irresponsible. Before and during the game, there were efforts to draw your attention to all sorts of outlandish things all over the field. It was like a carnival! Not to mention, you have thousands of people praising and glorifying a team, playing a GAME. Then after the game, my goodness. Let's just say it was a madhouse. "So how does this come back to Christ," you may ask. Please allow me to tell you what God showed me in the midst of all of this. While riding on the train to the game, God showed me the fellowship and instant bond experienced by strangers who have a mutual interest in hockey. I even saw this happening between fans of opposing teams. While entering the stadium, God showed me the special feeling that comes with doing something unique and fun with someone you love. While sitting in the stands, God showed me what it feels like to experience a once in a lifetime experience. Even in the midst of the chaos that ensued after the game, God showed me about patience even when everything is falling apart around you.

At the end of the day, I would not have cared if the Stars lost or if it was 2 teams that I did not care about playing. This is what it feels like to be in fellowship with Christ. Regardless of what you are doing or what you are experiencing, when you are in fellowship with Christ, everything else goes dim and becomes less prominent in your mind. As I close, I want to make sure you know that I do not write all this to judge or condemn anyone who is passionate about sports. I still have a love for sports too, even though it may not be as intense as it used to be. I do not write this to condemn those who drink alcohol. I enjoy an occasional drink every now and then, and drank more than I should have in the past. The message that I hope you get from this is that God can speak to you in any situation. He wants fellowship with you and wants you to experience the joy and peace that I felt during the game, regardless of your past. Even though there may be things in your past you are ashamed about, you can still find moments and lessons from those experiences that will enhance your future. The key is to look for Christ in everything that you do.