I played soccer my entire life. I started when I was five, played all through high school and college and can even compete with the best soccer players in the world on my Xbox 360.
But despite playing my entire life, I was never the best. I wasn't the fastest or biggest or strongest. I didn't score a lot of goals and I certainly let my fair share of balls go in while playing goalie. I didn't start much. I wasn't the best passer. I was horrible at juggling--I think my all-time high is in the 20's. I was afraid to use my head when the ball was falling from 40 feet in the air. Sometimes, I got injured more times than I touched the ball in an entire game. I watched a lot of soccer and knew how it was played and knew what to do but it never translated into physical skill.
In case you're not picking up what I'm putting down, I sucked.
But every year I showed up and played. Why?
Because of my left foot. Ah ha, that was what I was great at. If my right foot made contact with the ball, no, no, if my right foot even made eye contact with the ball (if my right foot had an eye) it would look like someone was trying to play hockey with a piece of licorice as their hockey stick.
I made a career out of my left foot.
What I learned is this: on a team where everyone's dominant foot was their right one, it made it very difficult to see or handle a ball that was kicked from something so unique: a left foot.
When my team would do shooting drills, it went like this: Right foot. Right foot. Right foot. Right foot. LEFT foot! Even the goalie would say, "Even though I know you're left footed, I can never determine where and how you're going to kick it."
When it comes to ministry, everyone has a left foot (No, it didn't take me a college degree to learn human anatomy). It's a metaphor (for my uneducated readers).
Everyone is GREAT in at least ONE area. In soccer, it was my left foot. In ministry, it's teaching my youth group. What is your left foot?
In our culture and the world around us, we tend to focus on the all of the right foots we have. Those are the excuses we come up with to NOT do ministry. Your licorice leg is people, speaking in front of an audience, Bible memorization, too young of a Christian, too poor, too weak, too shy, too new, too introverted, too EVERYTHING. Except your left foot.
Deep down inside each of us, is a left foot that the church needs you to use. And only you can use it. So you need to identify what it is.
My left foot made the difference in me wanting to continue to play. My left foot made the difference in me feeling like I could contribute to a team of right-footed teammates. My left foot gave me belonging. My left foot gave me value.
You have value, you have belonging, YOU MATTER TO THE BODY OF CHRIST!
So what is your left foot? Dream it. Develop it. Do it.
Find out what your left foot is. Otherwise you'll always feel left out.
-NW
But despite playing my entire life, I was never the best. I wasn't the fastest or biggest or strongest. I didn't score a lot of goals and I certainly let my fair share of balls go in while playing goalie. I didn't start much. I wasn't the best passer. I was horrible at juggling--I think my all-time high is in the 20's. I was afraid to use my head when the ball was falling from 40 feet in the air. Sometimes, I got injured more times than I touched the ball in an entire game. I watched a lot of soccer and knew how it was played and knew what to do but it never translated into physical skill.
In case you're not picking up what I'm putting down, I sucked.
But every year I showed up and played. Why?
Because of my left foot. Ah ha, that was what I was great at. If my right foot made contact with the ball, no, no, if my right foot even made eye contact with the ball (if my right foot had an eye) it would look like someone was trying to play hockey with a piece of licorice as their hockey stick.
I made a career out of my left foot.
What I learned is this: on a team where everyone's dominant foot was their right one, it made it very difficult to see or handle a ball that was kicked from something so unique: a left foot.
When my team would do shooting drills, it went like this: Right foot. Right foot. Right foot. Right foot. LEFT foot! Even the goalie would say, "Even though I know you're left footed, I can never determine where and how you're going to kick it."
When it comes to ministry, everyone has a left foot (No, it didn't take me a college degree to learn human anatomy). It's a metaphor (for my uneducated readers).
Everyone is GREAT in at least ONE area. In soccer, it was my left foot. In ministry, it's teaching my youth group. What is your left foot?
In our culture and the world around us, we tend to focus on the all of the right foots we have. Those are the excuses we come up with to NOT do ministry. Your licorice leg is people, speaking in front of an audience, Bible memorization, too young of a Christian, too poor, too weak, too shy, too new, too introverted, too EVERYTHING. Except your left foot.
Deep down inside each of us, is a left foot that the church needs you to use. And only you can use it. So you need to identify what it is.
My left foot made the difference in me wanting to continue to play. My left foot made the difference in me feeling like I could contribute to a team of right-footed teammates. My left foot gave me belonging. My left foot gave me value.
You have value, you have belonging, YOU MATTER TO THE BODY OF CHRIST!
So what is your left foot? Dream it. Develop it. Do it.
Find out what your left foot is. Otherwise you'll always feel left out.
-NW
