It was a fantastic experience I became close friends with everyone on the team. We killed ourselves all season and our hard work paid off we made it all the way to the finals of the big tournament. But then I learned that the championship game was scheduled to be played on a Sunday. This was a problem. At age sixteen I had made a personal commitment to God that I would never play ball on Sunday because it is our Sabbath. So I went to the coach before the tournament finals and explained my situation.
He was incredulous. I don t know what you believe he said to me but I believe that God will understand. Every one of the guys on the team came to me and said You ve got to play. Can t you break the rule just this one Heavy Construction Contractors Email List time It was a difficult decision to make. The team would suffer without me. The guys on the team were my best friends. this all year. I m a deeply religious man so I went away to pray about what I should do. As I knelt to pray I got a very clear feeling that I needed to keep my commitment. So I told the coach that I wasn t able to play in the championship game. In so many ways that was a small decision—involving one of several thousand Sundays in my life.
In theory surely I could have crossed over the line just that one time and then not done it again. But looking back on it I realize that resisting the temptation of in this one extenuating circumstance just this once it s okay has proved to be one of the most important decisions of my life. Why Because life is just one unending stream of extenuating circumstances. Had I crossed the line that one time I would have done it over and over and over in the years that followed. And it turned out that my teammates didn t need me.