Go, Team, Go!

Ginny & Gabe
Go Cats!

I love football!  I love Saturdays that begin with College Game Day and end with at least one of my favorite teams scoring a win. So despite, the fact the Texas Longhorns lost to OU yesterday it was a good day. The LSU Tigers won, keeping OU from a number one ranking! The Oklahoma State Cowboys won and the KS Wildcats upset Missouri. All in all a good day! There is nothing quite like the enthusiasm, passion and sometimes downright craziness of college football fans!

A few weeks ago one of my mentors referred to himself as the 12^th man at a banking affiliation meeting.  He is retired and often is called upon to draw on his experiences to serve and motivate those of us who wish we were retired!  His reference to the Texas A&M story of the 12^th man kicked off a chain of thoughts in my mind. It started with something like, isn’t it great to know I have people who stand ready to support and encourage me and quickly moved to am I being the 12th man?

If you’ve never read the story of E. King Gill, the Texas A&M student who began the tradition that now has millions of college students standing through games every Saturday I suggest you read the story on the A&M website. It is inspiring. 

The following is my favorite excerpt; “Gill later said, ‘I wish I could say that I went in and ran for the winning touchdown, but I did not. I simply stood by in case my team needed me.’ That spirit of readiness for service, desire to support, and enthusiasm helped kindle a flame of devotion among the entire student body; a spirit that has grown vigorously throughout the years. The entire student body at A&M is the Twelfth Man, and they stand during the entire game to show their support. The 12th Man is always in the stands waiting to be called upon if they are needed.”

Readiness for service, desire to support and enthusiasm to kindle a flame of devotion among the entire body - Sounds rather scriptural to me!

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Mark 10:45 NLT

 “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together … but encourage one another,”  Hebrews 10:24 &26 NLT

Over the next few weeks I want to explore how we act as a 12^th man for our team. One of the best examples from scripture is a man named Joseph.  Just as Gill was nicknamed the 12^th man by his team, Joseph was nicknamed, Barnabas, which means “Son of Encouragement” by the apostles.  He too was called to service at a critical time in the game. We’ll start there next week.

Are you ready to serve, support and encourage?

Thanks for listening,

See you next Sunday,

Ronda

Hook'em Horns!  (There's always next year!)