DON'T BE AFRAID TO MISS THE SHOT BECAUSE GOD WILL CATCH YOUR REBOUND

Life is full of missed shots, turnovers, jump balls, and strikeouts. But it is because of those moments that MVP are shaped, games are won, and champions rise to the top. Ever since I was a young child sports have been everything to me. I come from a family that’s breeds athletes and thrives off of competition. I have spent countless days practicing, weekends playing games, and years cheering my siblings on as they achieve greatness. Life is like a game. We get knocked down and we try to find a way back up. We cry when defeated and smile when we succeed. We win and we lose, but we always put up a tough fight. Sports have correlated with my faith a lot throughout life. They have both taught me a lot and have shaped me into the person I am today. The sport I have found a great

passion and love for is the game of soccer. Soccer has been in my life since I was very young and has taught me how to be a respectful player, an encouraging teammate, a leader, and a person. Throughout my years of playing soccer I have been determined to try my hardest, always give one hundred percent, and to never give up. This sounded like an easy task at first, but I have found that it’s not always that simple. I have moments where I feel like I do not have anything more to give to the sport. Days will go by where I do not feel like touching a soccer ball. Months where I wonder if I am even good enough to play the sport anymore. And years of questioning was soccer really the sport for me. Just like in soccer I have found a similar correlation in my faith. I come from a family of Catholics. A family who has a faith so pure and wholesome it inspires all to listen and rejoice the good news of the Lord. I have completed years of CCD, months of praying, weeks of praising, and days listening to the word of God. Just like soccer, my faith has taught me a lot of things like how to be

a Christian leader, a caring friend, and a follower of Christ. Throughout my life, I have been determined to learn everything I can about God, to read every part of the bible, and to create an unbreakable bond with Christ. Although I try hard to achieve those things, there has been days of my life I question my faith. Weeks of forgetting to put God first. Months of wondering why God is not answering my questions. And years of wondering if I am achieving what God has planned for me to do. A couple months ago, I set out on a journey to get closer to God and strengthen my faith. At first, like the beginning of any new mission, I was eager to get started and determined to follow through with my plan. Unfortunately, over the last two weeks I have found myself striking out with my faith. I am missing the shot to strengthen my faith and I am turning over my relationship with God to materialistic and societal roadblocks. I am letting other things take the place of my time with God and faith. The most surprising thing that I have found is that it’s not until you are hit really hard that you realize how far you have fallen. In soccer I never realized the times I lacked commitment until I was slapped in the face with sitting on the bench or being yelled at to do better. As for in my faith, I realize my distance from God when everything seems to be going wrong and spinning out of control. Life is busy and tough, but life should never be too busy for God because God is never too busy for you. I have taken time to step back and analyze my last two weeks and I am disappointed in myself, but I know that God is always good and accepting and will take me back. When life gets distracting and complicated do not lose sight of God. He is there for us every step of the way. He is cheering us on no matter what because He is our number one fan in life, and he is there preparing our path to Him in heaven.