Priorities
Every other day, it seems, we pick up a newspaper and read about another professional athlete that does something that makes us cringe. Occasionally, however, they do something that makes us proud to be a sports fan.
Take Chris Spielman, for instance.
During the late Spring of 1998, Chris Spielman, linebacker for Buffalo Bills walked up to the microphone at a press conference and announced his retirement. Spielman lived and breathed football and had done so since his childhood. Why would he retire in his prime?
Priorities.
His wife Stefanie was diagnosed with cancer. To live, she was facing surgery and six months of chemotherapy. Spielman knew his place was with his wife and with his children. He made a decision about what is more important to him, and his family topped the list.
Spielman isn’t alone.
After many years of struggling to succeed, Curt Warner finally reached celebrity status with his remarkable 1999 season with the World Champion St. Louis Rams. When he got the phone call to appear on David Letterman, he had to decline. Why would the former grocery store clerk and Arena League quarterback refuse to go on Letterman?
Well it was his anniversary and he’d rather spend it with his wife Brenda than hang out with Letterman.
In a recent interview on ESPN, Oral Hershiser stated his priorities, they are, “My relationship with God, and then my family and health, and then baseball and making money.”
These are great men. Not because of what they’ve accomplished on the playing field, but because of how they are living their lives.
Jim L. Wilson, Fresh Start Devotionals (Fresno, CA: Willow City Press, 2009).
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