I almost didn’t go to small group. It was Thursday and Barrett was getting on the Germantown that night so we were saying our final goodbye…again. I was late leaving the pier and I didn’t want to show up late to small group, but I decided to go anyway. The meal was over and my friends were already in the living room watching Matt Chandler speak on how we need to KNOW God and not find glory or satisfaction in anything else. He challenged us to think about when we feel closest to God and really enjoy him. For him it was in the early morning drinking a cup of coffee while reading writings from dead men. He then said that he can no longer watch sports as he got so emotionally attached to teams that it drew him away from finding his satisfaction and joy in Christ.
I almost didn’t go to small group. I was sitting there listening to him talk about quitting sports while sporting my Brady jersey as the potluck theme that night was super bowl food. Hmmmm…I thought about when I feel closest to the Lord and what stands in the way of finding my joy in Christ. I felt my face get hot as I played with my jersey, excited for Monday morning.
I found myself getting frustrated as I headed to my friends house to watch the super bowl on a big screen TV WITH the commercials! That may not sound like much to you, but over here we only have AFN (Armed Forces Network) commercials and not the premium delights. Well, since super bowl Monday is a holiday for all military personal, the traffic was thick with everyone going to catch the game with friends in the rainy weather. This made me late again and would cause me to miss the pregame show.
Annabelle and I finally make it to my friend’s house and we find out that her internet was having trouble causing the screen to freeze for a bit. Well, it froze for most of the first half. No joke! We only knew what was going on from the ESPN app on my phone. Finally we decided to watch the game with my NFL gamepass. Well, when the computer was connected to the TV, the screen cut off all the margins of the viewing area so we couldn’t see the score, time, downs, or the top of the screen. Plus the feed was so poor that we could barely see the ball when it was thrown or kicked. THEN…Brady’s final few throws were dropped and Gron couldn’t quite put his hands on the bobbled bomb. My Pats lost.
I almost didn’t go to small group. I drove home disappointed…but not downcast. I got to spend a morning with two families that loved on me and Annabelle. I got to see a few good commercials and eat French toast casserole and breakfast burritos with fellow believers and football fans. Thanks to a half hour of Matt Chandler talking about finding my joy in Christ and not in a team, I left mostly encouraged. =0)
I almost didn’t go to small group…but Im glad I did!
Plus, there is always next year, right? =0)