For those that may not know, I love Hokie sports! Football, basketball, soccer, lacrosse – whatever the sport, I can often be found in the bleachers or with my TV set to ESPN, cheering on my Hokies. Well, right now it’s basketball season and if you haven’t been following, the Hokies seem to be in a bit of a slump (we’ll just leave it at that!). Yet, despite an 11-12 record, one of our players (Erick Green) is the NCAA’s leading scorer and has received recognition for defending and assisting in addition to his scoring.
On Saturday, after another grueling game where he outshot the rest of his team combined, Green had to be helped off the court by his teammates as he was close to collapsing due to dehydration. It was clear that this one man show had met its max. As two of Green’s teammates, one on each side, walked Green off the court and through the tunnel, a picture of the importance of community was captured.
Just as a basketball team (or any other team!) is not designed to be carried by one person (there’s no “I” in team right?!), we are not designed to navigate this life on our own. We are designed to live in community where we can be encouraged (Hebrews 10.25), challenged (Proverbs 27.17), supported (Galatians 6.2), and be the unique part of the body that we were created to be (1 Corinthians 12).
Are you currently walking through life on your own or do you have a “team” around you that you are walking through life with?
Engage Groups are a great place to start to find a group of people to do just that … live life together. You can find out more about Engage Groups here or if you don’t know which one would be the best fit, contact me and we can try and figure that out together.
As was shown on Saturday, it’s only a matter of time before we are made aware (even if you are nation’s lead scorer) that we cannot do it on our own.
*Before the can of worms is opened, let me say …
a: I don’t think Green wants to be a one man show. Because of the slump his teammates are in, it just is what it is right now. He is trying to do the best he can to score, to defend, and to lead his team to a win.
b: I really don’t think the rest of the team desires to be playing the way they are currently playing.
c: I still love my HOKIES!
~ Jeanette Staats