As a 77-year-old man, husband, father, Pastor, hunter, fisherman, and builder of boats and other things, I recognize that certain events and activities in my past were foundational in shaping my life and making me who I am. One of them, which many would be surprised at, was sports. One of my strengths in life has been my drive and passion to accomplish my goals and achieve success. The surprising thing about that is that I was never very good at sports. I wrestled, ran track and cross-country, played basketball and baseball, but I mostly lost and was usually on the bench. I started in grade school, competed all through High School, and into my first two years of college before I got married. An interesting twist in my journey, which is different from many, is that losing, being last, and being on the bench created in me a blazing fire to succeed in life. With most people, regularly losing causes them to become comfortable with the feeling and the experience, so that they don’t constantly feel like a loser. They learn to compensate by reducing the importance of winning in basketball. I have heard so many Pastors over the years say that they were comfortable with their small, non-growing church because if God wanted their church to grow, He would make it happen. In my leadership class, I award points to everyone who completes the various assignments. Each week, I total the cumulative points and rank everyone in the class based on the number of points they have. In the past, there have been individuals who were last or near the bottom of the class who claimed they didn’t care. That is a coping mechanism that puts out our fire and makes us lukewarm, or keeps us that way. When I lost or failed at anything in life, I complained bitterly to God, asking Him why He was doing this to me and pleading with Him to help me do better. I had a few wins and accomplishments, just enough to keep me from quitting. I think it was God’s carrot. I am getting closer to the finish line of my race, and I thank the Lord for every lost game and minute of sitting on the bench in basketball.