Not My Own

When I worked as a Youth Director in Tennessee I was once asked to compete with a few other townsfolk to do the football picks for the local news paper. I jumped at the chance even though I knew very little about football. The only reason I agreed to do it was because I thought it would make me look athletic and cool. Knowing my face would be in the paper each week meant town celebrity status right? Hardly! I knew I was in over my head when elderly gentlemen would approach me to comment on my picks. They would often tease me if they disagreed or high five if they thought I rooted for their team. Sometimes they would question why I chose a certain team and my answer would always be, "I am just very confident in their offense this year!" Would you believe I actually won one year? I even got a giftcard as the prize. I still feel a little guilty about this! The truth is, I don't even like football. I LOVE to play football and I really don't enjoy watching it. I have v

Ash Wednesday is coming up this week are you ready for the beginning of Lent? (Click here to learn more about Ash Wednesday and Lent...  http://www.gotquestions.org/Ash-Wednesday.html )  I always thought of Lent as a weird excuse for Christians to go on a diet. I heard people say it was a time to give up chocolate or junk food. I didn't get what the heck it ever had to do with Jesus. For more on my thoughts of Lent read here...  http://samtidball.blogspot.com/2013/04/my-lent-fail.html . But the past few years I realized Lent can be an awesome time to focus on a specific theme that God is trying to teach me or a time I can put a discipline into practice in order to grow in my faith. However, this Lent I am trying a practice that most people don't think of as a typical discipline, especially in the church. This year I am going to do 40 Days of Vulnerability and I am asking for some brave souls to join me. Here's what I have in mind...  Vulnerability comes from the Lat