Facing the Giants

As I sat and watched FACING THE GIANTS which I have many times before, this time...something really hit me. For those of you who do not know me...I love the underdog. Especially when the cards are stacked against a team, a person. RUDY is my all time favorite movie. Both are football movies. There is something about watching a person running into a brick wall. You can't imagine that brick wall will every come down for that person. But, when you witness the perseverance of that person or team hit that brick wall time and time again and you watch it crumble and they make it to the other side. You my friend have witnessed what it means to Face The Giant.

The part of the movie that hit me and I am not sure why it hit me hard this time. But, it was the part where the captain of the team was already talking about being defeated that Friday night. The coach asked him why he felt that way. The player said "Because they are 10 times bigger than us" **Along those lines*** Anyway, the coach has him do the "death crawl" Coach says "make it to the 20 yard line, no...the 30". The player mumbled and grumbled while he got on all 4's. You use your arms and your legs and they cannot touch the ground. The part is, you carry someone on your back while you are doing it. The kid on his back was about 160 pounds. The coach blindfolded him. He told him that he did not want the player to lose track of his focus by looking at the 30 yard line. So, the player kept going and the coach kept telling him "You can do it!! DON'T GIVE UP!!!" the player is sweating and says he can't go any further. The coach gets on the ground and hits the ground and tells him "You can do it...don't give up, don't give up!! You can do this!!! 30 more yards!!" The player kept telling him how bad it hurt. The coach says "I know it hurts, but, you have it in you...don't give up...give it your best!!" The coach is still on the ground with him and tells him to stop. The boy lies on the ground. Coach says "Look up" The player did.... Coach says "You are in the end zone"

The premise is never giving up no matter how hard something is, or how painful it is, or how your beliefs about yourself make you think you can't make it, and it is about no matter WHAT ANYONE ELSE SAYS OR BELIEVES ABOUT YOU....it is about you, not them...reaching deep where you thought there was nothing, and finding out that you can do it and drowning out the trash talk. And the guy on his back is metaphorically all of the luggage you carry around that is so heavy and you feel you cannot make one more step. You can. God never said to give up, even if you have a lot of baggage on your back. Don't give up.

It touched my heart so much, because that is what God and my many coaches have been telling me. They have crawled on the ground with me when I had pain that I never knew existed, or I was terrified to go to sleep because I thought that being as sick as I get, that would be the last day, or when I wanted to give up and just move so that I wouldn't be such a burden on anyone with all of my illness. They kept by my side and hit the ground telling me to not let go...to keep going. Even when I saw no hope that the doctors could heal me, or how much debt we had, or how much I felt I had lost in my life, and how angry I was.

I was blindfolded (metaphorically), so that I would not just stop at a certain point and say "well, I made it to the 30 yard line" NO...I am blindfolded to keep on doing the crawl and never giving up on me, my family and friends, on others, and all the dreams that I have....the success of my new business, and success of my writing and the love that I have for Film and most of all not giving up on God."

I say this to you.....come crawl with me... I will scream to the ends of the earth to tell you that you are good enough, smart enough and YOU CAN MAKE IT TO THE END ZONE, don't stop at the 30 yard line. Take it all the way, not by sight, but by Faith. And to never, ever give up. The obstacle is never too big, and you might think it is over because you are a certain age, personality, size, hair color, certain weight, people chatter in your ear that you can't do it, or you are a loser, or you are this or that, whatever it may be.

You focus, you crawl through that pain, you crawl through that anger, you crawl through that disappointment, don't listen to the ones that say you can't make it. That you are a dreamer and the chances are a trillion to one for success, you drown out that noise. Listen to your coach crawling on the ground with you screaming "Believe it, you can do it, don't give up!!!" You keep crawling and never let those arms or knees hit the ground.... I am crawling with you...but, you know what? I am headed to the End Zone baby, you better keep up!!! Because, I will be doing my victory pose!