Heroes are Humans

If you even remotely follow my blog, you know how much my family loves sports and especially FHU sports. The sports teams and the players on these teams have become such big parts of our lives and part of our family. While some are "big brother/sister" heroes, others are placed on pedestals - just like professional athletes are to some. When we play basketball or baseball, we are FHU players. To my children, they can do no wrong. Over the past few weeks, we have had some instances where we have had to remind our children that our heroes are humans - they will make mistakes. At first I was upset because I was going to have to talk to my kids about things I was not ready to face but now I am so thankful for all my children's heroes and all the lessons we have learned. What have we learned . . . .

1. Our bodies are the temple of God and He wants us to take care of them by what we do to it and what we put into it. There are people who will try to get us to put things into our bodies that will hurt it - alcohol, drugs, etc. However, these things will not help our bodies be the temple God wants them to be.

2. When we do something wrong, we should immediately turn around and do the next right thing. This is what happened to some of our heroes. They made a bad mistake but then did the next right thing. Two wrongs don't make a right and when faced with the opportunity to tell the truth, we need to do it!

3. When we do wrong, God still loves us - not the sin, but us! He wants us to come back and tell Him we are sorry for what we have done. When we admit we are wrong and ask for forgiveness, He welcomes us back with open arms and forgets our wrong. As a church family, we should do the same. We love the person - not the sin. We forgive the person and rally around them helping them to continue to fight off the devil.

4. We have learned that the devil comes after us in different ways. To some people, he will come as a case of beer; to some, a job; to some, money; to some, sports. When we put something above God and our love for Him, we have fallen into the devil's trap. (I never thought I would have had that conversation with my 6 year old!)

5. We have learned that even though we say we are sorry and we have been forgiven, there are still consequences to pay. We are still loved by our God, family and friends, but we have to pay the price for the wrong we did. Many times, our wrong doings not only affect ourselves but our friends, family, teammates and fans.

6. Someone is always looking up to you. My children are blessed to have so many wonderful BIG friends as we call them. They want to be just like them in every way imaginable. Now, they have been given the opportunity to be BIG friends to others who are younger than they are. They are the ones being imitated now and being followed around. What does this teach all of us? We should be aware of what we are doing. We should also be aware of who we are following. When we choose to imitate humans we are going to have "human hero" moments. We need to always be sure our main hero is Jesus and choosing to follow and imitate Him as we walk on this earth.

To my children's heroes, thank you for taking the time with my children. Thank you for making them feel as though they are so important to you. Thank you for trying to lead a Christ life and just remember, they see all you do even when you don't think they are watching. We love you, are thankful for your being in our lives and for the lessons you teach us! May God bless you!