Get Up! It’s Gamedayyyyyy!
Hi! I’m Amanda, and I am obsessed with football season. Whew! Glad I got that out of the way! If you know football, then you know where this blog title came from! I love getting up early on gameday and watching the College Gameday show on ESPN. When I worked for LSU, the show would makes its’ way to our campus just about every year. Praise the Lord the countdown to football is on (finally!!). I am doing all the prep work: studying the teams, watching ESPN on the daily, but mostly, preparing my game day snacks.
When I think about how this whole Play for the King journey started, I am still in awe. God placed this dream on my heart and vision in my mind about 5 years ago. I knew that we could bring people together, unite in His word, and have some gameday fun along the way.
God was working in a special way long ago; however, I didn’t act on it until 2020. I want to tell you about the day God said, “Get up!” We were living in the COVID era and everyone was in lock down mode. I had a 5 year old, 3 year old and 1 year old at the time. In those days, they all took naps AT THE SAME TIME! Man… I really miss that! Now, none of them take a nap. Anyway, that particular day everyone was sleeping and I was so excited about taking a nap myself.
I tossed and turned for about 5 minutes and just felt this overwhelming sense of restlessness. A small voice said, “Get up. I have something to show you.” Well, I didn’t get up at first. I was kinda thinking, “Can you show me later? 🤣🙈” But the voice got louder, and it was like God was pulling me up and out of the bed by a string attached to my heart. I can’t say I was incredibly excited about forgoing a nap, but I also could not ignore what was happening.
I quietly went to my office and randomly chose a passage of scripture. God lead me to the Tower of Babel found in Genesis. God did show up and teach me something. He gave me so much insight in those few verses. He showed me the defining questions we need to ask ourselves if we are ever worried about pride infiltrating our lives. Just for your knowledge, those questions are: What are you building? And are you building it for the sake of your name or for God’s name? I didn’t know why I needed that lesson, but it’s become the framework in which I operate. We are all building something in our lives, and it’s a good idea to pause and ask those questions. It was in those moments that I learned how to read scripture and pull out practical things we can use every day. I don’t think it mattered what verses I flipped to that day. God’s plan was to reveal Himself to me through His word.
That was just the start. I became excited to read the Bible in a new way. I knew He was helping me gain valuable insight and turning the creative wheels in my mind so that I could help others read with excitement too!
I am so thankful that I listened to the small voice that told me to “Get up!” I also think about what would have happened if I would have continued my nap. Would play for the king exist? Would my words return void? Would I not have the same joy in reading God’s Word? And this is a hard one: Would my Aly be a Christian? I think when kids see parents live out their faith, it accelerates a child’s faith.
“Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Ephesians 5:14
So here’s what I want you to do: Ask yourself if God has ever told you to “Get up!” Is He pulling you out of bed by the strings in your heart? Are you listening? Don’t let the moment pass you by…. even if you really want a nap! Every day we need to get up in anticipation for gameday. Because y’all… everyday is gameday. Every day you step onto the field of play. You have an opponent and his name is the enemy of our soul. He likes to drag us down to ensure we never reach our full potential as a Christian. But we have certain victory in Jesus. Friends, GET UP and walk in that victory!
By the way… who are you cheering for this week?? I promise I won’t dislike you if you are a Bama fan :)
