When people make mistakes, struggle or disappoint ... what’s your response when they WIN?
I could give you a lot of reasons why I don’t like Tiger Woods. Until today. Why I wouldn’t want him to win another Masters....or any tournament for that matter. Reasons why he doesn’t “deserve” to win. But if I am rooting against Tiger Woods, I am rooting against myself.
We all fail. We all disappoint. We all mess up. Big time. Tiger is no different than me. Maybe a different kind of failure or disappointment or mess up. His is more public than most of ours. But still human. In need of a Savior. In need of forgiveness.
He had it all. Everything. Until he didn’t. And the fall was not a small one. It was documented everywhere. All his sins, and there were plenty, for the world to see. Whispers, finger pointing, head shaking, headlines.
Slowly, with almost nobody watching and even less believing, he started coming back. An injury almost ended the comeback before it even started. He persevered through that as well.
Sunday, April 14, 2019, with the world watching, he does it. A generation who years ago sat with their dads watching Tiger win, sat with their own kids now and said, “watch this.” A generation inspired to become and excel at golf by watching Tiger on TV as kids watched one more time today as he passed them on the leaderboard.
His children who watched it all unfold over the last decade with their own parts in the story are waiting for him just off the 18th green. The mom who watched her son have it all, and then lose it all, is waiting too.
She never left...(by the way. Mommas almost never do).
The story isn’t perfect. They never are. We never are. But it’s a heck of a good one. Watch closely kids. Being great is one thing. Being great after falling out of grace takes twice as much work and ten times as much courage. That’s the good stuff in life. That’s why a bunch of old dudes got tears in their eyes.
He hadn’t won a major in 11 years. 11 years! He has had personal issues and health issues. He let down many with some of his actions. He hurt loved ones. He let himself down. And I realized that this connection I had with Tiger is because I need the same grace as he does. I need the same forgiveness and redemption we all do. If I think it should be withheld from him, why should it also not be withheld from me?
If we pause long enough, we can all find ourselves in Tiger’s story. And that’s why we find so many celebrating....not so much the man as it is the celebration of grace and forgiveness and redemption we all need!
Sometimes the Comeback is even bigger than the Setback
Have a great week y’all
#Repost
Wish I could take credit for the above beautifully written story of Grace and Redemption…..I cannot, but I know one of the gals who wrote it, Barri Martin-Pautz, along with her friend! It was just too good not to share!
May this Easter we all remember this: Because He is risen we too can rise above!
Happy Easter My dear friends and readers!
xo,
Amy
