Ear Warmers

Last night, I had a soccer game. Yes, I actually attempt to play the game of soccer. I’ve gotten better with time, but we won’t get into my mad skillz for now. Last night was also a bit chilly as we’re peeking into that beautiful season known as fall. Knowing this, I came prepared. From past experience, I know that when it’s cold and I’m running, the first to go are my ears. I get this tremendous surge of pain in both ears that ends up incapacitating me. I can’t run, I can’t see, it’s just ear-pain all over. With this in mind, I decided to wear ear muffs. Not like the fuzzy headband type ear muffs, but the around the head, over the ears type of ear muffs. I guess they’re “ear warmers” to be precise. And I kind of looked like an idiot. It wasn’t THAT cold, and the only other person on the field with a similar device was the 80 year old referee. Needless to say, I was a little self-conscious.

As I jogged up and down the field that night, I kept thinking about how ridiculous I looked. How I probably looked like a 5th grader whose mom dressed her up for a cold day. And then I thought about how ridiculous I was for feeling ridiculous.

Because of those ear warmers, I was able to play the entirety (yes, all 90 minutes) of the game without an ounce of pain or discomfort. And then my overly-complicated mind made the spiritual analogy it so often makes. Maybe it was because I had small group earlier, but I started thinking about my own personal weaknesses. And instead of running the risk of looking like a dork, or a “Jesus-freak”, I don’t take the necessary precautions to watch out for these weaknesses. And I don’t bother to ask for help either. Instead, I decide to play the game and somehow manage the impending pain. I realized in a moment of seconds, because I was busy trying to kick the ball away, that I need to stop worrying about how I come off or appear to others; especially those that have no idea what I’m talking about.

Overcoming my weaknesses isn’t about how cool I can look in the process. How easy I can pretend it is to deal with problems. Or how unfazed I appear when things go wrong. What I’m learning these days is that overcoming weaknesses is about humility. And I got my first taste of it last night with my ear warmers.