Refuse to face the reality....BELIEVE!

As a former college Tennis player, I still love watching the sport - but only during the major championships. My favorite is the U.S. Open, as there is typically one or two very compelling stories which play out. Up very early today in Australia where I am one day away from the 2009 Aquathon World Championship, I drew inspiration from a 17 year-old U.S. female tennis player from Marietta, GA, Melanie Oudin. I watched her take down the third major, ranked Russian tennis player en route to a quarterfinal berth. First it was Dementiava, then Sharapova, and today Petrova fell to the low ranked and unseeded Georgian on one of Tennis's biggest stages. She was down one set after losing the first 6-1 - on her heels, given little chance to comeback. The odds were stacked against her - young, inexperienced, unproven, smaller, weaker....she literally had no business staying in the match, let alone charging back to an unfathomable 1-6, 7-6, 6-3 victory. But that's precisely what she did. Just as David took down the mighty Goliath despite the advice and counsel of Saul, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth (not to mention the fact that Goliath was significantly bigger and stronger than David!). This from one of the TV commentators as Oudin closed out match point...."She simply refuses to face the reality!" I love it! Melanie Oudin doesn't care what other people have top say about her chances. What's your reality? What do others say about your chances at achieving your dreams, your goals. What do YOU believe about your reality? Do you have deep water faith or "in the boat" faith? In the midst of her comeback, the cameras focused on her tennis shoes....zooming in on the heel, the viewers could see the word "BELIEVE" on each foot. There it was, her mantra, the reason she knew she belonged with these top-ranked pros. She believed. In herself. In her preparation. In her skills. And perhaps more importantly, she REFUSED to believe what others were saying about her. I am inspired by her example and will take the same belief and approach with me tomorrow afternoon. It's time to BELIEVE, and refuse to face reality.

PHIL 4:13