Tip of My Iceberg

March Madness has begun.

I’ve become a college basketball widow. Four weeks of listening to a game that isn’t my favorite. It’s a short court with so many really tall guys, stopping and starting, leaping and throwing.

Give me soccer any day.

I’ve great friends–men and women both–who are filling out brackets with their picks for winners.

Some of them actually know what they’re doing.

I’ve one sweet friend who has won with her bracket several times because she chooses teams based on mascots and team colors.

Creative brackets.

Folks talk about teams as if they have a player in the game. A personal investment, not all that different from a soccer mom standing on the sideline cheering her child.

Some of this has to do with waiting for the next BIG thing. The Super Bowl is over. Professional basketball is dragging on and isn’t into the end of its season. Hockey’s season doesn’t end till April 6 so the Stanley Cup won’t happen for a while. And baseball is in its preseason mode.

So folks are all in for March Madness.

There are things in life where I can choose to go all in or be an uninterested bystander. I had to ask myself the question: What is truly worth my all-in? My investment of time, energy and even money.

The first thing that came to mind was family. Those people in my life that have been the biggest part of my story. My family of origin and my own immediate family. Folks I’ve been gifted with who’ve invested in me and I in them. I am, in large part, who I am today because of family.

I’ve others in my life who’ve made smaller investments in me. Not all are heroes; some are villains. But they’ve each played a part in making me who I am. A dear friend reminded me years ago that villains are just as significant as heroes. They push us to be greater than we think we can be.

My biggest all-in must be my faith in God.

There are those who find faith a sign of weakness. I’ve watched Bill Maher’s “Religulous”; he mocks faith at almost every level. Particularly any follower of Jesus. He reduces faith to something that can’t be proven.

That would be a surprise to those who, over centuries, have had their lives changed by the power of Christ. The Messiah. The One who was all in when He gave His life for us. Love sent Him to the cross, a love that yearned for us to spend eternity with Him.

He was all in because of passionate, reckless love.

Nobody has that passion for March Madness. For these weeks, they buy in because of their commitment to a team. Or to the fun.

The question remains: What is important enough for you to choose to go all in, no holding back?

It must be more significant than just a mascot.