This is an article that my close friend, Laurin Makohon, wrote for her magazine YW. She is such an amazing writer and an amazing woman of God. I love this article because it is such a reminder that God answers prayers. Definitely grab some tissues because this one's a tear jerker.
Oh Me of Little Faith
by Laurin Makohon
One of my closest friends and college teammates, Michelle, married a guy who plays football for the New Orleans Saints. His name is Chris Reis.
Chris loves Jesus and it’s so awesome. I could annihilate my word count by going on and on about Chris and how he reminds me of the God he’s following. Chris totally lives out his faith. He has the work ethic of a pack mule—practically every article you read about him mentions how hard he works. Plus, he’s an encourager with a positive attitude. His enthusiasm is so thick it’s visible—if you catch Chris on TV he’s the guy going nuts over a play his teammate just made.
But, here’s the deal: Chris doesn’t get a lot of playing time. In the NFL, only a certain amount of players make the roster every week, and Chris is always right on the bubble. He usually starts every game, but he plays on special teams. He does kickoffs, kickoff returns, punts, and punt returns. So while Chris is one of those guys I want the whole world to know about because he’s so ridiculously awesome, the reality is that he doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to make that happen.
But this year, the Saints made it all the way to the Super Bowl—the biggest sporting event in the world. And I really wanted one of the humblest and most deserving guys I know to get noticed.
So I prayed. Well, we—Michelle and I—prayed. For the full two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, we prayed every day: “God, would You let Chris make a big play in the Super Bowl?” Honestly, some days I felt silly asking Him. I mean, He’s God. And I know He cares about my heart, but about a play in a football game?
Then game day came. The first half, Chris played really well. But nothing outstanding happened. Then in the first play of the second half, with the Saints down by three, the Saints’ head coach called for an onside kick—a special teams play. Instead of the standard big, arching kickoff to start the second half, the kicker drove the ball into the ground, and it started flying around like a lame duck—up for grabs by anyone.
It was chaos on the field. But from my cousins’ couch where I was watching the game, when I saw #39 scrambling for the ball, and his trademark blonde hair hanging out of the back of his helmet as he recovered it and all these guys piled on top of him, I went nuts. And when I saw that he had, in fact, recovered it, I went absolutely nuts. I couldn’t stop screaming, “I prayed for that! I PRAYED FOR THAT!” I was, well, in shock.
I shouldn’t have been. Michelle and I had asked God to do exactly that.
The Saints ended up winning—and the onside kick that Chris recovered was touted as one of the most crucial, game-deciding plays. The actual ball he recovered went into the NFL Hall of Fame as the first onside kick recovered before the fourth quarter in a Super Bowl. NFL.com named it one of the top 10 greatest Super Bowl plays of the decade.
It was as if God said: “I heard you ask for a big Super Bowl play. And because I love to do abundantly beyond what you ask or imagine, not only am I going to make it a great play, it will be a game-deciding play. Not only that, it will be a Hall of Fame play. And not only that, it will be touted as one of the greatest plays of the decade.”
For a full month after the Super Bowl, I talked to God about this one play over and over again. I laughed with Him about it because it just seemed so hilariously funny that He made it happen. But more often, I cried with Him about it because He hadn’t written it off. It was a seemingly silly request, yes. But it meant something to me. And He answered.
I also cried because I doubt Him so much. I guess the prayers that He hasn’t answered as quickly have caused me to question His good heart. And His over-the-top answer to the Super Bowl prayer reminded me that yes, He hears, and yes, He cares, and yes, He loves to answer. It reminded me that—just as He heard my prayer for Chris’ big play—He has heard the prayers I’ve prayed for so long, the ones that come from the deepest part of me. And just as He is able to direct a football’s bounce and to help His hard-working son hang on to a pigskin so that he can get some much-deserved affirmation, He is able to answer my prayers. And He loves to answer prayers in ways that are bigger and better than I could’ve ever imagined. So He hasn’t forgotten those other prayers. There must be a good reason for the delay in answering them. And, more than that, He hasn’t forgotten me. And that’s so very sweet to know.
Oh, Lord, help me trust in Your good heart. Help me be as tenacious in trusting Your heart as Chris was in holding onto that football. And thank You for setting up that play for him. I know we’re both huge fans of his.
Oh Me of Little Faith
by Laurin Makohon
One of my closest friends and college teammates, Michelle, married a guy who plays football for the New Orleans Saints. His name is Chris Reis.
Chris loves Jesus and it’s so awesome. I could annihilate my word count by going on and on about Chris and how he reminds me of the God he’s following. Chris totally lives out his faith. He has the work ethic of a pack mule—practically every article you read about him mentions how hard he works. Plus, he’s an encourager with a positive attitude. His enthusiasm is so thick it’s visible—if you catch Chris on TV he’s the guy going nuts over a play his teammate just made.
But, here’s the deal: Chris doesn’t get a lot of playing time. In the NFL, only a certain amount of players make the roster every week, and Chris is always right on the bubble. He usually starts every game, but he plays on special teams. He does kickoffs, kickoff returns, punts, and punt returns. So while Chris is one of those guys I want the whole world to know about because he’s so ridiculously awesome, the reality is that he doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to make that happen.
But this year, the Saints made it all the way to the Super Bowl—the biggest sporting event in the world. And I really wanted one of the humblest and most deserving guys I know to get noticed.
So I prayed. Well, we—Michelle and I—prayed. For the full two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, we prayed every day: “God, would You let Chris make a big play in the Super Bowl?” Honestly, some days I felt silly asking Him. I mean, He’s God. And I know He cares about my heart, but about a play in a football game?
Then game day came. The first half, Chris played really well. But nothing outstanding happened. Then in the first play of the second half, with the Saints down by three, the Saints’ head coach called for an onside kick—a special teams play. Instead of the standard big, arching kickoff to start the second half, the kicker drove the ball into the ground, and it started flying around like a lame duck—up for grabs by anyone.
It was chaos on the field. But from my cousins’ couch where I was watching the game, when I saw #39 scrambling for the ball, and his trademark blonde hair hanging out of the back of his helmet as he recovered it and all these guys piled on top of him, I went nuts. And when I saw that he had, in fact, recovered it, I went absolutely nuts. I couldn’t stop screaming, “I prayed for that! I PRAYED FOR THAT!” I was, well, in shock.
I shouldn’t have been. Michelle and I had asked God to do exactly that.
The Saints ended up winning—and the onside kick that Chris recovered was touted as one of the most crucial, game-deciding plays. The actual ball he recovered went into the NFL Hall of Fame as the first onside kick recovered before the fourth quarter in a Super Bowl. NFL.com named it one of the top 10 greatest Super Bowl plays of the decade.
It was as if God said: “I heard you ask for a big Super Bowl play. And because I love to do abundantly beyond what you ask or imagine, not only am I going to make it a great play, it will be a game-deciding play. Not only that, it will be a Hall of Fame play. And not only that, it will be touted as one of the greatest plays of the decade.”
For a full month after the Super Bowl, I talked to God about this one play over and over again. I laughed with Him about it because it just seemed so hilariously funny that He made it happen. But more often, I cried with Him about it because He hadn’t written it off. It was a seemingly silly request, yes. But it meant something to me. And He answered.
I also cried because I doubt Him so much. I guess the prayers that He hasn’t answered as quickly have caused me to question His good heart. And His over-the-top answer to the Super Bowl prayer reminded me that yes, He hears, and yes, He cares, and yes, He loves to answer. It reminded me that—just as He heard my prayer for Chris’ big play—He has heard the prayers I’ve prayed for so long, the ones that come from the deepest part of me. And just as He is able to direct a football’s bounce and to help His hard-working son hang on to a pigskin so that he can get some much-deserved affirmation, He is able to answer my prayers. And He loves to answer prayers in ways that are bigger and better than I could’ve ever imagined. So He hasn’t forgotten those other prayers. There must be a good reason for the delay in answering them. And, more than that, He hasn’t forgotten me. And that’s so very sweet to know.
Oh, Lord, help me trust in Your good heart. Help me be as tenacious in trusting Your heart as Chris was in holding onto that football. And thank You for setting up that play for him. I know we’re both huge fans of his.
2 comments:
What a great story! Thank you so much for sharing.
That's awesome! Love that He answers those prayers.
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