Be Your Very Best You
When I said that my assistant wrestling coach Tim Hand is the strongest man pound for pound I've ever known, let me brag on him for a moment. At our very first wrestling practice, I was stunned by his cat-like quickness and obvious power. At 5' 7" and well over 200 pounds, I didn't expect this. After practice, I asked Tim how much weight he could bench press. He is truly a very humble guy and said, "I blew my rotator cuff and I don't lift weights anymore."
I continued to pressure him while he evaded giving an answer until finally when I asked again, he responded, "One time?" I said, "Yes, how much could you bench one time?" He replied, "Oh, I guess I could do 400." Later I learned that he had run a full 26.2 mile marathon when he was ten years old. He moved from rural Alaska to Indiana for high school. This was back when Indiana had only one class for sports. You competed against each other, whether you were from a town of two hundred people or two million.
As a senior in high school Tim was First Team All State in football, the 180 pound State Champion in wrestling, and the Indiana State Champion in the 100 Meters. News flash- that's not MY story! I was so tiny that in my 8th grade year the wrestling coach came into basketball practice and asked me to go wrestle in a "B" Squad tournament because they needed an '80 pounder.' Halfway through eighth grade I weighed just over 70 pounds. God made us all differently, didn't he? But here's the beautiful thing- in all of creation there is only one YOU.
You are a unique masterpiece created in the image of God. In Jeremiah 1:5 God said, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you." Psalm 139:13-14 says, "You created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." God says of those who belong to him, "You are my treasured possession." We were literally created to LOVE GOD and to LOVE OTHERS. Be your very best YOU, and you will be blessed! -Pastor Brad
Tim packing out a cinnamon black bear.
Written on July 14, 2026
Posted in Daily Devotions