Football, Family, and Dirt

I know at first glance those three words do not typically go together, but in the Wirth house, around this time of year, they do.  You see on Monday of this week, Anthony began his pre-football season, skills camp, AKA run and exercise until you throw-up.  Actually it is not that bad, and he loves it.  Seems hard to believe that my boy has played football for 7 seasons and he is only 13.  If I am honest, I love it as much as he does. I love being out on the sideline and on the practice field with him, coaching him and watching him play.  It is exciting to see him improve from year to year, and turn into a leader on and off the field.  So football is a huge part of our lives from now until early November, and it can be a dirty sport.  However, today also marks the beginning of summer as well which for us means family fun time and family craziness.  I am sure that over the next 8-10 weeks we will make more than a few journeys to the Magic Kingdom, be out on the boat tubing, and at the beach relaxing, all with family and friends, and I cherish these times.  After all, it is what summer vacation is all about. 
So you may be asking, "Paul I get the football and family so far, but where does dirt fit in to all of this?"  As I was thinking about summer fun and family vacations, it got me wondering how many times do we end up with dirt in our spiritual lives because we just take a vacation from our spiritual journey.  You know how it goes... you miss one week due to vacation, then the next week you are too tired from vacation, then work is busy and before you know it you are disconnected from your spiritual community.  Now before someone says I do not have to go to church to be a good Christ Follower, I agree.  Church is not the answer to all of our spiritual problems. However, I liken church attendance and spiritual health to working out and weight gain.  I do not have to workout to maintain a healthy weight but it sure does help.  Dirt is one of those things that comes into our lives very suddenly or slowly over a period of neglect.  Similarly, weight is gained one small pound at a time, but over the course of a few weeks or a month it can be devastating.  Dirt is the same way.  Without a regular way to identify the dirt in our lives we just keep piling it on not even realizing the damage it is causing.
This weekend at Relevant we are going to look at another character who was born dirty and lived dirty for the majority of his life, but then he spent some time in the Octagon with God and everything changed.  Join us this weekend as we unpack the dirty life of Jacob.