As a defensive player in soccer, I often hear the phrase: "When in doubt, kick it out." In soccer, if you mess around with the ball in the back, it can result in a point for the opposing team. And that is bad! So, when a ball comes to those of us on defense and we are unsure whether or not we have time to pass it, we kick it out.

In life, we sometimes have things that we think might be impure, but we are not really sure, so we keep them in our lives. Keeping impure things in our lives, however, separates us from God and hurts our witness.

The 11-player basketball drill is a fun way of learning how to run a fast break. The point of the game is to box out, rebound, hit the outlet pass, and sprint to the offensive end. Three players start off with the ball and head down the court to take on two players. Once a shot goes up, all five players look for the rebound so they can hit the outlet player halfway up the court and stay in the game. It is the player who continues to get the rebound on both sides of the court that gets to stay in the game.

In college, my computer teacher taught me the acronym GIGO. It stands for “Garbage In, Garbage Out.” As athletes, we know that this phrase can relate to our bodies. If we fill ourselves with junk, junk will come out in the form of poor performance.

The GIGO acronym is even more powerful when we apply it to our hearts. If we put garbage in our hearts, garbage comes out. Think about this: if a tube of toothpaste is squeezed, what comes out? Mustard? No, toothpaste comes out, because that is what was put in the tube.

Today we get to experience an event that only comes around once every four years. We are receiving one precious extra day in honor of Leap Year. A few days ago, I found myself talking with co-workers about what I would do with the extra day. They all know me pretty well and assumed I would fill it with triathlon training. Either that or take a day and let my body rest from all the abuse I put it through with swimming, cycling and running.

When was the last time you heard someone repeat something you said? It happened to me last night. While coaching my son's little league team, I told one of the other coaches that I thought we could win the game because we had more talent than our opponents. My son overheard my comment and, well, it got repeated a little differently than when I had said it. The next thing I knew, my son had gathered several of his teammates together and was telling them, "We will kill this team! My dad thinks they stink!"

After the proverbial, "Oops," I gathered my troops and gave them my best Lou Holtz impression. I told them that the opposing team could easily beat us if we were not careful. Eighteen runs later we walked away victorious.