He may not have been the biggest, fastest or strongest man in the NFL, but that didn't keep Warrick Dunn from being selected as the 2004 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year. The award, which recognizes a player who excels on the field and in community service, couldn't have a more worthy recipient than Dunn. Inspired by his mother, who never got to realize her dream of owning a home, he has helped 52 single moms become first-time home owners through his "Home for the Holidays" program. Said Dunn, "People say I'm giving back, but I think I'm getting a lot more than what I put in."

As I was driving to work this morning, I was forced to constantly keep changing the radio station. All anyone could or would talk about was my beloved Kansas Jayhawks’ loss to VCU yesterday in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. And I just did not want to hear it.

For college basketball fans across the country, March is a bittersweet month. Because there is only one national champion at the end of the season, the vast majority of us have to end the season on some sort of losing note. And we always wind up consoling ourselves with the common thought, “Well, there’s always next year.”

I play fantasy football with my friends. Although it’s not technically a sport, it is fun. Recently, a person offered to trade me two of his players for one of mine. His players were good, but I didn’t see them as great, so I battled about this trade, I looked at player stats, future projections and schedules to analyze this trade. In the end, I didn’t make it. Why? Because I was afraid! I was afraid that the players were not going to be as good as the one I had and that the two players would let me down. I had fear that my team wouldn’t be as good, and that if I traded that player I would lose the championship.

The next week the players he offered me scored a combined 40 points. My player scored 7. In hindsight it would have been a good trade.

Many of us learned the “Jesus Loves Me” song as children, but the last part always bothered me: ”Jesus loves me! This I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong; They are weak but He is strong.” To me, displaying weakness seemed to contradict the very goal of competition.

As I was learning to compete in athletics, the idea of embracing weakness seemed ridiculous. I thought that I had to renounce all that I had learned in the gym in order to become weak. I mean, who has ever been chosen for a team for being the weakest player? Who breaks into a starting lineup because she is weaker than her teammates? I wanted to be strong and display that power for anyone who cared to watch.

While I was eating lunch one day in the teacher’s lounge, I overheard an office aide talking with her friend. The office aide could not understand how God could be God and Jesus at the same time—how He could be in heaven and on Earth at the same time! Her friend didn’t know how to respond.

I asked God to give me the words to help them understand this difficult concept, and the Lord, being gracious, brought an idea to my mind. So, feeling confident, I got up from my table and went to tell them about God and an apple.

Larry, at only 13 years old, impacted my life.

At the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, we have a tradition that has occurred at every camp for more than 55 years. On the last night, we have open mic session when athletes come forward and share how camp has impacted their lives. It is always the highlight of the entire week of camp.

I will never forget an FCA Leadership Camp I was directing several years ago when Larry got up to share at the open mic night. After a terrific week of training middle school and high school students on how to impact their campus for Christ, it was now time to hear how God had worked in their hearts towards leadership. Service projects, leadership workshops, hands-on training, inspiring speakers and powerful worship had marked the week.