The Ben Hogan Award is presented annually to the top male collegiate and amateur golfer in the United States. It is often considered the "Heisman Trophy of college golf" and was held in Fort Worth, Texas.
Being invited to perform for their reception and do the national anthem was definitely an honor.
One of the strengths that I have is being able to be flexible and feel out the room. Sometimes doing events, as much as we try to nail down every detail, some things don't show up until the day of.
There were no instructions for me after I escorted the nominees in. However, I knew instinctively to keep the party going because the rest of the guests would be entering at this point and who wants to walk into a room with no music playing? So I cranked up the next 3 songs while everyone got seated.
This moment actually became one of the highlights of the evening. I moved through the tables and engaged everyone with my music while the camera that was being reflected on the big screen followed me around. Though I had played during the opening, this was a moment where I had people's attention. They clapped and danced in their seats while other guests came in and were seated.For me, this is teamwork. I didn't stop the flow of the evening until it was the right moment to fade the music down and the host started. From there I regrouped and prepared myself to perform the national anthem.
And that experience reminded me of something bigger than that night. Sometimes the moments we think will be "the moment" are often not. And you cannot control that. But what you can control is bringing your best to every situation in every circumstance.
I often parallel this to life. As a believer in Christ, I'm always challenged to not try to decide where and when God gets the glory. He gets glory however and whenever He wants. He gets glory out of our lives when we exercise our faith and lean not to our own understanding. But the "moments" are not ours to determine.
I remember my wife and I performing a song at the Hard Rock Hotel and a lady came up to us and shared how she felt during the performance. This was not a church service or a song where one would be inclined to think "God is going to get the glory" but it was His appointed time to reach her in that moment.
Sometimes I think we believe we have so much control over what happens in our lives but we don't. God really is in control and the moment we rest in that, we won't toil and spin our wheels over what was never in our control in the first place. We don't choose God's army. He does. We don't choose His moments to reveal Himself. He does. This is God's game and He calls every shot.
Anybody want to play golf?