You could say it was the "Fumble heard around the World" this past Sunday when Kyle Williams of the San Francisco 49ers fumbled the kick-off return which allowed the New York Giants to kick the game winning field goal in overtime, sending the G-Men to another Super Bowl.

Not that I had any skin in this game, though I was leaning toward the 49's because they've had a great season with their new Coach and did more than anyone expected. Except for some fans of the team who took to twitter after the game with tweets like "@KyleWilliams_10 I wish death to you and your family."

If social media shows us anything it's that people need to think before they speak. Just because a thought may race through our mind, doesn't give us permission to express it. They're our thoughts and maybe some of them just need to be kept to ourselves. Anywho...

The next day I was speaking to a friend of mine who coaches at a prominent College football program and the fumble came up in our conversation. As he was speaking I thought about the many times he as a retired professional footballer had to endure a season that ended on a sour note. The coulda, woulda shoulda's of football. The "if only's" and "what if's." The more I thought about it I realized just how much life and sports seem to mirror each other.

How many times have we fumbled the ball in our relationships? How many business deals were missed because we fumbled the ball in the presentation? I'll tell you one thing; I'm so glad no one's following me around with camera's highlighting my fumbles! I love hearing the TV analyst covering the games tell us, with the aid of slow-motion replay, what the player did wrong and what they "should have done" differently. My first thought is, "Yeah, sounds so easy from our comfortable couches and high-tech announcer's booths." But it's never easy when you're in the heat of the game.

Most mishaps in sports occur when the player takes their eyes off of the ball. Somehow, their opponent got in their head or the bright lights of the moment gets them out of their game for a brief second, and instead of focusing on "first things first" like catching, shooting or hitting the ball, the athlete gets distracted and a mistake is made.

And maybe, just maybe, that's why fumbles are allowed to happen in life. Could it be life's way of helping us be better? A reminder that we're not all that great after all, and we need to keep on trying to do better? What are we looking at anyway, just our talent or are we also keeping a look at our hearts? Fumbles just might be the subtle reminder that true Champions have to keep a delicate balance in life between what you do (talents) and who you are (heart). Gifting can only take you so far. But a good, strong heart, takes you over the top.

If I was able to speak to Kyle Williams, I would look him in the eye and remind him that this is just one game...one season...one opportunity that is allowing him to see what he's really made of. True Champs know life is a Team Sport, and now is not the time to run, hide and go into lock-down. Now is the time to face your fumbles and make the right adjustments for next year.

So how do we handle the fumbles of life? (1) Keep life in perspective. (2) Be quick to forget. (3) Surround yourself with good teammates. (4) Learn to do better next time. (5) Stay focused on your strengths. And by all means, (6) Refuse to listen to fools.

If you had a chance to speak to Kyle Williams, what words of encouragement would you say to him?

Talk about feeling my age, the other day I did something that made me look and feel like a 51 year old guy, and I'm almost embarrassed to write about it. But that hasn't stopped me before, so here I go. Usually I'm pretty aware of my surroundings and the fact that I'm a "thinker" keeps me thinking through everything I do, but on Saturday in the attic above the garage I wasn't as I was in a hurry to quiet my wife and put away the Christmas decorations as fast as I could.

Christopher and I were in the attic. All I heard all morning was about how heavy these boxes were and how hard it was to put them away. I'm thinking to myself, "come on, it's not that hard. I've been doing it all these years by myself, you can handle it." Finally, Mary asks for my help. So I finished what I was doing, headed up the steps of the ladder and started grabbing boxes and straightening out the mess. "Who needs them anyway," I thought. "I should have handled this from the beginning and it would already be done."

As my son was handing me a box, I knew exactly where I was going to store it between the ceiling studs, so I grabbed it out of his hands, turned, took a step and boom, I did the unthinkable...I stepped right through the ceiling. With my leg dangling, Christopher runs to grab me and keep me from falling completely through, while Mary yells from the garage, "Wait, don't move." Like, where am I going to go. I'm stuck here. She then comes running back in with all three girls and what do they do? Laugh. And why did Mary want me to wait? She needed to get her phone so she could get the picture above. I guess you could say I really stepped in it that day.

I read this great story the other day from Mary's Uncle, Pastor David Arnold (www.davidarnoldonline.org).

Dallas Seminary was founded in 1924, and shortly afterwards, due to financial lack, it almost folded. It was nearing bankruptcy. The creditors were prepared to foreclose at 12:00 noon on a particular day. That morning, the founders of the school gathered in the president’s office to pray for God’s provision. During the prayer meeting, Harry Ironside prayed boldly, “Lord, we know that the cattle on a thousand hills are Thine. Please sell some of them and send us the money.” (Psalm 50:10)

About that same time, a tall Texan, with his large boots and hat, walked into the business office. “Howdy!” he expressed to the secretary. “I just sold two carloads of cattle over in Fort Worth. I’ve been trying to make a business deal go through, but it just won’t work. I feel God wants me to give this money to the seminary. I don’t know if you need it or not, but here’s the check,” handing it to her.

The secretary took the check, and, aware of the critical hour, went to the door of the prayer meeting and softly tapped. Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer, the founder and president of the school, answered the door, and took the check from her. When he looked at the amount, it was for the exact amount of the debt. Then he recognized the name on the check as that of a cattleman. Turning to Dr. Ironside, he said, “Harry, God sold the cattle!”

Next time you come into a situation that causes you frustration, fear or confusion, the best and most safe step to take is in the direction toward God. It will keep you from pain, embarrassment and possibly even from having to clean up a mess your wrong step could have caused.

I've shared with you my wrong step, but tell me what steps you have taken to start this New Year off on the right foot?

This year my wife and I will celebrate being married for 25 years, but recently two pieces of jewelry could have put that winning record in jeopardy. Kind of ironic, really, that within three weeks of each other these foreign jewels would appear seemingly out of nowhere and though they didn't cause immediate damage, the ramifications could have been painful and have serious repercussions.

The first piece unearthed itself in the center compartment of my truck. As Mary and I were headed home after work a couple weeks before Christmas, we stopped off at the grocery store to pick up milk. Neither one of us had small bills on us for the quick one item pick-up, so I went for my hidden stash that I've stored up for times like these. I dropped her off at the front door so she could run in while I parked the car and went to cleaning out the trash that accumulates in the hidden region of automobile center compartment and came across a rope like looking necklace with a gold feather on it. I set it to the side as I went on cleaning figuring Mary would be happy to see her lost jewels. When she came back to the vehicle, first thing I said was, "look what I found?" And she replied; "That's not mine. Whose is it?" At first I didn't think or feel anything out of the ordinary as I assumed it belonged to one of my girls, until she asked again; "Whose is it?" Thankfully, as I looked her way, she was smiling.

The second piece of jewelry was a ring and it showed up in our bathroom just last week. When I saw it sitting on the counter I asked Mary whose it was and she didn't know. We assumed it belonged to our dear friend that helps us out around the house during the week. A couple days later while getting ready for bed Mary said to me; "Steve, I asked Mariela about the ring and she said it's not hers. She said she found it on the lamp stand next to our bed."

STOP. This moment right here is huge. Can't skim over it or even make light of it because it's at moments like this that marriages can end. Right here the 25 years we've spent together could have taken a hit, but it didn't because of one thing. Trust. Thankfully, over these last 25 years together both Mary and I have showed each other that we are trustworthy spouses so when something occurs that we don't have all the facts about, we don't turn on each other, but rather to each other. And that trust has been established in our relationship because over the years when life became difficult, we Truthfully Responded Under Stress Together and overcame the challenge. And so, the conversation ended right there and the search for who lost a ring that ended up in our bedroom continues.

I want 2012 to be a year of building Championship Lives and my goal is to provide the resources to those around me to help them do just that. One discipline true Champs embrace is taking personal responsibility for their lives, as they know if it's to be...then it's up to me. So here's the question on this day: Are you a trustworthy person? Can others put their faith in you and their money on you? Make this a year that when the going gets tough, you'll be the kind of person that Truthfully Responds Under Stress Together with those around you so you can live the #Champlife.

Tell me something about you. Where's your strength zone that others trust you in?

One of the things I look forward to with the New Year is the chance to do a re-boot on my life. As much as I think I have it all together, I realize certain areas can use definite improvement and January 1st gives me that opportunity.

My line of work allows me to realize I'm not alone in this. Each week I see brave people who have looked at their lives and said "I want to be better." Life is no doubt good for them, but they're wanting great. Greater love in their relationships, greater success in their careers, greater fulfillment and joy out of life. That's how humanity has been hard wired, so the New Year is always celebrated with that thought in mind as it gives us the chance of a do-over.

My oldest daughter and I were up early this week to watch the sunrise and as we were waiting for the sun to make it's appearance over the Eastern sky line, I watched her play with her hair, as she always does. I thought about correcting her with a "stop playing with your hair" as is my customary scolding, but stopped just short of blurting out the words. I thought back to my early "bad habits" that haunted my own life when I was her age. First, it was biting my nails in my teens as I would chew nervously until blood would flow. Then, in my twenties I picked up twirling my hair, and even find myself reverting from time to time now that I'm in my 50's. My wife Mary was the one doing the scolding then.

Biting nails or playing incessantly with one's hair may simply be a nervous twitch to some people, but let's face it, there are much more damaging habits or hang-ups that could be causing us serious set backs in our lives. Because of my line of work, I get to rub shoulders with courageous people regularly who are making the adjustments in their lives for the better. I shook hands with one of them just a couple of weeks ago, and after I had complimented him on how well he was looking he leaned in and told me that he had been cigarette free for two weeks, pot free for three months, and alcohol free for six months. Talk about hero status. As he walked away with his beautiful wife in hand and two gorgeous children, I thought to myself, "now that's a true champion."

Sitting on the beach watching the sunrise this week, it was cold, dark and windy. We had checked our iPhones to see the exact time the sun was going to rise and with a few minutes to spare we waited. Before we knew it, boom, there the sun appeared and quickly took it's place in the horizon with its beams bouncing off the Atlantic. We sat in awe for those few minutes amazed at the beauty of God's creation as it seemed all of nature stood still for just a brief minute to greet the golden life giver. I immediately could sense a change occur as the temperature became warmer and the wind died down a bit. Seemingly, the sun with it's arrival announced it's a new day and all of nature took notice with a beautiful response.

2012 is a New Year, January a New Month, and today is a New Day with a new set of opportunities. Make the most of this new beginning and break free from the behaviors that are limiting and hindering you. They tell us that a new habit is formed the moment a new decision is made, so today make that decision to make the clean break. Before you know it, others will begin taking notice of the true Champion that's in you.

I'd like to share with you two resources that I know will encourage you. First is a song my wife Mary recorded entitled "Pressing On" which is available to you now as a free download. Secondly, join me for the "12/12/12 Building a Championship Life" event this weekend, January 7th (6:00 PM) & 8th (9:00 & 11:00 AM) at www.metrolifechurch.cc. The highlight will be a burning ceremony where we'll say goodbye to the past so we can embrace the future. Everyone needs a do-over every now and then since we're all humans. I shared a couple of my nagging bad habits above, how about you? What are some of yours?