I’ll never forget one lineman from Texas Tech. I’ll call him Alex. He was one of the most fit lineman I’ve ever seen and could eat more food than any two other men. Because he was a gentle giant, Alex was assigned to counsel our smallest Kampers.

One day I noticed Alex engaged in a classic contest with one of those Kampers. They were spinning a spoon to determine who got the last pancake on the plate. Alex won. Just as he was about to take his first bite, Alex saw the boy was crying. With little ado, Alex simply slid the pancake over to the boy’s plate.

Later I discovered Alex had been tending to one of his sick Kampers in the infirmary that morning and was late to breakfast. That last pancake was going to be his only one to prepare him for a long day of hard work.

After Alex left camp, I never heard of him again. But that day in the Kanakuk dining hall, he had been the perfect example of “I’m Third.”

Alex was the embodiment of that humility, a big man who set aside his hunger to comfort a small boy because his heart was bigger than his stomach. 

Do you get more satisfaction from beating everyone else to the last pancake, or from passing it up so someone else can benefit? Your answer will tell you a little about your stomach, but it will tell you much more about your heart.

Can’t wait for summer!