What is your dream?
Maybe you’ve dreamt of becoming a professional soccer player, a famous musician, a respected CEO, or an esteemed doctor. Maybe you dream of being a renowned artist or politician or scientist. But what is the ultimate goal of those dreams?
Most of the time, we see our dreams as something for us to accomplish for ourselves: for the recognition, for the satisfaction, for the pay. But what if we viewed the accomplishment of our dreams as a platform for telling more people about Jesus?
That’s exactly how Jack Blyth viewed his dream of becoming a successful college athlete. Jack is a member of Team Second, an initiative by e3’s digital media ministry I Am Second designed to partner with coaches, college athletes, and post-college athletes who are passionate about representing Jesus by sharing the Gospel and making disciples. He achieved his college athlete dreams when he became an accomplished runner at The University of Tennessee at Martin; Jack became All-Conference in the track and field Steeplechase event, and his cross country team achieved the highest team finish in cross-country history.
But once Jack had accomplished his dream, he realized God had even bigger plans for him – plans that built on his original dream.
“Running for me was purely the Lord,” Jack said. “That’s why it’s really so cool to see what He’s done – because now I coach it at the top prep school in the world.”
Jack now works as an assistant track and cross country coach at IMG Academy in Florida. He uses his platform as a coach to mentor student-athletes not just in their sport, but in their character and purpose. He is able to share the Gospel with them, help them get involved in Bible studies, and train them how to share their faith with others.
“That’s the dream: to be used by the Lord,” Jack said. “Everything that I’ve been given – any athleticism, any leadership skills, any communication skills … the Lord has been equipping me my whole life to do something like this. I pray every morning and ask God to help me touch one person. Help me to make a difference in one kid’s life. Who knows what that could mean for a bunch of other people that that person could reach? That’s how I view the job. Say I make a difference in one athlete’s life. What if he makes it to the NFL or the NBA? How much more of a reach will he have than I do? If he’s out there proclaiming the Gospel, that’s the dream.”
Learn more about Jack’s story – and other ways God is working through you and e3 Partners – in our Greater Together quarterly report below: