Latanya Robinson Jimerson

You Can Fumble the Ball and Still Win the Game Latanya Robinson Jimerson

I titled this book, "You Can Fumble the Ball and Still Win the Game" because of my history of cheerleading. I remember when I first became a cheerleader at Stevens Junior High School, in Pasco, Washington, I wasn't well versed in football. If something like a fumble happened, I would be intensely anxious! My heart would pound and I'd think, "Ooh, we're gonna lose!" As time went on and I learned more about the game, I realized that there could be several fumbles in the game and we could still win it. I took that lesson from cheerleading into my pastoring experience and realized that sometimes when people fumble in being true to their core values, they think their fumble is unforgivable. Even people who are raised with strong Christian values, when they betray one or more of their core values, they can become stuck, believing that they are a mess. That was my story. I thought I had blown it because of mistakes, because of rebellion, because of not honoring what I knew was right. I thought the life before me was going to be a mess because of my bad decisions. Then God delivered me and I realized that, although you might fumble, you don't necessarily lose the game. Sometimes a fumble encourages you to look back and figure out what went wrong so that you don't make the same mistake again. Helping people see that a mistake can change the trajectory of your life for the better has been a revelation for me personally and for my work as a pastor. I thank God for that.