One of the most significant obstacles of my first year was completing the mile. I tried three times, always coming within seconds of missing it. With a few breakdowns behind the track shed, I had something else that became the difference maker: a senior teammate who had already passed the obstacle.

No one enjoys difficult seasons. Whether it's a demanding training session, a difficult season in marriage, or a challenge that seems impossible to overcome, our first instinct is often to ask, “Why is this happening?”

One of the hardest things in basketball was watching someone else step into the position I was used to playing. I wondered if they would make the right decisions, execute the right plays, or perform better than I had. If I'm honest, I've wrestled with that same uncertainty in my marriage.

When I was in seventh grade, I was invited to play on a traveling AAU basketball team that competed against some of the best players in the country. I joined the U16 team, and to say I was in over my head would be an understatement. I questioned whether I belonged, but one thing became clear,I had to own the position I had been given.

Right now, we have an opponent. Not the team across the basketball court, but the enemy of our souls, who has a game plan against your marriage.

One of the keys to winning on the basketball court was knowing the plays inside and out. No matter the defense or full-court press, we had to know how to get into our plays and run them effectively. It's the same in our marriage.