On the Path

Welcome to on the Path. I, Ben Daybell, have started this podcast to help keep the focus on Jesus Christ and help athletes understand that there is a greater joy in life than just playing sports. 

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What's up everyone? Welcome to On the Path. Today I'm here by myself to uh explain to you guys what On the Path is and how we will be progressing forward. So today I'm gonna um explain what On the Path is uh to begin with. On the Path is a podcast that I thought of uh to help athletes and anyone really come under Christ and to uh feel the importance of Him in our lives because it truly is because of Him that we can progress and have a fullness of joy in our lives. So um I'm gonna explain on to uh to you guys that uh how I had this idea of a podcast. Um while I was serving an LDS mission for two years in the Ivory Coast, which is located in West Africa, I had the wonderful opportunity to go out and to testify of Jesus Christ every single day, to testify to people that he is our savior, that he is our redeemer, and that he truly is the Son of God. And he came to earth to to help us and to teach us and to guide us. So while I was out there teaching every single day, I I knew that one day I would come home and um things would be different, I wouldn't be able to go out and to have that opportunity to testify every single day. And I remember hearing a talk from Bonnie H. Corden that's titled Don't Give Up an Opportunity to Testify of Jesus Christ. And I was worried coming home that I wouldn't have as many opportunities to testify of Jesus Christ, so I decided I needed to come up with something that would help me. And I look back at uh myself in high school and um kind of the things that I did to try and testify of Jesus Christ to to do what I could to help others know that I I'm trying to I'm striving every day to be like him and to um be a better person, that one day I may be able to um to help others see that light and that joy which comes from Jesus Christ. Um one thing that I found was really hard was kind of time because in high school I was a student athlete. I went to a smaller high school, so I was a I played three sports. I was busy fall, winter, and spring, and all summer long with all those sports, so it was kind of hard to find the time to sit down to read the scriptures to talk to someone about Christ, and I just didn't know how to do it. And there was a point in my life where I was kind of lost. I didn't know um what to do, I didn't know if I should talk. Uh I really just didn't know where I was going in my life, and then I had a friend that was close to me that told me that I need to keep going to seminary, I need to read my scriptures, and that I need to um stay with Jesus Christ. And as I stay with him, I'll be happier and I'll be able to better understand. So that was a huge turning point in my life, and I decided that from that point on I was gonna read and study my scriptures every single day. And I even started posting a scripture of the day um on a Snapchat story so that I could have help help maybe brighten someone else's day. And it didn't just brighten their days, but brightened my day too, because I gotta start it off with a scripture. I gotta see um the writings of prophets that testified of Jesus Christ even before he came to this earth, and that's really something that's super important. And just recently, too, again I started um sharing scriptures of the day, and I can see how much of a joy that brings to me and to other people as well. So that was a huge moment that helped me see that Christ really is the importance of our life, because at that time when I started sharing scriptures, I was I was succeeding in my sports, I was playing really well, and I was having a great time, but I still felt something missing. But as I started reading my scriptures and studying of uh Jesus Christ and his life, I felt a greater joy come upon me, and that truly was something important. Um I'll back up here just one second, sorry. Um I just wanted to jump into things, but I'm Ben Dabel, um and I'm currently a student athlete at Southern Virginia University. I play on the golf team, and it's it's been a blessing thus far. Um and it's really a great thing for us to to keep Jesus Christ in our lives because I know that he helped me get here to be a collegiate athlete and to have the opportunity to play sports, and now I I'm doing my best to keep keep Christ centered in my life, and um I want to help others understand why that's important. So that's that's truly the reason behind this podcast. Um so um going on, I wanna I just want everyone to know that we need to testify Jesus Christ and to keep the keep that light in our lives, even while we're playing sports and um succeeding. We always need to keep that little time we have for Christ and do what we can to maybe read the scriptures, even if it's five minutes every day, something to keep that light in our lives, because as we do that, we'll have a greater joy. Um I just want to get started here with one scripture, and it's in the in the New Testament, it's John chapter 15, verse 11. Here it reads, These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. We see that as Jesus Christ as we keep Jesus Christ with us, as we read his words, as we do what is necessary to have the light of Christ in our lives, his joy will be within us and it and it will be full. So we see that only through Jesus Christ we can have a fullness of joy. So we need to make sure, as athletes, to keep Jesus Christ in our lives because that's really something that is important, that will keep us happy every moment of the day. Because our sport will come and go. One day we'll hang up the shoes, hang up the cleats. We won't be able to get back on the field, but something that stays with us is Jesus Christ and his joy. So we need to make sure that we're keeping that joy with us as we learn of him and as we speak of him to others as well. I'd like to share a couple moments, uh a special moment from back when I was in high school. Um I was a high school, a senior in high school, my golf team was succeeding. But one day, one of our teammates, also a senior, a really close buddy of mine, decided to gather the team together to talk and kind of figure out what we can do as a team to be better, to work harder, and to just be better athletes in general and better people too. So as we were talking, I had this idea come to my mind where that I got from others that I grew up around. Um I grew up in a good Christian home where I gotta see um other families around me as well, have young athletes that were trying to do the same thing to help others keep a Christ-centered life. So many people would suggest before sporting events to to pray as a team and to invite that light, invite the spirit to be with them. And maybe we wouldn't win every single time, but at least we would have the Lord with us and in our thoughts, which is what is truly important. So I suggested that to our team, and the team agreed. And something truly special about this team is we were all super close. We were all friends, we'd grown up for the most part together. So going into this senior year, for me and a couple of my buddies and um the rest of the team, we really wanted to succeed and we wanted to push to win the state championship. And going to our first tournament after that meeting, um, we as I suggested, we prayed as a team. And it was a special moment because we just gathered around six of us just on the putting green, the practice green, before going out to play in this tournament. And um, because I suggested it, the team voted that I would I would say the prayer, and I was very happy to do that. And as I prayed, I just felt a little a brighter light shining in my life, and um it truly was something special. And what came out of that that day um was just peace, really. And we went out on the golf course in a different mindset because we started our day off differently, and that day we ended up beating our school record, and we all played so well, and we didn't think we could get any better than what we did. It was the best score the school had ever seen in the years that it had been open and had a golf team, and it was just such a cool experience, and of course we went and we continued to play, and then we would practice and we kept getting better off the course as well. And as we did that, it was fun, and then our next tournament came around, and again, everyone voted that I say the prayer, so I did, and we all came back, and guess what? We played better than we did the round before, and we broke our own personal school record. And the feeling that that brought to the team was was a strength really. Seeing that we would start the day, start our tournament with the Lord on our side, with that peace and joy and happiness, with the Spirit to guide us out and to be in our thoughts. And it was just something that just that just hit me, that shocked me really, that as we keep the Lord on our side, He'll bless us in whatever we do. Of course, our team continued. We went on. Um sadly, we didn't end up winning the state championship, but we grew as men. And we grew to be better people, really, through that time of hard work, dedication, and prayer. And just keeping the Lord on our side, I know that that helped me grow and that helped the others on the team grow as well. So that's just one experience that I have and that I love to share. As we, as a team, as individuals, as we keep Christ in our lives, he will bless us and he will be a strength unto us as we push ourselves to be better, but as we keep him by our side the entire time. Um I just want to uh say again that it truly is a higher joy to have Jesus Christ in our life. Succeeding in a sport is fun. I'm sure all athletes can agree with me on that one. As we have Jesus Christ in our life as um as we're playing, we're working hard, we're practicing hours and hours and hours in a week, and it's just fun when we go out and compete and we succeed. But like I said earlier, one day we won't put those shoes back on, we won't put those cleats back on, the clubs will stay in the closet. But Jesus Christ is always there. He is someone that will never disappear. His words have been with us for years, and it's important for us to remember that. To remember Jesus Christ and that, as the scripture says, your joy might be full. We need to remember to have him in our lives. To have him, to have him be the light and the most important thing that we look to. So I want to challenge every single one of you listening to this, that as you are succeeding in your sport, as you're practicing, playing, remember that there's something more important. Remember that Jesus Christ is the light of the world, and that he's someone that will guide you. And what I'm trying to say here is I'm not trying to say that we abandon our sport, we abandon everything to turn to Jesus Christ and focus 100% on him. No. He gave us talents, he gave us our skills, he gave us our abilities, and we go out and we practice to make them even better. And that's something wonderful. We've been gifted these things. God loves us, each and every one of us is a son or daughter of God, and he's given us these skills. So we need to make sure we keep him in our thoughts and we thank him for where he has gotten us, where he has helped us arrive. And as we do that, he will continue to bless us, to strengthen us, and we'll continue to get better and better each and every day. And it's just important for us to remember the path that we're on. Um it really is a windy road. Um there could be multiple directions that we need to think. We could come to a fork in a road and we don't know, we don't know where to go. Um, but as we pray, as we ask God, as we ask Christ, He will remember us, and He will help us to be better, to be stronger, and to stay on the path. And as we stay on the path, we will continue each and every day to be with Christ. And he will bless us, to be stronger, to be happier, to be healthier. So as athletes, as an athlete myself, I know that Jesus Christ is the light of the world. I know that he came to this earth to sacrifice his life for us, for our sins, for everything that we've done. So I challenge each and every one of you to turn to Christ, to open up your Bible, to open up your scriptures, to read of him and to learn of him, to testify of him to someone that may be close to you. And I know that as you do that you'll feel a greater joy in your life. Because Jesus Christ is the joy, he's the light, he's everything that we need. I know I know that that is super important. So please keep keep Christ in your life as these things are are there for you. Um I just wanted to thank everyone today for tuning in to listening to this first episode. I hope you continue to tune in to share with others um to share this podcast with others so that they will be able to feel the light. Um thank it. Thank you everyone again. And remember to always stay on the path.