Drew: My Inspiration

My inspiration for today comes from my younger brother Drew. For those of you that do not know him well, at first glance he may come off as shy, quiet, and boring. Although, one will still find him very handsome! :) Unfortunately (I say unfortunately, because sometimes I wish that were all true), he is not even one of those things. He is: sarcastic, hilarious, witty, smart, talkative, outgoing, charismatic, hard working, and HUMBLE.

This morning, I received text messages from both of my parents telling me to look at an article in the sports section of the Grand Forks Herald. Dad said, "I think it will be worth your time." I quickly went to read it and they wrote heavily about my brother and his team. They explained how they have outscored their opponents 91-0, been able to choose from a wide variety of players, and the struggle it may be to stop them.

As I read it, I couldn't help but visualize the ear-to-ear grin that must have been on Drew's face as the reporter was interviewing him. He's never been one that's good at hiding his excitement from others. If he's happy about something, you'll know by the large smile on his face and the twinkling of his bright blue eyes.

But why did I put extra emphasis on the word HUMBLE in the first paragraph? Drew is quite possibly the most humble person that I have ever met. He will never come home and say, " wow, did you see that awesome play when I threw the ball 50 yards to Nick?" "I had such a good run. Nobody could touch me out there tonight!" Rather he will walk in the front door and say, "did you see that awesome catch that Fernando made right over top of that guy?! That was so cool!" or "The line sure did good tonight. They were giving me a lot of time back there."

This morning (as I'm told), he subtly set his iPod in front of my dad at the kitchen counter with the article already pulled up for him to read. He quickly said, "you might want to read this" and walked away not waiting around so that he could get praise. If he hadn't done this, they probably wouldn't have even known about it!

I wish that I could be more like him in that aspect. Always looking to build someone else up before yourself or being ok without receiving praise for all of the good things that you do in life. I try so hard to always find the good in people, give others the credit when you were just as much a part of it, and be a leader when it isn't always the easiest to do. I'm not at the level that he is at though. Maybe I need to take the time to stand back and watch his actions more and let everything soak in that he does. Maybe I need to actually sit down with him and ask him how he does it.

He's one in a million and I don't know what we would all do without him. He's the "good child" in our family, never getting in trouble from Mom or Dad because he actually listens all of the time, but he is also my inspiration not just for today, but for life. :)