Michael Neideck - Cross Country and Track & Field

I was…

Born into a Christian home and was brought up in the church for my entire childhood. Growing up in the church and in a Christian home was normal for me. I accepted Christ at a very young age probably around five or six years old. I was at my church’s children’s weekly program called AWANA and we had a speaker come in and talk about the race of life, and that the only way to do so was to accept Christ as my savior. Being the competitive six-year-old I was I decided I wanted to win this race. That night after I got home I told my parents about how I wanted to ask Jesus into my heart and so they prayed with me, and guided me into the beginning of my relationship with God.

All of my friends went to church and had Christian families so I didn’t really know or experience anything other than what I was familiar until later on in life. Life was good for me all the way through high school. In high school I found myself just going through the motions of Christianity. I didn’t really go out of my way to pursue God in ways that weren’t normal. I went to church and youth group but that was about it. My walk with God was very dull in this time of my life. This continued through my freshman and sophomore years here at IWU. I was trapped in a lull that I did not see myself getting out of. I thought I would get by and be alright just by doing as little as possible.

But Christ…

Woke me up at the end of May in 2018 when my family and I were driving down to Gulf Shores, Alabama to watch my brother and other members of the track team compete at Nationals. We were about thirty minutes from arriving when we got into a horrible car wreck. We veered off the road into the median and ended up flipping our car about five to six times. We miraculously landed on our wheels and aside from being pretty beat up from the wreck we were all alive through the almighty power of God. None of us should have lived through that car wreck; let alone all four of us. It was at this moment that I knew that God was not finished with me or my family.

And now…

There has been a visible change in my life through my eyes. Looking back on how I was living my life before this tragic accident compared to now is a complete one-eighty in terms of my spirituality. God ignited a fire in my heart through this experience and it made me realize how short and meaningless life is without a relationship with him. I am able to tell this story and use it as a tool to motivate those who are saved to really dive into relationship with God. As well as a tool to bring those who are not saved to Christ. I don’t know everything God has planned for me even in the slightest, but I do know that this experience was a big piece of the puzzle for me. I am nowhere near perfect in my walk with Christ or in relationship with him, but over the past nine months I have noticed this change in my heart and I am so thankful for what God has done for me up to this point in my life and my walk with him.

Life Verse

My life verse is Jeremiah 29:13 which says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

This verse became super meaningful to me after what had happened this past spring. It gave me the mindset of seeking God first in all that I do.

Challenge to Other Athletes/Coaches

What can we do to reflect or grow closer to God on and off the field?

My challenge to athletes and coaches is to seek first God in everything you do. Whether it is through sports, work or relationships with others, keeping God as your focus and giving him glory in all that you do will prove to be most satisfactory in the end. Because in the end God doesn’t care about how many points you have, how fast you can pitch, swim or run. All he cares about is his relationship with you, and using the gifts that he has given you to give him the glory.