Can any one of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:27, NIV)
As far as decisions go, retiring from the LPGA wasn’t a hard one for 32-year-old Ally Ewing. To an outsider, it certainly looked strange, choosing to walk away in the midst of one of her best seasons on tour. Ewing was No. 18 in the world when she made the announcement.
But this is how the small-town Mississippi player drew it up. She wanted to go out playing good golf.
“As soon as I decided this was the year,” said Ewing, “I felt a peace and stillness. I felt like that was God’s way of saying, ‘I’m with you in this.’“It didn’t feel like a big decision to me.”
There’s a tendency among golfers – even amateurs – to equate self-worth with score. For professional golfers, it often goes even further. Who am I without golf?
Ewing, a three-time winner on the LPGA, has been bullish about the notion that golf does not define her; it’s simply what she does for a living.
[God] has certainly given me a platform to use my talents in an incredible way,” said Ewing. “Any time I’ve ever tried to make it about me, that’s when God will kind of level you. But also, He’s given me so much to be thankful for.”
In Ecclesiastes 3:1, we’re reminded there’s “a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” (NIV)
For a long time, Ewing could look past all the everyday things she missed out on to pursue a career that took her around the world until she reached a point where it hurt too much.
It’s easy to overthink big decisions. Ewing ripped off the Band-Aid and never looked back.
“I’ve just tried to use everything I’ve done to glorify him,” she said, “and this next chapter off the golf course, I will try to do the same.”
It really can be that simple.
Prayer: Father! Teach us to listen to the still, small voice of the Spirit.