Seahawks’ Todd Peterson Working for God’s Glory
Updated: Sep 24
When you are at the top of your game in the NFL after 13 seasons, you’d think it would be tough to walk away. Todd Peterson did just that. A God inspired decision, knowing he had an identity in God that called him to a passion beyond the football field. The placekicker for the Seahawks, Cardinals, Chiefs,Steelers, 49ers and Falcons tells his story in this episode of AMAZING GREATS.
Todd found his calling, working for the glory of God among top professional athletes, and in youth ministry. In this episode you’ll learn to love this guy that works tirelessly growing the Kingdom of God . He’s fun and funny and authentic. Take a listen, and share it with your believer friends.
Pro Athletes Outreach - https://pao.org/about
Passion Conference - https://passionconferences.com
Todd’s Wikipedia- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Peterson
TODD PETERSON AT A GLANCE
Former NFL placekicker, Seahawks player, ministry leader and Christian speaker focused on identity, influence, generosity and using a public platform for God's purposes.
Topics
NFL · Seahawks · Football · Faith · Identity · Life after sports · Pro Athletes Outreach · Passion Conference · Bible translation · Influence · Generosity · Calling
His Faith Journey
Church upbringing → personal faith in college → NFL chaplaincy and discipleship → learning that identity is found in Christ, not performance → using his athletic platform for ministry → investing in athletes, young people and global Bible access.
This Episode Explores
Todd Peterson's 13-year NFL career
Why he knew it was time to leave professional football
The challenge of finding identity after sports
The lesson that changed how Todd viewed himself
Todd's Christian faith journey at the University of Georgia
His involvement with Pro Athletes Outreach
His work with the Passion Conference
The global effort to expand Bible translation
A memorable "Jesus moment" involving a football kickoff
His family's experience with health challenges
Using talent, influence and success to serve others
Questions Answered
Who is Todd Peterson?
How long did Todd Peterson play in the NFL?
Why did Todd Peterson leave football?
How did football shape Todd's identity?
What did Todd learn from the Trail Blazers chaplain?
How did Todd Peterson become a Christian?
What is Pro Athletes Outreach?
What is the Passion Conference?
What is Illuminations?
What was Todd Peterson's memorable "Jesus moment"?
How did Todd respond to unanswered prayer?
What is Todd Peterson's favorite Scripture?
How does Todd view influence and success?
Core Story
Todd Peterson spent 13 years as an NFL placekicker, including time with the Seattle Seahawks, Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers and Atlanta Falcons. But one of the most important lessons of his career came from learning that what he did for a living was not who he was. As a follower of Jesus, he says his true identity is as a loved son of God. After leaving football, Peterson found an even broader purpose through ministry leadership, Pro Athletes Outreach, the Passion Conference and global Bible-translation efforts. His story is ultimately about moving from athletic achievement to a life focused on faith, influence, generosity and serving God's purposes.
Todd Peterson: From NFL Kicker to a Life of Faith, Purpose & Influence
Amazing Greats with Ric Hansen
Life After Football
Ric Hansen:Hi there, this is Ric Hansen with the Amazing Greats Podcast, episode number 18.
I'm excited today to talk with NFL placekicker Todd Peterson, who played with the Seahawks for about five years, among other teams in the NFL, and retired in about 2005.
Since his retirement from the NFL, he has done some amazing mission work in a variety of areas. We're going to find out all about that—not only what he did, but who he is.
This is the story of Todd Peterson and his journey in faith.
All right, hang tight. Here we go with Todd Peterson on Amazing Greats.
We are talking with my all-new friend, a friend from just moments ago. We connected and already love the man.
It's Todd Peterson, placekicker for my hometown Seahawks and other places in the NFL.
You were with the Seahawks from 1999, as I see it, right, Todd?
Todd Peterson:That's correct, Ric. Great to be with you.
We spent almost six years out there. We absolutely love Seattle. It's like the only place we go that feels like home other than where we live today.
And you live in Georgia now, right?
We do. We live in Atlanta. I retired playing for the Falcons, and I played at the University of Georgia. My wife went there. So this is home. We're kind of back home.
Ric Hansen:Gotcha.
In fact, you're from the same little city that Thomas Rhett is from. Do you know who Thomas Rhett is?
Todd Peterson:Yeah. That is exactly right.
In fact, his dad, Rhett Akins, is a great songwriter, and Rhett and I grew up together.
Rhett actually played the crosstown rival, Lowndes County. I played at Valdosta High School, and Valdosta beat Lowndes my senior year.
So, yep, I do know those guys.
Ric Hansen:Okay, cool. Well, maybe you could be my connection to talk to Thomas Rhett on the podcast here. That's very cool.
I just wanted to make sure that everybody's clear on how we connected.
But the interesting thing about your story—the amazing thing about your football story—is you walked away from your football career.
You were hot, and then in 2005, was it, you chose a different path.
Tell us what brought you to that.
Knowing When It Was Time to Move On
Todd Peterson:Yeah, that's a great question.
Scripture says God's ways aren't our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.
For me to say I walked away, or for you to say I walked away—I had played 13 years, and so I knew I was reaching a place in my career where one of these seasons, sooner than later, they were going to tell me I was done.
We had a daughter who was turning nine and a son who was turning seven.
We had had the luxury, in a sense, of being in Seattle for almost half my career on the front end. I got drafted by New York, cut, picked up, cut, went on a practice squad, but really settled in Seattle.
And that's kind of the way of the kicker, right? Kickers don't make it very often. When they do, if they can get past those first few years, they end up sticking around a while.
After being in Seattle for almost six years, that second half of my career was a little less predictable and stable.
I got to Kansas City, played out the last years of my contract from Seattle, ended up in free agency, and felt like the Lord opened a door for us to go to Pittsburgh and win a Super Bowl.
I got hurt in Pittsburgh, ended up going to San Francisco, playing a couple of years, ended up in free agency with the opportunity to come home to Atlanta.
That's hard to turn down—come home.
So that second six or seven years compared to the first half was a few different teams.
I just think I knew in my heart that my wife was tired.
It wasn't that she wasn't willing to do it anymore, but she saw our kids turning nine and seven and said, "We need our kids to have a little bit of stability."
Her father had died as our eldest had been born, and so she had worked through a pretty challenging six or seven years, which were those years where I was in a few different places with a mom and sisters who were grieving.
I think it just felt like when I walked off the field in January of 2006, that God gave me a vision for life after football.
Had I not had anything out in front of me, it would have been very hard to retire.
But because I really saw clearly some things that I knew the Lord wanted us to be a part of, it wasn't like I was leaving football as much as I was going to some new stuff.
And that was a big deal.
Athletes transition poorly because they have nothing to go to.
Athletes who have something to go to transition well.
I was fortunate enough, and the Lord had been gracious to us, and we had a lot to go to.
We owned a business that was doing well. I sat on a number of ministry boards, and it just felt like we had a lot of purpose outside the game.
Could I have played another year or two? Probably.
Like you said, I was coming off a great year. I was actually coming off several great years. I was healthy.
But it was pretty obvious I was done.
The Super Bowl That Didn't Happen
Ric Hansen:And one of the things you just said that escaped me—you ended up out of your career with a Super Bowl ring.
Todd Peterson:No, I didn't. I didn't end up winning a Super Bowl.
Ric Hansen:I felt you went to the Super Bowl. Okay.
Todd Peterson:Well, I didn't even go.
I felt like going to Pittsburgh was my shot at going to a Super Bowl.
Pittsburgh had actually lost the AFC Championship Game the year before on a blocked kick, which is why they came after me in free agency. They wanted a kicker that they thought could get them over the hurdle.
How do you turn down going to an AFC title contender, which means you're potentially contending for the Super Bowl?
I signed a four-year, great deal, and it was late enough in my career that I thought this might be my icing-on-the-cake moment of a great career.
Who Are You Without Football?
Ric Hansen:Yeah. Okay.
It is funny—or ironic, I guess—that we as professional athletes, the identity becomes who you are.
So many guys can't find who they are after football. Or any professional sport, for that matter.
Lots of careers.
I'm a radio guy. After you're off the radio, now who are you? What is it all about?
Todd Peterson:I had a guy early in my career help me out on that, thank the Lord.
The guy was the Trail Blazers chaplain, and he asked me one day, "Who are you?"
He said, "Who are you?"
And I told him my name.
He said, "That's not who you are. That's your name."
And I said, "Trick question. Who am I?"
"You're saying, 'Who are you?' Well, if I'm not getting it right saying my name, I'll tell you what I do. I kick. I'm the kicker for the Seahawks."
He said, "That's not who you are. That's what you do."
He said, "Who you are—and never forget it—as a follower of Jesus, you're a child of God. That's who you are."
Your identity is that you're a loved son of God.
What you do is not who you are. What your name is is not who you are. How much money you've got is not who you are.
Who you are when you put your faith in Christ is that you are a loved son of God.
And that changed everything for me.
Ric Hansen:Yeah. I love that. That's great advice.
Who is that wise man?
Todd Peterson:That guy was a man named Al Egg. He was the Trail Blazers chaplain. Great man. Loved athletes. Was a great chaplain.
Todd's Christian Journey
Ric Hansen:All right. Let's talk about your Christian story.
You have always been a Christian, but somewhere along the line it became more than just calling yourself a Christian.
Tell us about that.
Todd Peterson:I would not say I've always been a Christian.
I mean, I wasn't born a Christian.
I grew up in a home where we went to church. My parents were good people. My parents would have called themselves Christians.
Actually, my parents trusted Christ later in life.
So I grew up in a home where I didn't know anything about trusting Christ. I just went to church.
It was when I was in college that an Athletes in Action guy on campus at the University of Georgia, and then a couple other circumstances, really got me thinking about what does it mean to trust God?
What does it mean to follow God?
What does it mean to have a personal relationship with God?
That's when I would say I became a Christian.
There's a Scripture in 1 Corinthians 1 that says the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.
Everything clicked for me when I read that Scripture because I'd been spending most of my life trying to be as wise as I could be, as smart as I could be, as good on the field as I could be, as cool as I could be.
What that Scripture said was you can't be deadly squat without God.
His folly is wiser than your wisdom. His weakness is stronger than your strength.
So I trusted Christ in that college age and really began to pursue my relationship with Jesus.
I got into the NFL, and chaplaincy in the NFL was pretty strong.
My chaplain in Seattle in particular was an amazing man, Carl Payne, still there, a pastor in the community.
He discipled me, taught me God's Word, taught me how to love my wife, taught me how to steward money, taught me how to invest in kids. He taught me a lot.
Chuck and Barb Snyder, longtime Seattle people who were chaplains for the Mariners and involved in leading couples' Bible studies there in the pro athlete community, also influenced me.
Chuck was an advertising executive.
Those types of people really influenced me.
And then the ministry of Pro Athletes Outreach—Norm and Bobby Evans, longtime heroic Seahawks.
Norm really loved me and taught me.
Guys like Steve Largent, Jeff Kemp, Jim Zorn—you name it—helped me grow up in the faith to the place where I was prepared to give away what they'd given me, which is what 2 Timothy 2 says.
So that's kind of my Christian journey into the early years of my NFL, and then things grew from there.
Pro Athletes Outreach
Ric Hansen:And PAO, which you're referring to as Pro Athletes Outreach, is alive and well and has been around for decades, right?
Tell us about what that organization is all about.
Todd Peterson:Yeah, that's true, Ric.
PAO was headquartered in Issaquah for a long time when Norm and Bobby Evans lived there.
Then about 12 years ago or so, it moved to where the new president was when Norm and Bobby retired.
A guy named Steve Stenstrom, former NFL quarterback and Stanford quarterback, now runs it.
I have the privilege of serving as the chairman of it.
They are headquartered in Highlands Ranch, Colorado now.
It's been around 50-plus years, like you alluded to.
PAO creates conference environments and forums for athletes to come together.
Really, the whole vision behind it is, in my terms, we want to build an army of athletes to have a positive impact in the world for Jesus Christ.
Missionally, from the standpoint of the vision, we're trying to equip the athlete, disciple the athlete, disciple his family, disciple the couple if they're married, help them have vision for discipling their children, raising up godly children, stewarding what God trusts them with financially—because money in pro sports is crazy, as we all know.
And help them go out and leverage their life and influence for the glory of God, not building their own kingdom and building their own empire, which is what the world would say to do.
Primary ministries are in the NFL, Major League Baseball and National Hockey League.
The football and baseball piece is significantly larger than hockey. Hockey's a little bit newer, but very healthy ministry, doing a great job helping the pro family, and even some pro coaches, really have a safe place.
Most organizations and ministries that want access to an athlete or anybody of influence in our culture want access because they want something from the athlete.
PAO is all about giving to the athlete.
It's a board of athletes led by athletes. The president's a former athlete, the chairman's a former athlete, and we're thinking about how do we create a safe space for the athlete, the athlete couple, the athlete family, the coach's family to come together.
Sometimes in conferences, sometimes in a social platform where they can just talk and encourage each other and be taught by people like Carl Payne or have somebody like Jeff Kemp come back and talk to them, Mike Singletary.
So, really, a thriving organization.
Faith in the Athletic World
Ric Hansen:And do you find that there are a lot of new and current active athletes that are drawn to this?
Todd Peterson:Oh yeah, without a doubt.
The NFL conference will have 200 active players and their families at it.
Ric Hansen:Oh, really? Wow.
And this is an event that you would put on, a conference that you would put on, and they all come together and share the wisdom of the people that you're talking about.
Todd Peterson:That's one way that we have ministry programming—in this annual conference.
Ric Hansen:I've noticed that in the realm of "celebrity" professions—actors, singers, athletes—it seems like athletes more than others are willing and very outspoken about their religion, about their faith.
Do you notice that to be true more than in other areas?
Todd Peterson:I think that's true.
There's a long history of sports ministry.
Gentlemen by the name of Eddie Waxer, Paul Eshelman, Dave Hannah, some different guys 50 or 60 years ago, all really cared about the athlete and had a vision for helping to serve the athlete.
So there's decades and decades of water under the bridge, which has created fertile soil for athletes to be ministered to, to grow in their faith, to have confidence in their faith, to understand that there's a reason God's given the platform of influence to them that they have.
I also think that, distinctively from political leaders or cultural leaders, entertainers, whoever may not fit into the sports realm, athletes are a little bit more needed by their constituency than those other categories of people.
A political leader gets elected, and if he doesn't represent his constituency, he's going to be held accountable.
An athlete is who everybody wants to watch, and the team doesn't exist without the athlete.
The owner doesn't have a team without the athlete. The fans don't have anything to cheer for without the athlete.
And I think it's given athletes some confidence to say, "Look, you may see me catch a ball in the corner of the end zone or throw a hundred-mile-an-hour pitch or slam a basketball or serve a tennis ace or kick a field goal, but that's not who I am."
It kind of gets back to the question we were talking about earlier.
I'm a lot more than a kicker in the NFL.
I'm married to the same woman almost 28 years. I got a 23-year-old daughter who works for the UN and a 21-year-old son playing college football.
We own a couple businesses.
We believe tremendously in the work of a number of different ministries we're connected to.
Kicking was like the least thing I did.
I mean, that's a privilege. That's a privilege to say that.
I understand that.
But I want the world to know Todd Peterson is not identified by the fact he made or missed a kick.
Athletes Who Share Their Faith
Ric Hansen:Of all the people out there right now, the influences on the athletic fields, who would you say are the most outspoken in the NFL?
Could you venture a guess on that of the current players today?
Todd Peterson:I don't know if I could, from a metric standpoint, really tell you who is the most outspoken.
There are a lot of guys with a lot of influence who aren't scared to share their faith.
I look at what some of the quarterbacks today are doing.
When you look at Russell Wilson, Carson Wentz, Andy Dalton or Ryan Tannehill, these guys are leading NFL franchises and they're sharing their faith.
That's pretty cool.
Adam Wainwright, an All-Star baseball pitcher, has 25,000 or 30,000 people in an online Bible study. He's doing it, he's teaching it, he's leading it.
And I think it's pretty exciting what's going on.
Look at Steph Curry, for crying out loud.
The guy's one of the greatest basketball players of the last 10 or 15 years, and he's very open about his faith.
He's not scared to represent his faith and to say, "I love Jesus."
Historically it was soccer players.
Kaká had tens of millions of people following him, and he was one of the greatest soccer players on earth for a decade.
I just think athletes have found their voice.
Historically they could get kind of vilified if they said anything about, "Here's what I believe."
But today on social media, they can say anything they want.
The Passion Conference
Ric Hansen:I am a follower of Russell Wilson on Twitter, and he's almost daily got some incredible thing to say, many of which are loving Jesus.
Let's talk about another of your passions, and that is the Passion Conference that you are involved in.
Passion is kind of a youth movement.
You've connected with the athletes, and now you're finding a way to communicate with young people, the new generation.
Tell us about the Passion Conference.
Todd Peterson:My wife became a Christian through a ministry called Young Life, and I became a Christian really as a byproduct of ministries like Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Athletes in Action.
It was during our formative years where we were really affected by the Gospel and the truth of the Gospel and people in our lives who cared about us, loved us and shared the Gospel with us.
Passion is really working with that window of time between 18 and 25.
It's that college generation. It's where people make decisions that dramatically affect the trajectory of their lives.
Through the Passion Conference, for example, we had 65,000 kids at Mercedes-Benz Arena.
In 2021, we had online a million people for Passion 2021.
We'll go back for Passion 2022 to Mercedes-Benz Arena and hopefully have tens of thousands of college-age students come together because we believe that this is a generation that can raise its voice for the glory of God and for the fame and renown of Jesus among the nations and to the ends of the earth.
The key is to help them understand: It's not "raise your voice for yourself." It's not "build your own brand." It's not "be consumed with building your own kingdom."
It's leverage your life for building God's kingdom.
God's given you talent and skill.
It's no different than sports ministry.
How do we help an athlete understand you have a platform that you can leverage for the benefit of yourself, or you can benefit other people?
Same as the college generation.
These kids are going to go on and be presidents of banks and surgeons and teachers and come up with new inventions that change humanity.
We want them thinking about what they're going to do with that influence.
Louie and Shelley Giglio founded Passion when they were doing student ministry at Baylor University years ago.
They're dear friends. I serve on the Passion Board. It's one of the greatest privileges of my life.
Over the years, millions upon millions of college-age students and young people have been affected by Passion in a way that changed the trajectory of their lives.
We've also got a record label. Some of the biggest names in Christian music are connected to that record label.
The record label is Sixsteps Records, and it's historically been the label that produced people like Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, the Passion worship band, David Crowder and some of the biggest names in Christian music.
We just want to make sure that the glory of God is the thing that people are having to reckon with.
People are deciding: What am I going to do with who I am? What am I going to do with who Jesus is? What am I going to do with what God's given me?
I'm either going to serve myself or I'm going to be about the glory of God.
We think in terms of radical grace, extravagant worship and the glory of God.
People need to understand God has given them radical grace. He wants extravagant worship for them, and He wants their lives to be about His glory.
If college kids get that, it changes the next 50 years of their life.
Ric Hansen:Sounds like you're very optimistic about that generation.
Todd Peterson:We believe in the next generation for sure.
There's no doubt about it.
I'm watching my kids and their friends encounter the truth of the Gospel and compare it to the things the world says are true, and they are choosing the truth of the Gospel.
What Happens at Passion?
Ric Hansen:What happens at the conference? Is there music? Speakers? All of that?
Todd Peterson:Yes, all of that.
We will have folks like John Piper, Francis Chan, Jennie Allen, Levi Lusko—you name it. Those are the types of people who have spoken in the past and are great friends of Passion, obviously Louie and Shelley.
And then great worship.
Hillsong, Passion Band, any of those types of people on any given year.
And we always rally around a huge cause.
Historically, that's been things like getting Scripture to the peoples of the earth in their language, working against human slavery and sex trafficking, making sure kids get sponsored through somebody like Compassion International, or getting Bibles into a closed country like Iran.
The kids rally around that, and it helps them put flesh on bones.
It helps them understand what it looks like to live out their faith—not just have head knowledge, but really go be the feet and hands of Jesus.
Bible Translation and Illuminations
Ric Hansen:You mentioned briefly the translation of the Bible in multiple languages, which is what The Seed Company does, right?
And you are also on the board there.
It's a very aggressive and active translator of the Bible.
Tell us about The Seed Company.
Todd Peterson:That's true.
I had the privilege of serving on that board for nine years and was chairman for five. I rolled off of that board in 2014.
So I'm no longer on the board, but over the last seven years I've really worked with the organization to pull together nine other organizations—ten total—and they represent a collective impact alliance known as Illuminations.
Illuminations is working across these ten agencies to eradicate Bible poverty by 2033.
We believe that what that means is that 100% of the world's population ought to have access to the Gospel, at least some portion of Scripture in their language.
There are 7,000-plus languages on Earth.
When Scripture says every tribe, nation, people and language before the throne and before the Lamb, it means those 7,000-plus. It doesn't mean the 200 geopolitical countries.
We believe that 99.96% of the world's population should have access to a New Testament in their heart language, and 95% of the world's population ought to have access to a full Bible in their heart language.
And the top hundred most strategic written languages would have two translations at all times.
We didn't just pick those numbers arbitrarily.
These ten agencies, their CEOs and their boards have really rallied around this shared vision of making sure that everybody on Earth has access to God's Word.
Based on population sizes across those language groups, they've come up with those metrics, and we're all working toward that.
Thankfully, my wife and I, our family, because of the passion we have for seeing people get God's Word, and because of the opportunity that we have to influence some of this other work, have gotten a lot of traction there.
Over the last six years, we've seen about $250 million given by about 400 families toward this effort these ten agencies are leading.
A Bigger Life After the NFL
Ric Hansen:Man, you've got to be excited to be involved in so many things that are doing such great work around the country and around the world.
Todd Peterson:It is awesome. It is a big deal.
Scripture says the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller, the world of the generous larger and larger.
When I left the NFL, the world told me that my life was as big as it could get.
But since I've left the NFL—the last 14 years, I've played 13, I've been out 14—my 14 has made my life a lot bigger.
A "Jesus Moment"
Ric Hansen:I love that.
I have a few questions that I typically ask on the podcast.
Is there a Jesus moment, a time in your life, one that stands out as being, "Oh wow, He was really there for me in this case, and it was so obvious"?
Do you have a circumstance like that in your life that you could share with us?
Todd Peterson:Something popped into my head.
Because of talking about football and stuff like that, I think it shows the personal nature of God's sovereignty.
God really is in control, and God wants us to ask Him for things.
Scripture says, "You have not because you ask not."
I remember playing in a game where we really needed me to kick a touchback.
I was known as a guy over my 13 years who was very consistent, made kicks when they mattered, didn't miss kicks that he wasn't supposed to miss.
But I wasn't known as the guy with the biggest leg, and I wasn't always known as the guy who had the most touchbacks.
I kind of always got my job done and made a big kick when I needed to, or hit a touchback when I needed to.
I certainly had enough talent to play a long time, but again, wasn't the dude with the biggest leg.
I remember being in this game and praying, literally—as corny as it sounds—
"God, help me kick the ball into the end zone."
As I went out there and took the field and our kickoff team lined up, I kicked off.
I was believing God for that because I knew it was circumstantially a big deal.
We had a little bit of momentum. We didn't need to give up a return. We didn't need to give them good field position.
I just needed to put a nail in the coffin, candidly. I needed to do something that kept us with the momentum.
So I go out, I kick the ball.
And Ric, I kick the crappiest ball ever.
But the ball rolls all the way down the field and goes into the end zone with the returner never getting his hands on it.
Leaving the field, I felt like here's what God said to me.
God didn't ever talk to me audibly, but here's what I knew in my spirit:
"My ways are not your ways. But I will never ever fail you."
I think if people understood that truth about who our Heavenly Father is, it would change the way they live.
The reality is God probably didn't care one rat's fanny about me having a touchback.
But He did care about teaching me something about who He is.
That was a big deal for me.
It taught me a lot about who God is.
When Prayer Doesn't Go the Way We Expect
Ric Hansen:I love that story. That's fantastic.
On the flip side, I talk to folks in our small group and at our church and hear stories of unanswered prayers and faith challenges.
Have you ever faced any of that in your life?
Todd Peterson:Oh, without a doubt. Tons of times.
I don't think you live life—and you sure don't live life as a Christian—without having challenges and experiencing struggle.
Scripture tells us we're going to suffer for what we believe.
The biggest things that probably come to mind initially are when our son was born.
We have two kids.
When our son was born, we were told he had Down syndrome.
I believe that God can give you a child. I believe every child is a gift from God. God says that in Psalm 127.
I believe most people are obviously praying and asking God to give them what they would call a healthy child.
I don't think there are that many people out there asking God to give them a child that would be in some way, shape or form challenged.
When we were told that he had some characteristics that would represent that, it was a real struggle.
We went through about ten days where we got chromosome testing for him and all this stuff.
All that came back to say he didn't have any of those things.
He's actually a very healthy kid.
But kids are a gift from God, and I believe God taught us a lot about Himself again in that, and helped us have compassion for people who go through challenging things, have compassion for people who may have challenges, special needs, etc.
And honestly, see the blessing in that too.
Scripture makes it real clear that sometimes we think of things that might present to us as a challenge that are actually huge blessings.
Another thing would be my wife's just gone through breast cancer.
For people back in Seattle who know us, or even around the country who know us, that was a really hard thing to go through.
A lot of women have gone through that, and a lot of families have gone through that.
And yet there's this gorgeous silver lining to that cloud in so many ways.
We've seen the Lord be faithful and we've made it through because His grace is sufficient for our needs.
I think God's good, but God doesn't promise us a cakewalk life.
In fact, He actually tells us just like there's a privilege in trusting Him, there's actually also a privilege in suffering with Christ.
Todd's Favorite Scripture
Ric Hansen:I've had a bit of an experience with disabled folks through Tim Tebow's Night to Shine.
I've shared the event in our community here at our church, and it is just such a special and amazing event.
All the joy on the faces of our kings and queens of the prom—and the parents, they're so filled with love and joy too.
It's a moment for them as well.
So what's your favorite line of Scripture?
Todd Peterson:I've got a few of them, but one I'll share is Proverbs 22:29.
Here's what it says:
"A man who's highly skilled in his work may find himself with an audience of kings, not mere mortals."
Here's what that's meant in my life.
Once I trusted Christ with my life and asked Him to be my Savior, confessed my sin and my need for a Savior, I couldn't solve my own problem.
Once I came to faith, I began to wrestle with what I've been talking about.
For some reason, God gave me this privilege of playing in the NFL for a long time and making money and being famous and all this stuff.
And I had to make a choice pretty early on:
Was I going to build my kingdom or was I going to build God's kingdom?
Was I going to be about Todd or was I going to be about God?
What that Scripture tells me is when you're really good at something, in this world we live in, it gives you influence.
And you have an opportunity to decide: Are you going to use that influence when you have the ear of the king for your benefit, or to benefit other people?
Over in Isaiah, it says that God came, Jesus came to bring sight to the blind, healing to the lame, to release the prisoner and to give the captive freedom.
He makes it real clear in Scripture: He didn't come to be served. He came to serve.
In fact, it says He gave His life as a ransom for many.
That verse tells me that I have influence with kings, I have influence with incredibly powerful people in our culture because I was good at what I did.
I get to decide how I'm going to use that influence.
And I want to use it to help the king make decisions that benefit the most people.
How Can Listeners Help?
Ric Hansen:What can we do as a podcast audience to support you, other than through prayer?
Is there anything specific?
Todd Peterson:I would say pray for us and the things we're involved in.
Pray for Passion, pray for PAO, pray for Illuminations.
All of them have websites.
You can go to PAO.org, you can go to Passion, which is actually 268generation.com because they use Isaiah 26:8.
You can go to illuminations.bible.
But I don't have any social media.
I'm not into it.
Ric Hansen:When are you writing your book?
Todd Peterson:I don't know.
Some people talk to me about that sometimes.
They haven't won that conversation yet.
Closing
Ric Hansen:Okay, all right.
I really appreciate your time, and I appreciate the fact that you just came off your jog. You're still a little bit sweaty, you put on your Seahawks cap for us.
This is great, and what a pleasure to chat with you and get your insight and inspiration.
Thank you so much.
Todd Peterson:Man, what a privilege, Ric. Great to connect with you.
Thank you for what you're doing, and God bless you guys.
And go Seahawks!
Ric Hansen:There you have it, and thanks to my new amazing friend, Todd Peterson, and his contribution here on the Amazing Greats podcast.
Thanks to Klem Daniels, who produces this whole thing, and to all of our podcast hosts, and to George Tolls, my mentor.
We'll see you back here again on Amazing Greats with episode number 19 coming up in two weeks.
Every other Wednesday, we are publishing our podcast.
If you could share, like and subscribe, that's...
Comments