Selfless Service

This past Saturday, the boy’s basketball team traveled to the Woodlands for scrimmage. It was a morning scrimmage, and it ended about noon. As we were traveling back to Houston we stopped at a combination Taco Bell/Long John’s Silver for lunch. While we were waiting in line to order, I watched as an older gentleman attempted to carry two cups full of soda, napkins, and utensils to his table for him and his wife. I had a feeling it was going to be a long trip from the soda fountain to his table, and I was right. Just as he got to the table he spilled one cup of soda all over the floor and himself. He set down the other cup and proceeded to go back and get napkins to clean up the mess, but before he could back our student assistant Junel was already on the floor cleaning up the mess. It was an awesome site of servant hood, but the weird part was the reaction of the man. When the man got back to the table, he was not appreciative, he was almost scolding. He said to Junel, “I was getting napkins, I would have done that.” Then he left Junel with a, “Thanks.” I went through a few reactions in my head to this situation, and I want to share a couple.
My first reaction was-that is surprising. A young man took the time to help you and that is the best thanks you could give him. My second reaction was-I am not surprised. We have become more selfish than ever, and more skeptical than ever. Why would someone help me, they have to be wanting something in return. My third reaction was-Junel is awesome. Now this should have been my only reaction. I was more concerned with the man’s response than Junel. Junel literally did a selfless act, with no concern of the reward or praise. Junel modeled servant leadership. He did not grumble or respond negatively to the man’s lack of gratitude. I believe Junel was not burned by it causing him to stop helping others because of the lack of acknowledgement. I know many others, myself included that have become hardened from serving without being acknowledged. I have said things like, “I will never help him again because he wasn’t appreciative, or he didn’t help me.” It is embarrassing to admit, but that’s me- maybe I can learn from Junel. I can learn to serve without concern for the reward. Junel is my friend and my hero.

Heartbroken and Convicted

What does mean to be convicted? What is real heart break? I have been studying the book of Nehemiah and it has caused me to really think about these two questions.
I can remember the first time I felt what I thought was heart break. I was in the 11th grade and I had planned a date with one of the best looking, most popular girls in my high school. It was the girl who I would only look at from a far through middle school. She was the pinnacle on the ladder of popularity. She was a cheerleader and she drove a black IROC-Z, it was fast. When you entered into her circle you could officially be considered “in”. It started this way, one of my friends was dating her friend and he stopped me in the hall one day and said you know “Sarah” wants to go out with you. *(name changed to protect her and me) I was always known to be a jokester, but this was cruel. He convinced me he was serious, and I was encouraged to ask her out. This is a girl I have known my whole life, and up to this point the only conversation we have had was , “hello” and “good-bye.” How am I going to ask her out? My friend saves me and we decide we will just meet her and her friend on Friday. We meet them on Friday and the date was a great success or so I thought. We held hands! I left the date convinced she was the one, we were going to get married, and life was going to be great. I walked down the hall a little differently on Monday, I believe I had the same feeling Superman must get when he is Clark Kent going into the phone booth and Superman coming out. Classmates were staring at me for different reasons now. I had arrived, I was in, I scaled Everest, I was the FONZ, I was KNIGHT RIDER! We set up another date, we were going to meet next Saturday at a local hang-out and go out on a solo date from there. I should have known something was fishy, we she talked me out of picking her up at her house; she was going to meet me instead. No big deal-we are in love, I am in love. We were set to meet at 8:30pm. I was there at 7:30pm, I did not want to miss her. 8:30 came and went. We did not have cell phones so the only way to communicate was by pay phone. I waited in the same spot until-10:00pm, maybe she got lost. (I live in a town of 7000, and 1 main street-you don’t get lost) I called her house and 10:00pm, her sister answered (her comes the heart break); when I told her sister who I was, her response was “who” and “why are you calling our house?” Let me remind you I have known them all my life. I asked for Sarah and the response sent me to my knees-“she is out on a date.” I thought know because I am here and she is not, and then I put the pieces together. It like a scene in a bad chick flick, I dropped the phone, as it began to rain, and I wept, with the rain drowning out my tears. Not really it was spring, and I dropped the phone, and looked to see if anyone was watching, and then ran to my car. I was embarrassed. I was heartbroken. How would I ever recover? I can’t go to school ever again. As quickly as I was in, I was out.
Believe it or not-I recovered. I recovered quickly. I moved on fast, mostly because the faster it was behind me the quicker others would forget. Sarah and never spoke about it, or ever spoke again for that matter. I thought I was heartbroken, until I read about Nehemiah. When Nehemiah heard about his people and Jerusalem, he was heartbroken-He feel to his knees, he prayed, he mourned, he fasted. I did nothing like that. Nehemiah prayed to God, and then become convicted to do something about it. He mourned , prayed and fasted-but he went to work-he was convicted. He was so convicted that he took on a seemingly impossible task. The job of rebuilding the wall was a task in itself, not to mention all those who worked against him. He was so convicted he worked through the threats, and the ridicule. Nehemiah did not stand by and watch-he worked. He worked to restore God’s glory in his people. I love Nehemiah. I love God.
As I read Nehemiah, I ask myself am I so heart broken when I do something or see something contrary to God’s word and God’s glory. I would hope I would be as heartbroken as Nehemiah. I also hope I would be convicted to restore God’s glory. I hope I would stand up for God and the things God wants for me. I hope.

My BFF (best friend forever)

Why is it that while you are going through the high school years you can't wait for them to be over and leave the house, but almost 20 years later you find yourself remembering what was one of the most memorable times in your life and you wish you could go back and do it again?

It is high school football season. The other day as our cheerleaders were preparing for the next pep rally I found my mind drifting back to my high school days. As I sat and watched, in my mind's eye I could see the faces of the Guntersville Wildcat Cheerleaders performing at a pep rally. As strange as this might sound, I could also feel the cheers of my friends and different classes cheering. I could hear Coach Lazenby, and Coach Pitts talk about the upcoming game. I remember cheering for my friends on the football team, Brett Smith and Chrunn Williamson as they came to give some inspiring words to the crowd. I could the cheerleaders singing "My Homes at GHS", which was a take off from the Alabama hit, "My Homes in Alabama." It was a great time. One of the cheerleaders made a huge difference in my high school career and as I watched our cheerleaders practice I could not stop thinking about her and our friendship.

Her name was Mollie. She was a beautiful young lady in many ways and she was my friend. She was one of the nicest people I have ever known. She cared for everyone and I never heard her have a harsh word about anyone. Most high school girls were involved in some kind of drama at some point in their high school careers, she was never involved and I never remember a time when someone had a problem with her. That says a lot about her, if you know the drama created by high school girls. She was popular yet humble, she liked to have fun without being destructive, she was smart, and she allowed me to go every where she went. She even allowed me to be her escort at homecoming. I would get dating advice from her and she would listen and laugh. I needed a lot of advice, I was not to successful in the dating department. Mollie and I were friends, she was my best friend.

I don't know if she is aware of the impact she made on me. She made be better, she made me feel good about who I was. I was a nerd and a lot of the times the joke at a party. I got a lot laughs and I even made fun of me. It was the best way to cover up my own insecurities. I think Mollie recognized this because she never made fun of me and she would always let me go almost every where she went. She made me feel important. She was so good that a lot times I felt like she needed me, when most of the time I needed her. There is no doubt that she has no idea how important she was, but isn't the best definition of caring for your friends. Doing it because you care rather than doing it because you want to be recognized for your work.

The lesson learned is we all have the chance to be that kind of friend to someone. No matter what we think we are impacting those around us. We have to take a good look at our motives and purpose for what we do. It can't be because we have to but because we want to. I don't why Mollie picked me, but I want to say "Thanks." I hope I can repay her someday, but knowing her she want expect repayment, because what she did is who she was. She was awesome.

Universal Soldier

As I was flipping channels this weekend, I got stuck on a movie called Universal Soldier. It starred Jean Claude Van Dame and Kurt Douglas. The premise was about creating soldiers that were indestructible. They were soldiers designed using the best parts of different people. They were fast, strong, smart, tactical, logical, and they could endure anything. It was a fascinating movie and I really got stuck on the premise of creating the best by taking the best parts of other people. Is it possible to create a universal person? I think we have the opportunity to create the best person possible by stealing the best parts from other people. Let me explain.
We all are given talents and gifts, and those cannot be duplicated. We cannot change our physical beings very much. In other words, if my jumping ability is a 3, then the most I could improve would be to a 5 or 6. I can steal the developmental tricks of the best jumpers but without their gift I will probably never be able to jump like them. However when it comes to those things that do not directly relate to talent, then we can steal from the very best. For example, I do not handle stressful situations very well, but my friend is an ace at it, so I watch and learn how to be better and emulate my friend in stressful situations. How I handle certain things is not necessarily a gift or talent, some of it is learning and emulating those who handle those things the best. If you are a 3 when it comes to communication with others, then I think you can become a 10, if you learn from those that are 10’s. The key is to find those that are great at the things you want to improve on and then watch them and try to mimic what they do and how they do it. I think you can become the universal person.
I want to be a universal person. I think Paul was a universal person and I think Timothy spent time learning from Paul how to be universal as well. If I could take the best parts from people, then here are the ones I would choose: I want the gentle spirit and patience of every elementary teacher; the caring and authentic personality of Doc Farrar; the servant attitude of Coach Hawley; the wisdom of Dr. Lacey; the vision of Mr. Glenn; the humility and humbleness of Charlie Ward; the loyalty of Mrs. Sandahl; the communication skills of Mr. Farris; the work ethic of the Ramirezs’ and the ability to love like God. The good news is I am with most of these people almost every day, which means I get to learn from them and make myself the best person I can be. I have the opportunity to be with God every second of everyday, so even if I never get great at the others qualities I can be great at loving others as God loves me.

Finding Balance

We are into our third week of school, and most everybody is settling in to a routine. I am also settling into my routine. Routines are good for me; it gives direction for the day. The problem is trying to find balance in all the things that I want to accomplish in a day. I have real trouble deciding how to divide my time so as to give all the things I want and need to accomplish in day equal time and effort. I am starting to believe there is no such thing as true balance. If they made a play about my life there would be about 5 different roles that needed to be filled; athletic director, teacher, coach, father, and husband. I do I give them all equal time, and equal effort?
Is there balance? I even find it funny that when I start to feel that one area is getting too much time and attention (off balance); I will stop what I am doing to over compensate for the area being neglected. (off balance). About a year ago, I had real trouble playing all the daily roles and feeling fulfilled at the end of the day. It felt a lot like my favorite movie-Cool Hand Luke- I was digging a hole to later find out that I was putting the dirt on the wardens ground, which I had to put back into the hole. It was frustrating and on top of it all I was concerned about my own spiritual well being. I cannot find time to accomplish all the task others were putting in front of me, how would I ever find time for God? Through the summer I think I came back to center-I found a way to get the dirt out of the hole and keep it off the wardens ground all at the same time.
My biggest concern was where God is going to fit in my daily life. I found that I could commune with God my actually doing by daily work. As the athletic director, coach, and teacher, I severed others, I taught children, I cared and I loved. As the husband, and father I got to pray with my family, serve my wife and kids, go to church together, and worship together. I found that God was in all these things. I realized I was missing God because I was not looking. Once I started looking for Him in my daily activities; He was there and had been there all the time. I finally realized by playing my roles, I was actually getting closer to Him, because I was doing in love. Love for Him and for those I was around. I was keeping the two most important commandments. I was also found as I was looking for Him in all I did, balance became easier. I wasn’t working any harder or even accomplishing more, the spirit of what I was doing changed. I found balance. I realized there were only two things I needed to balance: Love God with all my heart, and love my neighbor as I love myself.

To My Mom.

I enjoy watching both my mother-in-law and my wife interact with my two children. My wife is a great mother. I have said before that is something that is both natural and learned. I think about again as tomorrow is special day in history. It is the day my mother was born. I am very thankful for my mother for obvious reasons; without her there would be no me; but it goes much deeper than that.
My mom was the cornerstone of my family. She was the most consistent, most dependable, most predictable, and the most loyal. She picked us up, dropped us off, fed us, clothed us, tucked us in, read us books, took us to church and worked a full time job. She never complained, never whined, was never late, and never called in sick. She was patient, kind, caring, compassionate, understanding, forgiving, and disciplined. She taught us lessons both in words and by her example. She always encouraged us to do our best and was always pleased when we did no matter the outcome. I love my mom.
My mom was special. She was the best mom in the whole wide world. I am because I had a mom and dad that cared for me more than anything in the world. I believe that the closest I could ever get to understanding God’s love for us is in the example my mom set for my sisters and me. God loves us unconditionally, despite the mistakes, the shortcomings, and hang-ups. My mom loves me unconditionally. All the things my mom did for me and my sisters was not because that was her job or what she was required to do but it was because she understood love and how to give it unconditionally. You hear soon to be moms and young moms say that it is hard because there is no directions manual to raising kids. I disagree; the Bible serves as a pretty good manual and the most important lesson to learn is the power of unconditional love. That doesn’t mean it will not be hard, but if you love unconditionally usually the hard parts are short lived.
Happy birthday mom. Thanks and I love you very much.

Teaching is a Gift

Teaching has allowed me a lot of really cool things. I get a chance to be in school-I loved school. I get a chance to interact with kids-I loved being a kid. I get a chance to educate-I loved to learn. I get a chance to be an example-I loved my mentors. I get a chance to make an impact on the future-I love learning an improving the past. Because of all these things comes an awesome responsibility. I love the responsibility, it can be hard to handle at times, but I stay the course because I want to impact others the way others impacted me.
This summer I really learned the awesome responsibility associated with teaching. As I have shared I went to Poland to teach basketball camp. I taught 17-23 year olds the game of basketball as I knew it. I was there exactly ten days and regardless of what I did for ten days, I had a return flight to America. I literally could have done nothing; I was going home and they probably will never see me again. I chose to do something different-I took it has an even greater responsibility. I had to teach because they might not ever see me again. I would not have been able to live with myself if I didn’t give them all I had. Even as I boarded the plan to return; I thought of things I forgot to tell them.
The responsibility to teach could not have more evident than when I walked into the gym the first day and met Dorata. She was 30 minutes early for the first practice. I thought to myself, by the end of the week she will be so tired there is no way she will come early to practice. I even made it a mission to wear her out and make her use her free time for rest. She won that battle. She stayed in the gym, she never left, and she was a sponge. The only time she left the gym was to eat. I had to learn more about her. Dorata was 22 years old, she is the daughter of Christian preacher in Poland, and she does not play organized basketball. I was stunned. She was at camp to get better, learn and because she loved basketball. I was stunned. She is the type of student I want to teach. She wants to work hard to just be better. Most kids have a motive- to play more, to score more, to be the star. She just wants to be better. She worked harder, spent more time in the gym than anyone in camp. People like Dorata make teachers accountable and responsible. She was the epitome of a sponge. I even found out later she kept a notebook the whole time, and wrote down every word I said. All the kids in camp play on a team and their motive for learning was different than Dorata’s. Dorata got better that week, and I became a better teacher.
Teaching is a gift. It is a responsibility. I have a responsibility to teach because there are a lot of Doratas’ out there who do things because they just want to learn. I hope I never miss an opportunity to teach and share. Who was the master teacher? Jesus was the master teacher and he never wasted an opportunity to make people better.

Does the Inside Match the Outside?

Who are you? I give the illustration sometimes about purchasing items at the store. You go to the shelf and choose your item usually based on the outside of the box, you expectation is what’s on the outside matches what’s on the inside. You never open the box in the store and try it first, that would be rude yet funny. You have to trust that you are getting what you paid for. Think how disappointing it would be when you got home and opened up the box and something totally opposite of your expectations came out of the box.
Let’s say you were given an index card and told to write your name on the front and pin it to your chest. Now we were going to use that card to play the match game. Here are the rules-on the side opposite of your name, the side pinned to your chest; God is going to write all the word and phrases that describe who you are. God should know, He created you, He knows what is in your heart, and He is with you all the time. On the outside of the card, the side where you name is, your friends will now write who they think you are. They should know because they are your friends, they are with you all the time. Now take the card off your chest and look. Do the words on the inside-God’s words-match the words on the outside-your friends words? Try the game this way; God writes the words on the inside and you write the words on the outside. Do they match?
Just like the store illustration, it is very rewarding when the outside of the box matches the inside of the box. It is also very rewarding when God’s description of us match the same description given by others. I want to be good in God’s sight, and since God measures the inside, the inside is where I do all my work. The problem becomes when I change the outside to please people forgetting about what’s on the inside and what I truly want to be. I need the outside to match the inside. Is what’s inside my box match the advertising on the front of the box?

Adding To the Mix

We started our school this week. Usually the best part about school starting is the end to teacher in-service. I have never been much of a fan of meetings and especially the ones we have during in-service. But I got to say I enjoyed this in-service more than previous years. I think the thing I enjoyed the most were the devotionals. There were two devotionals that stood out during that time; one given by Coach Hawley and one given by Mr. Farris. Coach Hawley spoke about 5 people he met in China while on a mission trip and Mr. Farris spoke about our school, “where amazing happens.” I thought I would use those same two topics and write my own thoughts based on their titles. I will start with the 5 people you meet.
People and places make a large impact on who we are and who we become. I imagine myself as a large mixing bowl, where people add a little here and a little there to create some kind of great meal. The problem we have sometimes is we are not always aware of what’s going into the mix and will it make the outcome better or worse. I think a real sign of maturity and growth is when you can take the bad things thrown into the mix and make them work with all the good things to create a sensational dish. We all experience bad people and bad things, what we have to do is find out how it will make us better. So, I came up with a list of a couple of people who made be me better even though they were only adding bad flavors to a hopefully sensational flavor explosion. (I do realize I am talking about myself, and I feel I am pretty sensational). I will not use their names only give their stories and how it affected me.
I was not the model child in elementary school. I was very active, I like to move around and I needed to be challenged constantly. I had a teacher who could not understand what I needed and tried to use cruel discipline to change behavior. She made me better. I learned that not every kid is alike. She made me a better teacher. I am better at trying to understand my students and meet them where they are and take them further.
I loved basketball. I played all the time. I was not very good in middle school. In fact I was on the 3rd string my 7th and 8th grade years. I hit a growth spurt before my 9th grade year. I also spent the whole summer working on my game. While others were at the pool, I was at the gym. I had a part time job at the local recreation center and that summer before my 9th grade year I had to take a vacation to go to team camp with the varsity basketball team. I remember telling my supervisor and he laughed and told me that I was not good enough to play on the varsity. I played on the varsity. I started on the varsity. Basketball paid for my college education. He made me better. I am a better coach because I don’t see kids for what they are right now but what they could be. I try to turn potential into action.
Sometimes we learn more from those that try to hold us back instead of lift us up. I cannot imagine where I would be without those people. I would even like to honor them because I think they really did a great thing in my life. They caused me to learn how to deal with students and teach kids. They have affected as many lives as those who poured great examples into my life. I am thankful for those experiences, and I will continue to use their bad examples to do great work and change lives for the better. Don’t get me wrong, I never said they were bad people. They were good people; they forgot they were contributing to a young person’s life. I am sure sometimes I have forgotten. I try to remind myself daily that I am chef contributing something to everyone’s mixing bowl. Ask yourself the question-what did you add to the mix today?

Day 3- Comfort At Last

Ok, to recap-I was finishing my second day in Poland. I had already had several experiences that were leading me to an early return home. But I am warrior-I was going to give it one more day, plus in two days I had only seen the gym but had not had the chance to work out any players. I had to at least see if they could play.
Day 3- I am an early riser, especially in the summer time, but usually I get up and it is still dark outside; in Poland the sun comes up a little earlier-like 4:30am. Yea I said it right-not dawn breaking sun, I mean full sun. It was weird. The early sun brought the tiniest little problem on day 3-the fly! This fly began its torment of me at 4:30am. It began buzzing around my face and ears. I did not want to get up and try to kill it; so I found shirt to tie over my face. I spent the next two hours smelling my own morning breath and sweating to death because I had a shirt over my face. When I got up about 6:30am, I decided that sometime during the day I would not only look for my fly but to be safe I would kill every fly in sight. It was going to be the only way to make it through the week. I was now on a mission.
I was off to a rough start; I had been up since 4:30am, I had been tormented by a fly; I had three things to look forward too-my shower, my breakfast, and basketball work-outs. I went to the shower thinging about how refreshed I would feel after a nice warm shower. The shower set up was a little different-it had one push button that started the water. That's weird; where was the hot and cold knobs or maybe it was just all hot water; because no one takes a cold shower. Wrong! It was ice cold. I pressed that button three times before I stepped in; in hopes that eventually someone would turn on the hot. No luck. I took my first cold shower for the week-strike one. I went to breakfast thinking it has to be uphill from here. For breakfast they served bread, butter, jam, hot tea, cool milk (not cold), and salad. Yes-salad. I was getting use to the hot tea in the summer, but I draw the line at salad for breakfast. I am all for healthy, but that is too far-strike two. One more strike and I promise my American backside would be on a Lufthansa flight to the U.S.
Work-outs started at 8:30am. I was going to work-out the girls first and then the boys. It was going to be 3 hour work-out. (1.5 for the girls, 1.5 for the boys). I walked into the gym with a scowl. (Some would say that was normal-but it was a result of my morning) There were kids already shooting and warming up, they had no idea what they were in for. We beagan to work-out and they worked as hard as any group I had ever coached. They were sponges! They wanted to work and improve and I was ready to give them all they could handle. We could not verbally communicate very well, but their actions told me everything I needed to know. They were just like me-searching and working to be excellent. After about 30 minutes, it was like the scene from the Grinch, my frown was turned upside down. I had found my comfort zone. I was in-anxiety gone. I was going to make it. I did make it! It took me 3 days, but the next 7 days were some of the greatest moments of my life.

Poland-Day 2 (Continued)

Lunch was interesting! I set down to a bowl of cauliflower soup. Yes-soup in the summer time. I do not eat cauliflower in America, why the heck would I eat it in Poland. I stepped out on a limb and tried my first spoonful of cauliflower soup. (I make it sound like an adventure, but the truth is it was all they served, I had no car, and I did not see a McDonald’s on the way in-it is amazing what you will try when your hungry and there are no options) I found out that cauliflower soup is not that bad, it was actually pretty good. As I finished my soup, they brought me another plate with baked chicken, smashed potatoes and cucumbers. I got a little worried at this point. In America, we eat a light lunch; the meal they were serving me was like what we would serve for dinner. I thought to myself if this is lunch, then dinner must be a feast. (Boy, was I wrong) I was served a lot of food for lunch and the best part was the tea I was served to wash it all down. It was not sweet tea, or unsweet tea, in fact it wasn’t even cold tea; it was hot tea! Hot tea! It is 110 degrees outside and you want me to wash my food down with hot tea. It was the perfect storm-my outside skin was hot and sweaty and now my insides were cooking as well. I guess this is what you call being cooked through and through. After lunch I was seriously thinking of catching the train back to Warsaw in the middle of the night. I thought ok, lets get through dinner and then revaluate.
Lunch was a trip, dinner topped lunch. We ate 6:00pm and this was going to be my last meal of the day. I was not concerned about being hungry later, because of the size of lunch; dinner would be plenty. I set down to see several baskets of bread, plates of ham, cheese and tomatoes. It looked just like what you get when you sit down to a meal at any restaurant; you know the food to hold you over until the meal arrives. I started to make my mini sandwich; I only took one slice of bread as I wanted to save room for dinner. I ate my sandwich and was prepared for the next course. As I waited I watched the others continue to grab bread and ham, and make multiple sandwiches. I thought wow, these people can really eat. I continued to wait for the next course, when someone said, “Coach, is that all you are going to eat?” I was then informed that the mini sandwiches were dinner, there would no other course and no other food until 8:00am the next morning. I began to make multiple sandwiches. I would starve in Poland! I then began to think about my plan to sneak out in the middle of the night, as I finished my second cup of scorching hot tea. I decided that I would have to wait until the morning because at this rate breakfast had to be exciting.

Poland-Day 2

OK, to recap. I was giving the play by play for my first 3 days in Poland. I will wrap it all up with a lesson learned on Friday.
I slept my first night in Poland in an empty apartment, with no air conditioning, and only three channels that spoke English. I woke that morning ready to leave and go straight to the airport, but I told myself I could do it and I was going to make the whole 10 days. Sunday morning things got a little better, I was picked up that morning in front of the apartment by my two Polish host and we were off to church. I was a little nervous about church; would it be the same in Polish as in English? The more I thought about the question, the dumber I felt the question became. Of course there would be some differences, but worship is the same no matter what; it is more dictated by the individual. As I thought more about it, the more at ease I had become. I even felt that this would be the thing that would erase the anxiety because it was the one thing we all had in common. I was partly right!
Church was awesome. I could not understand the songs; but once they began signing I understood the tune and I was very familiar with the songs. I was even able to hear the message through a headset that was translating the message into English. I really liked this concept. I liked it because as I looked around the room it would give clues as to whether there were any other English speaking people there at church. I also liked the fact that somebody in the room was translating for me, and I tried all morning to find that person. As I scanned the room, I saw I was the only one wearing the headset which amazed me even further. I could not believe they would go to all that trouble for one person. They knew the power in the message and they did not want one person to miss an opportunity to get the message. Amazing! (Afterwards I felt bad that I didn’t listen very carefully because I spent the whole time looking around for other English speaking people and the translator). I began to loosen up at church until we got to communion.
Communion is not new to me. I take part in the communion service at church every Sunday just like the first century church. At my church the cup that represents the blood of Christ is grape juice, and the Polish church the cup was actual wine. For someone who is not a drinker, when you lift the cup to take the small shot in the glass and it is wine instead of grape juice, you are thrown off just a little. I almost came close to spitting it out. It set me back just a little. I am not sure why or why I expected it to be exactly like my church. Church really helped me to loosen up, the wine took me by surprise, but I guess it helped in its own way to overcome some anxiety.
After church we began our 1 hour trek to Lochow, Poland. This was the place were camp was going to be held. I was very anxious to get there. Camp was set to begin on Monday. I slept the whole way to Lochow. (effects of the wine) Lochow is a one stop light kind of town. It is small and considered a village. We arrived at the school were camp would take place and after setting my stuff down I made a bee-line for the most important place on campus-the gym. Now I am home!

Poland-Day 1

The world’s most famous conundrum or unanswered question is “how long does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?’ I have an even better question, “how long would it take a shy, somewhat anti-social coach to become comfortable in a foreign country?” The answer is: 3 days. I have to admit my first 3 days in Poland were tough.
It started with me arriving on Saturday afternoon after flying 10 hours and sitting with my knees pressed up against the business class section. My legs felt important they really wanted to stretch out in business class while my body rode economy. I was served food on the plane that I would never eat; I was offered wine and rum, which I would never drink. I was met at the airport by two young ladies who were to serve as my guide for the next couple of days until we arrived at camp on Sunday afternoon. They both spoke English which was nice. They were wonderful young ladies, very hospitable. One was a student in college, and the other was a professional women’s basketball player in Poland. They led me to a car that was big enough for 1 person, but it had 4 doors and 4 seats. My seat on the plane was bigger. It was very hot in Poland at the time and they told me that we could turn on the air in the car, and then they began to laugh as they rolled down the windows. Ha! Real Funny! They drove me to the apartment I was going to stay at for the night, and dropped me off to get cleaned up before they took me out on the town for dinner. That night they showed me around “Old Town” Warsaw. It was very beautiful. There were many people in the streets, walking around, enjoying the live music and beautiful buildings. We ate that night at a Polish restaurant where they served only Polish food. I am somewhat picky-so I was very nervous about Polish food. I searched the menu for a Polish hot dog. (The menu was in Polish, but surely I would recognize the word hot dog in Polish; I mean how different could Polish be?) I could not find a Polish hot dog anywhere on the menu; maybe just because the 7-11 calls them Polish, they are really not. I couldn’t wait to get back to blow the whistle on the management at the 7-11. (I was disappointed later to find out they were on the menu-hot dog in Polish is spelled nothing like hot dog in English-go figure). I chose a Polish dumpling called a Peorigi. They were stuffed with pork and cheese and they were very, very good. I was starting to loosen up-who knew that my nervousness and anxiety were so closely related to food. After dinner they drove me back to the apartment, (they reminded when I got out to turn off the AC in the back seat-roll up the window) where I stayed alone in a Polish apartment with no air conditioning, nervousness and anxiety had returned. I started thinking about what kind of minor, non-fatal emergency needed to happen for me to fly back home immediately. I was drawing a blank, but I clutched my phone tightly because I didn’t want to miss the call from home. Day 1 down-9 days to go. I will never make it!

Expectations About Poland

I returned Monday night from Poland. What a great experience. I had a lot of fun, met a lot of great people, and got to share my faith with youth from another country. I took lots of notes on the trip so you can expect the next few blogs to be about my experiences in Poland. Today, I wanted to share a little insight about expectations and assumptions.
My information gathering before the trip was through movies that were made and included the country and the people. This is a very flawed way to gather information, because the majority of those movies were set during World War II. That was over 60 years ago. A lot has changed during that time. My expectations were to get into Warsaw and have to go through several road blocks and be forced to show my documents. The only road block I encountered was when a man was crossing the street on a bicycle as our light turned green. Ok, I understood I was in Warsaw and it is a big city, so change was expected. In Warsaw, there was a McDonald’s, a Pizza Hut, and even a Kentucky Fried Chicken. People in Warsaw wore Nike shoes, long shorts and modern rock concert t-shirts just like the kids in the U.S. All the restaurants had air conditioning, the cars had air conditioning, you could get Diet Coke, regular Coke, PowerAde, and bottled water. I even had cell phone coverage. So far Warsaw had not met my World War II expectations.
The camp was held in a village town of Lochow. (It is not pronounced like it is spelled, unless you are Polish you will not get it) When my translators told me we were going to a village town I was excited. I got all my papers out and was ready to present them to soldiers at all the road blocks. As we drove from Warsaw we went into the country there were many forest, lined with trees, I was on the look-out for soldiers and paratroopers. I was disappointed as we arrive at Lochow, no soldiers, no roadblocks. I was so disappointed we had to stop at the local grocery store to get an ice cream sandwich. Once again, my expectations and assumptions never held true. Lochow was a very modern village as modern as any small town America. I even had cell phone coverage.
My first lesson learned in Poland- do not gather information from movies. Just kidding. The lesson learned is sometimes our expectations and assumptions are false, and we have to be open to learning and experiencing before draw a conclusion. Warsaw is a major city, why would it not be as modern as any other major city? Thank goodness God never gave up on us. We are human; we fail to meet expectations all the time. Sometimes we fail to meet God’s expectations, but he never stops loving us. We have to be open as well. We have to set high expectations and expect those around us to met them, and if they don’t we love them just the same.

The Day Has Arrived

Well the day has arrived. I will leave at 4:30pm this afternoon from Houston and arrive in Warsaw Poland at 9:15am tomorrow morning. It will be a wacky difference with the time change, but I am a morning person so I am sure I will adjust.
I am nervous and anxious. I am going to be gone for 10 days and I will really miss my family. I have the greatest family in the world. I have a loving, caring, and supportive wife; two of the greatest children ever. Last night, Evelyn and I fell asleep watching Dora the Explorer. What a great last night together. I know it is only 10 days but it will be a long 10 days. However, I know God will comfort my heart and my family’s heart as well. I am going to get to share the Gospel with other people and that gives me great satisfaction. I am aware of the difference God has made in my life, and now I have the opportunity to share that with other people. What a blessing!
I am not sure how I will be able to communicate with my family while I am gone. Not sure about the international cell phone thing and I am not taking my computer. I do know that I will be praying for them and I feel assured the will feel that love from across the Atlantic. Communication through prayer does not need an international plan, long distance plan, facebook or skype. Communication through prayer is more reliable than anything we have, there is never a dropped prayer and you will always have a signal. God will be listening and he is always available. I will find comfort through prayer.
Well, this will be my last post until I return. I look forward to sharing with you the experience of Poland when I return.

Poland

I am a week away from my big adventure. I am leaving next week to go to Poland. I will be conducting a basketball camp in Poland as a ministry of Athletes in Action. Athletes in Action is a ministry organization that uses sports to take the word of God to other countries. I am excited, anxious, nervous and apprehensive. I have never been much of a traveler, so this is a big step.
Since being at Westbury Christian I have seen and heard the result of many mission trips. I know people who have gone to Honduras, Haiti, and China. They have shared with me the life changing results of these trips. I have always wanted to take part in a mission trip, but have never felt comfortable with the idea. I had decided that my mission field was right here in Houston and I was not cut out for foreign missions. That was my excuse anyway. The real reason is probably the level of apprehension I have for being away from home. In my heart I knew I wanted to do it, but I didn’t fell like I could. I can relate a lot to Moses in this circumstance; God continued to choose Moses yet he never felt like he could do it. This spring I decided I was going to do it, and what better way then through basketball.
There are a few things I have a passion for; my family, my relationship with the Holy Spirit, and basketball. Athletes in Action provided the best opportunity for me to share the word of God and teach basketball at the same time. I will have the chance to conduct and share what I know about the game and my love of Christ. I couldn’t ask for a better situation to get involved in foreign ministry. It doesn’t change the level of apprehension or nervousness, but I more comfortable because of basketball. Referring back to Moses; God aided Moses as he made excuses by sending Aaron as well to speak to the people on behalf of God and Moses. I think in my case basketball is my Aaron. I love teaching basketball, I love being around the game; so using it as the tool to get Poland and share God’s word is exciting.
Please pray for the trip and that lives will be affected. I know of one life that has already been effected-mine.

Wow Points

I want to start by apologizing to the all the faithful followers. I am a little behind on the blog. I have been in camp for 3 weeks and it is very time consuming. Camp has ended for the summer so I will get back on the blog.
Coach Hawley told me that camp blogs never get old, so once again I am going to write about camp. We just finished our three weeks of summer basketball camp, and I believe every summer camp gets better. Camp is a lot of work and very tiring but it is great experience. I woke this morning to my normal summer routine; up by 4:45am, at the school running by 5:45am, and in my office reading by 6:30am. After I finish my reading I change clothes to get ready for the day, and for the last three weeks that has been rolling out the balls, rolling down the baskets, and getting my daily plan ready for camp, but today was different there was a void from 7:30-8:30am. There was no need to roll down the baskets or get the balls out for because camp was over. I was in the gym this morning at 8:15am expecting David, Kenneth, and Julia to be the first three to arrive; then soon after two of my all time favorites Piper and Hayden. It took me a minute to realize they wouldn’t be here today because camp had ended, and I was a little sad. I know they have a lot of fun at camp, but you can’t believe the joy they bring me in the morning. They all came in with a smile and with a lot of energy. We have started several mornings with a Taylor Swift song and a lot of team chanting. No one can shout has loud as Piper. Today was different and quiet. No matter how tired and sore I am in the morning, once I see those kids all the fatigue is gone.
In the morning camp we teach as much basketball as those little guys can handle and they do a great job of trying to learn, but I realize they are there for the experience. They get to be on teams, so they learn the value of teamwork. They get to choose a team name and we award wow points for the week to the team with the most spirit. I think they enjoy the team wow points more than camp. They cheer for their team and try to out cheer the other teams. My favorite part is when I award wow points and they begin to cheer “We love Coach Carr.” I am very partial to this cheer for obvious reasons. When they do that I feel unbelievable good about myself. I have done so little to get so much. I think that is the lesson learned.
Sometimes we try so hard to gain acceptance that we forget that the little things might be what makes the difference. We will even try harder because we block out the sounds of “I love you”, or we are trying to seek it from the wrong people. God is constantly chanting about how much he loves us, especially when we do the little kind acts that he approves of so much; yet we don’t hear it because we want to do the bigger things that gets the worlds approval. We all want to be accepted but we have to be careful where we seek it and what we do to get approval. God’s approval is the most important and the little things are the best way to start.

The Concrete Man

Yesterday I had the opportunity to watch some slow but amazing work. The gas station across the street from the school is under going some repairs. Yesterday morning they began breaking up the concrete in the front part of the parking lot. It is a lot of concrete. I got there about 8:00 am and they had only done a few feet. I watched the guy with the jackhammer stay in one place for about 10 minutes. It looked as if nothing was happening. I laughed and thought there is no way he will finish this job. It was amazing because he continued to jackhammer and it appeared nothing was happening. Seemed to be very frustrating work. As I left to start camp, I was anxious to see what was accomplished by the time I left to go home; approximately 9 hours later.
As I left the parking lot of school later that evening, I turned to see the work at the gas station and I was shocked. He had almost finished the job! I was completely amazed. I do not know he if changed tools or what, but he had almost finished what appeared to be an unreachable goal. It reminded of tenacity, perseverance, and commitment. He started that morning with a goal, and worked foot by foot to complete the task. I was inspired by the concrete man.
I do not know what he thought when he saw the job, but I know what I thought. I thought this is an impossible task, and not one I would do for any amount of money. After seeing what was accomplished, my thoughts changed a little. I am going to take a page out of his book. Instead of looking at the task as impossible, I am going to look at the task as achievable. It might take a foot by foot approach, or even and inch by inch approach, but it can be done. It takes a little hard work, and tenacity.
Sometimes we get focused on how far away the goal is, instead of focusing on each step to get to our goal. I gave the analogy in camp of my drive to school. If I get in my car with only the end in mind, then I will probably never get there. Instead I must focus on the backing out of the driveway first. I have to take it step by step, achieving little goals before I can achieve the big ones.
My spiritual life is much the same way. I can only be the man God wants me to be by first taking it step by step or inch by inch. For example, if my goal was to read the entire Bible and I said today I am going to read the entire Bible then probably after a few minutes I would be tired and lose focus. Instead I will read a passage a day until I finish the whole book. I would be more focused and would gain more from it. I think God would be much happier with the later.
I am a fan of the concrete guy. It is amazing how much you can learn from watching others work.

Roles

Ok, I know it gets old, but I am going to write about camp again today. I want to share some observations I have made over the last few days. I have always been a team player; I like being on a team and being a part of a team. I like all the things about team, but I am human and every team I was ever on I wanted to be the star. Today as I watched camp and watched the campers work, I saw a lot of different levels of talent. I thought some were good and some were bad, but I could not discount the fact that all were trying their best. Some of the campers will get a chance to be stars, some will only get to be a part of their team, and some might not even make their teams. It seems tragic in a way, but I thought to myself the great thing about any team is everyone gets to play a role, and everyone has a unique talent. There is no doubt that everyone in camp is talented at something. The hard part is discerning my talent, and then accepting my role based on that talent. Some can score, some can rebound, some can defend, some bring energy, and some can simple bring a joke and a smile. There is a role for everyone on some team.
God gives all a measure of talent. What we do with the talent is the important thing. God made sure all of us were needed for something. What a great blessing! We all get to be a part of God’s team, and we all are assigned a role to play. We have to learn and embrace our role. God gave us a full measure of talent; we are responsible for giving the full measure of that talent to His team. Sometimes the role can seem small but to God it is important. Others might even discount our role on the team, but to God we are the most important player. God is the greatest coach. He makes us all feel important and let’s us know through His love that we make a difference in the success of the team.
I love the idea of team. I love being on God’s team. My role on His team is important because he tells me so through the Bible. He has given me an assignment. I want to accept the assignment and work so hard to make the team the greatest team on earth. Sometimes I am going to fail Him and the team, but God keeps putting me back in the game. He never loses faith in me, and He never gives up for me. Like I said, I always wanted to be the star, and God always makes me feel like the star. He loves me unconditionally. By making me feel so important, I continue to work hard for His team, and the best part is He becomes the star and His glory will shine.

Camp Rules

Camp is off to a great start! We have finished our first week and we are beginning our second. Please excuse the time lapse between blogs as I am short on time to write. I have a lot to share and will have a lot more in the future.
When camp begins on Monday we have to cover some very important ground rules, so the day goes by a little slow. The ground rules for camp are very simple: 1. listen-be a sponge, not a drain; 2. Be courteous- Say “Please and Thank You.”; 3. Pick up trash-leave it better than you found it; 4. Be the Example. They are 4 very simple and easy rules and review them on a daily basis. The best part comes at the end of the week when we talk about how the rules apply outside of camp. Last week I talked about the rules on Monday and briefly reminded the campers as the week went on, and to my surprise on Friday when I asked about the camp rules they all knew them by heart. I went on to ask the questions of “do they apply away from camp?” and everyone agreed they did. That was exciting.
The camp rules are very simple. The best lesson learned was that these rules not only apply in camp but outside of camp as well. I hope they get some basketball from the week, but if they don’t and they only get the camp rules then I think camp is a success. The cool thing about the rules as they not only apply to the campers but they apply to the coaches as well and I think the coaches will practice these rules away from camp. If we were to have only a few rules for our lives, wouldn’t these be good rules to follow?
I think camp makes an impact. I will never be certain how may basketball players we will make out of camp, but I think we will definitely make better people. That is why I love camp. Let me give you an example- I saw a young man come into the gym who was not a part of camp, he grabbed a cup of water and instead of throwing his cup away he just dropped the cup. A camper who was one his way out for the day saw this as well, and we looked at each other and the camper said to me, “Coach, he is not a camper.” The camper then proceeds to race me to the cup to pick it up. That was exciting. Once again, I love camp.
By the way- one camper reminded me about rule #5-Have Fun! When we doing things right we will have a lot of fun.

Names and Accomplishments Part II

Yesterday, I talked about the holographic toy and the message revealed under our name. In part II I wanted to talk about accomplishments and how they relate to our names and who we are. Here is the premise I spent time discussing in my head as I jogged; We do not let accomplishments dictate who we are, rather we let who we are define our accomplishments. As I was thinking of this, I came up with a few examples to better explain the premise.
Let’s take Charlie Ward. Coach Ward is a former Heisman trophy winner. He also won a national championship at Florida State as a quarterback. Coach Ward is a godly man, and a winner. Coach Ward was all of these things before the Heisman trophy and before the national championship. He did not become a winner or a leader after he won those awards; he was that person before the awards. I don’ think he said, “Because I am a an award winner, I will now be a good person.” The award did not define who he was. I do believe he changed the definition of the award because of who he was before he was awarded the Heisman. The Heisman at that time did not only mean the best college football player, but good character became a criteria. I would think that those behind the decision might say it was always part of the selection process, but I think whoever the winner is each year helps change the selection process. Some might even argue that it has no bearing on the award at all. I find that hard to believe. Coach Ward helped define the award because of who he was before the award.
We even see the negative effect of the same thing. We have also seen awards lose value because of the character of the previous winner. A good example could be the defensive award that was won by the Texan football player this past year. After he won the award he was caught using performance enhancing supplement banned by the NFL. I do not know what the substances were or whether he used them or not. I do not know his character at all. I am only speaking about what I read and hear in the news. I do believe that because he was allowed to keep the award that it lessen the value of the award for the next winner. I also believe value can be regained. Whoever the next winner is, who he was before the award, can help recapture the value or hurt it further.
I was listening to talk radio and they were talking about the best homerun hitters in baseball. You know they never mentioned Barry Bonds. Barry Bonds hold several homerun records including the most homeruns in a career. How can he not be mentioned? He is not mentioned because of the accusations of cheating to get results. He has tarnished the accomplishment and most want to forget about it because they want the accomplishment to mean something. I do not believe you can do that. What he allegedly chose to do to get results change what the accomplishment meant. That can only be erased when someone else reaches the same milestones.
In conclusion of parts I and part II, the message revealed by your name can help define the accomplishments you receive. We cannot allow accomplishments to rewrite the meaning encoded in our names, we rewrite the accomplishment because the encoded message was there first.

Names and Accomplishments Part I

What’s in a name? This morning I thought I would write a two part blog. As I was jogging I debated as to which part should come first. (Much like the argument “Which came first the chicken of the egg?”) I was having a silly argument with myself but it did make the jog go by faster, which was good. I decided I would talk about the name before I talked about the accomplishments.
I was thinking about names as if they were written on one of those holographic toys you find in the bottom of a cereal box or a Cracker Jack box. You know one were when you read it, it says one thing but as you turn and twist it, it reveals something else. I was thinking what if we all had one of those with our names on it and as it was turned it revealed a message about who we were. The message could simply be a word or phrase.
I thought about two people in particular-Charlie Ward and Coach John Wooden. (I will talk more about Charlie Ward in part II). I have never met Coach Wooden. I do feel however that I know him. I have read several books and articles about him over the last few years. Coach Wooden passed away this weekend. His body has left but his teachings and legacy will forever be a part of this world. If Coach Wooden’s name was on a holographic toy, I think when it was turned and twisted it would reveal things like-father, teacher, mentor, humble, champion, leader, and so on. I do know Coach Ward. He is our football coach at Westbury Christian. Coach Ward is my friend. If Coach Ward’s name was on a holographic toy it would reveal words like-father, leader, Godly, servant, humble, righteous, and so on. I think in both cases they would be great ways to describe each individual.
What if my name was on a holographic toy? I am not sure what it would say, but I do know what I would want it to say. Step 1 would be deciding what I want the words to say and I feel like I have achieved this step. I have to now go to step 2, writing the words. My actions and example will help me with the coded message behind my name. In my mind I have to keep a check list of the words in the message, and then I have to look for opportunities to write the message. This part is both tough and easy. It is easy because there will no shortage of opportunity, tough because I have to have the awareness to see them and then act on them.
Put your name on the holographic toy, what secret message would be revealed? It is never too late to change the message. Be aware and take advantage of the opportunities. I pray that I will.

Camp Day 1

Well Day 1 is in the books. What a day. We started our camps this week. We had morning camp for little kids starting at 8:30am, and then continued with the older kids at 12:45pm. The day finished with Habits from 4 to 6pm. It was a full day. I am tired, but it is a good tired. I love camp; it might be the highlight of my year. I love the feeling after the day is over; I really feel like I have poured myself out. I would think that all the coaches that worked would feel the same way.
The first day of camp to most might be the hardest day, because there is a lot of foundation work that takes place. It is my favorite day, I get to see smiling faces some new and some old. Several of the campers are return campers and that really makes me feel good. It is like catching up to old friends that you haven’t seen in awhile. You get updates on the past school year and witness all the changes that have taken place. I love the first day.
The excitement of the first day is great, most work camp as running a marathon; I want to work camp as running a sprint. I want to give my whole self every step of the way. I do not want to pace. Three weeks of camp sounds like a lot, but to me it is too short. I want camp to last all year. We really get to teach at camp and watch kids grow. I hate when the teaching stops and the kids go in separate directions.
Real joy for me comes when I watch my players teach younger kids. They teach with passion and commitment to improving other players. That is awesome. Wouldn’t it be great if we all had the same commitment to helping others as those kids have to the younger campers? We can’t let the teaching stop; we have to find ways to improve those around us. What a great world we would live in if we were more committed to seeing others succeed than trying to step over others for our own success? We have to be teachers and everyday has to be camp. Camp can’t end after three weeks.

I Love This Game

Last night I watched the NBA finals with much excitement and anticipation. I am a basketball coach, so just having basketball on in June is exciting. Last night the Celtics met the Lakers in game one of the 2010 NBA finals. As the pre-game show started I had flashbacks to my childhood. I really began taking an interest to the game in the middle 80’s; about the time I was in middle school. I started thinking back to players like Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Kevin McHale, and Dominique Wilkins. Those were great times and great players to watch. I have always loved the Celtics, I was a Knicks fan for awhile, and even pulled for the Bad Boys-Detroit Pistons. I would never miss games on TBS and TNT every Tuesday and Thursday. I would not miss the Saturday and Sunday games on NBC. I would go out and play, then break to watch the 1st and 2nd quarters, go out and play at halftime, then catch the 3rd and 4th quarters, then play after the game was over. I have been on several different teams and played with and against several great players in my driveway. I was always a Celtic or a Knick and I always beat the Bulls or the Lakers; usually in seven games with me hitting the winning shot.
The last few years I have found myself not watching as much basketball because of two things time and cynicism. I would say things like, “It is not the same game anymore.” I had become an old timer. I had become the guy I use to get annoyed at; who was always critiquing the game and how it has changed. Well the game had changed for the good and the worse, but it is still basketball. I still love the game and the lessons taught by the game. Through the game I have learned to be a team player, to be on time, to be loyal, to be a worker, to handle defeat, and to handle success. Just because the game has changed doesn’t mean the lessons are different.
I decided to watch the game last night and to not be a critic. I wanted to enjoy the game as I did as a child. I think sometimes we forget to be child like. We get so wrapped up in being an adult we forget about the daydreaming and joy we got from childhood. Being a kid was fun. We have to find moments and times to stop being an adult and to become a kid again. I think it is good for our souls and our minds. Last night I did a little daydreaming, not from the driveway but this time from the couch. I daydreamed about playing for the Celtics again; I daydreamed about coaching the Celtics. I remembered the joy I got from the game. I am going to take more opportunities to not be critical, but see things as I did when I was a kid. I have to be an adult most of the hours of the day, but sometimes remembering what is was like to be a kid and being one again can only bring more joy to my life. So find time to do something that was good in your life as a kid growing up, watch cartoons for no reason, go swing at the park, jump on the trampoline, and play a game in the driveway. Remember however, you mind can be a kid again, but your body is still an adult. Be safe! It will take longer to recover, but what is a little soreness? Go for it!

Motherhood

As I exercised this morning I thought about what it takes to be a mother and a wife. I wondered is it a learned behavior or are women born with it? I came to the conclusion after the two examples I witnessed that it is a learned behavior. Moms and wives are good because they had good moms. They are caring and compassionate because they were taught by example.
This weekend I watched my mom do something extraordinary. My dad and mom live separately. They both have their own houses, their own bills, and their own lives. My dad is diabetic and has a problem with his feet. Which I found out was very common with diabetics. His feet have to be cleaned and cared for each day, and each day he would come to my mom’s house to get his feet dressed and washed. It happens everyday, and I later found out it had happened everyday for the past year, sometimes twice a day. She would remove the bandages from the previous day, redress them, and then rub both feet with cream. She has no obligation to do what she did, but she would not consider not doing it. It was amazing. I wondered why. I then thought about her mother, my grandmother. My grandmother would take care of anything. She was a great lady, who served as nurse to everyone who was ailing. She was not a nurse by occupation, but a nurse by nature. My mom learned this from her, and she is now doing the same thing.
Last night about 1:00am, it began to rain, thunder and lightning. It was so bad that it woke me and my wife up. We both got up but we went in separate directions. I went to the bed as I had to get up early; she went to my daughter’s room. I looked in on them this morning, my daughter in her bed, my wife on the floor beside her bed holding her hand. Both were asleep. Once again, I was amazed. I am willing to bet at some point in my wife’s life her mother had done the same for her. It was great to watch. Because of what my wife did, she created an example for my daughter. My daughter will be a wife and mother some day, and because of the example being set for her, she will be a great mother and wife.
Once again, my conclusion is motherhood is a learned behavior. I don’t think you are born with it; it takes a great mother to teach a great mother. I have been blessed with a great mother, my daughter is blessed with a great mother.

Life Caddy

During our trip to Alabama I had the opportunity to drive my mom’s new car. It is a Honda mini-van. It is fully loaded, like a space ship. It has a DVD players, navigation, and XM radio. I was very impressed with the car, but the XM radio set it apart. You could listen to specific stations with specific programming. My favorite stations were the comedy stations. While listening, I heard a comic talk about golf and specifically the caddies. He made jokes about us having a life caddy, which is much like the cartoons of the two angels sitting on our shoulders. I had a different thought about the life caddy. I even said to my self, I have a life caddy of my own.
Caddies serve a specific role to a golfer. They advise the golfer of all kinds of things like course lay-out, weather conditions, hole placement, distance and the proper club to hit at certain times. They caddy has to know the course and the golfer. It is even fun to watch the interaction between the caddies and the golfers. Sometimes you watch and see the golfer heed the words of the caddy and then other times shake off the caddy for their own decision making.
I have life caddy-his name is Jesus. He knows me better than anyone and he knows my course better than anyone. He helps me with direction. He advises me what to do next. He advises me of the hazards that lay ahead. Sometimes like golfers I fail to listen and use my own decision making. I have never seen a caddy quit in the middle of a round, and Jesus never quits on me. He allows me to play my own shot and remains beside me when I am ready to listen.
I am making a promise to myself to listen to my caddy more often. He is always right. Why would I choose to do it differently? Pride and selfishness get in my way, but thank God, He will walk the whole course with me.

Memories

It has been a good trip back to my hometown. I have come to realize a few things while I was here. But before I continue, I made a major mistake the other day and I need to correct it. I mentioned that I was coming home to see my parents but I failed to mention my wonderful sisters. They still live in my hometown and that are two of the greatest sisters ever. They are wonderful people with wonderful families. I am very proud of the wives, and mothers they have become. They are special. I miss them a lot, and I wish I was able to see them more, but I sort of like keeping the memories we had as children in my head. They are my little sisters. They will always be my little sisters, no matter what.
Since being home I have realized that while I have grown, I expect everything I knew as a child and teen to stay the same. It doesn’t but the cool thing is that the memories do not change a bit. I have driven by old hang-outs and relived many of the things I did as a teen. I can still see the faces, the people, I can almost reenact the conversations and laughs we had. I love my hometown and I love the people.
I am currently at McDonald’s typing this blog. That is cool. I use to come here for pre-game meals as a basketball player. I can almost still feel my teammates and my letterman jacket on my shoulders. I will drive around in town and have the same feelings about the same places as I once did.
Memories are powerful. They allow us to learn, to grow, and to keep wonderful spots in our hearts and minds. I love to remember. They best part is to laugh at the mistakes, the people, and the places. Growing up is great, but keeping places in your heart and mind that reminded you of your youth are the best. I am getting older, and Guntersville is growing, but no matter how much it grows it will still be the same place it was when I was young. I will never forget my youth.

We Made It!

We made it. We made the trip. We were successful. We left Wednesday at 9:00pm and we arrived in Birmingham, Alabama at 8:00am. There were only a few minor hiccups. Evelyn got sick in Baton Rouge, so we had to stop for a clean p break. Other than that we made good time and the kids slept the whole way. Now we have to only make it back on Monday.
Once we arrived, my wife and kids went with my mom and I went to spend one day in Montgomery to visit friends. I met my friends Emily, Melissa, and Rob. It was so good to see them and to catch up. We were great friends in college. We did everything together and after 12 years it was great to see that things have not changed much.
Emily is married and has a 15 year old stepson. She is a teacher in Alexander City. She is a great teacher. You can tell she has a real passion for what she does. Through the course of dinner she would talk about her students and school, which shows how much she likes her students and her job. She seems to be a great step mom as well. I am so proud of her.
Melissa and Rob are doing great. They have two beautiful children. You can tell how proud they are of them. They are a great couple; they have been married for 10 years. They shared stories and we laughed. We laughed a lot.
We spent most of the night sharing old stories and some new ones. We had a lot of fun. It is so great to see the maturity in all of us. We are all married and we all have kids. We are older, and we seem to be wiser than we once were. It is fun to remember yet recognize and celebrate growth. I hope we all keep growing. I hope that when we see each other again, that nothing changes. Everyone was so happy. I am proud of them and I love them.
Well, I will finish my journey today as I head to beautiful Lake Guntersville. Wish me luck.

Our Big Adventure

Today is the day. It is a day that I spent a lot of time thinking about. I have both dreaded it and rejoiced in the day. It is the day that my family-yes, all four of us-will be traveling to Alabama. Now that doesn’t sound like a big deal but we are not flying we are driving. I can hear the gasps and laughs now. We have rented a mini-van (which I swore I would never be that person) and we plan to load up an leave Houston tonight for a 10 hour trip. Like I said, I am both nervous and excited. It will definitely be an adventure. Here is the time for all those that know me place bets on how far we will get in this trip. Some at work have said-all the way, Baton Rouge, Beaumont, and to the end of my neighborhood.
We are going to travel with my wife, myself and Evelyn-2, and Jackson-6 months. We have packed every conceivable form of entertainment. We have every Nick Jr. movie made in last year. We have a cooler packed with snacks and drinks. We have pillows, diapers, and a massive amount of wipes. You can never have enough wipes. We rented the car (I cannot say mini-van) yesterday. The rental guy and my wife inspected the outside for any damage, I laughed, because the damage is going to be on the inside. It will be a minor miracle if it comes back with no stains, no torn fabric, and in perfect working order. I guess the joke will be on him.
I am definitely making light of the trip. I am very excited. I will get to see my parents and more importantly they will get to see my children. I have always known that my parents were proud of me, but I cannot wait for them to see my children and see what kind of parent I have become. They have heard stories on the phone, but it will be different in person. This will be the first time they have met Jackson. I am proud of my children and care for them deeply and I know my parents will be proud of them as well.
There is no greater feeling than showing off your children. I love to show mine off. I think God feels the same way about us. We see examples in the Bible, especially with guys like David, Job, and others, of how God feels about his children. I hope as a child of God I can make him proud. I want him to show me off. I want to be labeled as His, “good and faithful servant.” I want to make God proud. I think if we keep that in mind it will helps us as we go about everyday life. We can ask ourselves, “Would God be proud of me?” Well, we are a few hours away from the big trip. I will give an update on how far

Turning Discomfort Into Comfort

I have decided that this summer I want to get into better shape. I started my routine yesterday, and it has been a painful two days. I started yesterday with a little jogging and some time in the weight room. It is amazing has easy it is to get out of shape, and how difficult it can be to get into shape. With consistent training I believe you can make what is uncomfortable now become comfortable later. You can change what you dream it could be, and make it what you expect it to be. That is my goal.
We have such a hard time with discomfort. We spend most of our days trying to make ourselves comfortable, yet we do not want to be uncomfortable doing it. We just want it to happen. I have come to realize comfortable can only be achieved by weathering the discomfort it takes to get their.
I preach this to our basketball players all the time. They all have a desire to be the best player, yet when it comes to the work it takes to be the best very few are willing to submit. Submission is hard, it means discomfort, even pain, but the prize is so great. Most settle or give up when they don’t see instant results. Look at all the fad diets, fad work-outs; you hear slogans like “in only 90 days”, or with “10 minutes a day.” If you really want to make a change or you want to be different, you have to submit for more than 90 days or 10 minutes a day. It has to be a constant, daily change. It is a lifestyle change.
The same is true with spiritual fitness. What if told God, I am going to be your servant for 90 days or 10 minutes a day? Would he be pleased? God wants us to submit not for a few days, but for the rest of our lives. It will mean a little discomfort, and possibly a little pain-but how sweet the reward is. Do not get me wrong, starting with 10 minutes a day, is better than no start at all. Submission has to be daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly.
I have decided I will weather the discomfort. Trust me, I am sore. I am going to rejoice in my soreness, for I know it will only last a little while, it I am consistent. Soon discomfort will be comfort, and it will be what I expect not what I want.

“He who ignores discipline despises himself. He who heeds correction gains understanding” Proverbs 15:32

Seniors 2009-2010

What a great time of the year. Tonight is our graduation and it will a time of celebration and joy. Those who are graduating will put behind them the high school years and begin the next chapter of their journey. I am very excited for those seniors who played basketball for me. They have been a great group that I am looking forward to following in their college careers and beyond.
We will be graduating 6 seniors (players) from our 2009-2010 team. Justin Foreman will continue his development at a prep school in Nevada. Nick Leonard will be going on to Baylor where he will no doubt do really well. Nick Shepherd will be playing basketball and continuing his education at Long Beach State. Anthony Brancato is going to Lubbock Christian. Ashton Fontenot will play football at Clark-Atlanta. Duke Phillips will get a chance to be a student athlete on the basketball team at Faulkner University. All have received scholarships of some value, and will benefit from a great college education at little or no cost to their families.
We also graduate three student coaches, Jon Scott-University of Texas, Elvan Young- University of Houston, and Eduardo Perme. I am proud of them all but I would say I am the most proud of Eduardo. Eduardo has some disabilities but has worked through high school and will graduate tonight. Eduardo is a great kid, with a great spirit. We have benefited by his presence. I am going to miss him the most. I am so excited to see what he becomes and I pray we have made an impact.
As excited as I am about their futures, I pray we have made a difference in their lives. We have tried to teach them to be servant leaders, give great effort-work hard, and put others ahead of themselves. I will not forget them, and I really don’t care if they forget me along as they don’t forget the lessons. The lessons are more important than those teaching them. I know they will do great, but I want them to great husbands, great fathers, and great men.

Clean Up

Today was the last day of school! Yes! We made it all the way! It is also housekeeping time. The halls are full of trash and trash bags, people are working to clean up the mess and clean out the lockers. It is amazing the things left behind, that go unwanted or considered trash. Clean up and clean out is good thing and something we all probably need to do more often.
I am reading a very good book and the chapter I finished dealt with the value we put on stuff, and how that value system is misguided. Stuff is not as important as we making out to be, we use phrases like “we need this” or “we have to have that.” I was reminded of this as I watched the kids throw things away that at one point they really felt like they needed. It was important at one time, but obviously not important at this time. It was stuff and it needed to be cleaned out.
I think cleaning out stuff is very important. The things we accumulate is amazing and yes at some point very important, but when the usefulness is gone, why not throw it away? Better yet, why not think ahead and realize we really don’t need the stuff anyways. I am talking about physical items, but can’t we do the same in our souls. Sometimes we need to clean out our mind and bodies. We even need to realize that something’s are unimportant and will only take up space.
I learned a valuable math lesson one time. Full can be represented as 100%. Full means that no more can go in the tank, and if when continue to fill it up something has to be pushed out. If God wants our whole-self then He requires 100% of the space. When we put stuff in the tank there is less room for God; He knows has only 80% of the space. That is what stuff does it takes up space; the worldly stuff occupies the space we have reserved for God. We need to evaluate how much space we have for Him. Then we need to do a little housekeeping and get rid of all the things occupying His space in our lives. We need to self evaluate our stuff because we only have so much room (100%). It is never a bad time to do a little house cleaning.

Happiness and Joy Beat Discomfort

Last night was a great night. We had some of our favorite people over for dinner-the Sutton posse. I call them a posse because there are a lot of them. There is Darla (mom), Marissa (8th grader), Kylie (7th grader), Brady (4 years old), and Katelyn (3 years old). Of course there is dad-Reed. Reed currently took a job in Alabama, where he is currently living. Darla and the kids have stayed behind in Houston to sell the house and finish school. They travel in a pack; you can’t find one without three others following. They drive a cargo van everywhere they go. They are a great family or posse. I love to be around them because they are so much fun.
I have to tell you a little about myself to understand the rest of the story. (no, this is not a Paul Harvey story). I am a pretty private person, very independent, a loner, I value my quiet time, and probably the most important thing is I value my space. I do not go out much; I do not do a lot away from work. This to those that know me the best will find it shocking that I had a large group like the Sutton posse over to my house for no special reason. However, I love to see my wife happy and more importantly my daughter happy. So, to have the Sutton children to play with my daughter makes her extremely happy, and to have Darla visit with my wife makes her very happy. It does however cause me to be a little uncomfortable.
Last night there were kids everywhere, and they all wanted to do something different. Ok, the truth is they did not want to sit on the couch like me and quietly watch television. Darla wanted to visit with my wife, and I know they needed a break from kids; so I was left as the entertainment for the kids. Do not get me wrong, I love kids, but they were everywhere. To make things worse, as anal as I am, they would get it out, I would pick it up, and then they would get something else out. I think it became some kind of game. At one point, I look over and Kylie is lying on my favorite couch wrapped in my favorite blanket; wow some nerve. I thought they were moving in!
I was uncomfortable, even to the point that I had to go outside for awhile; but I think God was teaching me a lesson, because it was lightning pretty bad, so it was not a great night to be outside. As the night wore on, I felt my discomfort leave as I watched all the smiles in the room. I learned that sometimes doing what is uncomfortable is ok, when others around you are happy. I think everyone was happy last night. At the end of the night I was happy, mostly because everyone else was. Happiness and joy can be contagious and it got me last night. Happiness and joy can overcome discomfort- it worked for me.

Do Overs

Is there such a thing as a “do over?” I started to think about this question this weekend. I think the best answer I could up with is yes and no. Not a great answer, but it is all I can come up with. I will explain how I came to this profound conclusion.
This weekend and young man with whom our basketball team competed against died tragically in a car accident. I only knew him from a distance. I had seen him work-out in our gym and even talked to him on occasion. I watched him play and even shared some time with him at an event honoring him and another player. He seemed like a great kid, well spoken, and intelligent. He was going to play basketball in college and looked to have a promising future. He died too early. He does not get a “do over” in this life, yet because of the legacy he left behind and the lives he touched, those who knew him will be changed, So, yes they get a “do over.”
I met with a few 8th graders today. I know this is a rough time for them, and they cannot see it that way just yet. They really want to grow up, yet they are not sure just how to do it. In that process they are making a lot of mistakes and burning several bridges along the way. They will not get a chance to “do over” the 8th grade. It only happens once. (We hope). They will however get a chance to be ninth graders next year, a chance to “do over.” I wish them a lot of success.
Everyday we encounter moments that are defining. We have choices, options, but for every choice there is a consequence or multiple consequences. We fail to realize that there might not be a “do over.” That is why it helps define us. We have split seconds to make decisions that can affect us, and others. We have to make decisions. We have to understand that not everything comes with a “do over.” We also have to be alert to the decisions that others make because that might be our “do over.”
The greatest “do over” in life is the forgiveness of sin. God sent Jesus to die on the cross for the forgiveness of sin. He gave us a “do over.” God gave us the Bible as our guide to make our “do over” count. We have to be alert; we have to change with the consequences in mind. We will never know if that is our last “do over.”

A Coach's Role

Last night was the conclusion to our athletic year. We had our last banquet of the 2009-2010 school year. We celebrated and awarded all of our spring sports-track, tennis, golf, baseball, and softball. It was a great night. Coaches talked about individual and team success, the highs, and the lows.
Each time we have an athletic banquet I am reminded of why we do what we do. Why we coach kids. We coach because we have the opportunity to have a helping hand in the development of a young person. We get to take athletes from where there are, to some place they never imagined they would be. Some don’t even recognize that they have grown; which makes it even sweeter. I am not just talking about physical development, but I am talking overall personal development. Coaches can change a person’s life, change who they are, change what they can accomplish, and even change who they will become. Coaches and teachers have to be the second most influential person in a young person’s life, only second to their parents, and in some cases the replacement to an absent parent.
I had great parents growing up, they taught me lessons, they loved me, they nurtured me, and they grew me up. I also had coaches who influenced me for the good and aided in my development. I was not an easy person to coach. I thought I knew it all and was afraid to work hard. My coach never gave up on me. He could and I don’t think anyone would have blamed if he did give up on me, but he didn’t. I am thankful that he didn’t; I owe a lot of who I am to my coach. Even today, those who know him and me would say we are a lot alike. Just the other day I was visiting Coach and we went to church together, a man at church came up to him and me and asked if we were brothers because we have similar profiles. I guess I have even started to look like him. It was kind of scary.
Coach taught the importance of hard work, he taught to be on time, he taught me to compete, and he taught the truth of God’s word. Coach was the first person to have a bible study with me, he cared about my soul. I think that is the main reason he never gave up on me. He saw what I could become, he took me from where I was, never said to me I can’t help you because your not at this point, instead worked with me to get me to another level. Isn’t that what coaches are suppose to do for their athletes? I am a coach now, I am a husband now, I am a parent now, I am deacon now, and most importantly I am a baptized believer.
My parents played the biggest role in my life, but Coach also had a large role in finishing me off. I have disappointed him, and I have disappointed my parents at times; but they continued to love me. That type of love might be the greatest lesson I ever learned. I try to be the coach and teacher that my coach and teachers were. Thanks to all coaches, and a special thanks to Coach.

Lessons Learned From My Favorite Cartoons

I have a 2 year old daughter, Evelyn Rose. She is a beautiful young lady, thanks to her mom. She is also very smart, curious and funny. (Of course I am biased). She loves to play outside, but she also loves to watch her shows. Like many of adults she has her shows that she has to watch and they have become so important we DVR them. Her shows include Yo Gabba Gabba, Caillou, The Wonder Pets, and Ni Hao Kai Lan. My shows include Law and Order, Lost, Survivor, and Friday Night Lights. We use to DVR my shows, but know we do not have enough space for my shows because we are recording hers. I have become a big fan of several of her shows and know most of the lyrics to most of the songs. Everyday I find myself singing songs about sharing, teamwork, eating my snack, and helping others. Those songs were not learned watching my shows-and has made me ask the question- which shows make me better? I am 35, and most would think I am to old for cartoons, but I think I learn more from them and probably even better I am reminded of the core values I learned as a child.
We were watching Yo Gabba Gabba, (I am a big fan of Plex-the magical robot), they were singing about continuing to try and never give up. I had a particular difficult day that day, and had run into a situation I was ready to quit on. After watching Yo Gabba Gabba, I was reminded not to give up and to keep trying. Then we watched The Wonder Pets, and their main message is helping others with the use of teamwork. “What’s going to work-teamwork!” I found myself thinking the same thing and even humming the song at work the next day as we prepared to tackle a project.
We have also tuned in to shows like Dora the Explorer and Ni Hao Kai Lan. Dora is Hispanic and Kai Lan is Chinese. They teach and translate words both in English and Spanish. I am able to go to school and speak with our Hispanic students and Chinese students about their culture and use words in their language I have learned from the show. They usually laugh at me but it opens up a line of communication that might not have ever existed.
Why have we become so adult, that we forget the lessons we learned as a child, and are embarrassed to be reminded of them by watching cartoons? Sometimes we needed to be reminded about teamwork, sharing, and to never give up. We need to be reminded that all people are important and we have to try to reach them at their level instead of expecting them to come to ours. Who cares who teaches the lesson? Sometimes learning from a magical robot or three little pets might be just what we need. I encourage you to tune in to Nick Jr. every once in awhile to be reminded of the things that can make us better and maybe even a little more successful.

The End Is Near

We are coming to a very bittersweet time at school. We are in our final week. It is a time of rejoicing, it is a time to reflect, and it is also a time of sadness. At some point in the final days we-students and teachers-will do all of these.
It is a time of rejoicing because the end has come, we have finished the journey that began in August, and for those that are seniors began 13 years ago. We will celebrate all the accomplishments of the year, the awards, the accolades, and the triumphs. We will rejoice because it was something we thought would never get here, and for some probably didn’t get here fast enough.
It is a time to reflect because now we can look back and take stock of what we learned or failed to learn. We will reflect on the journey and decide whether we got all we could and took advantage of all that was given to us. We will evaluate if this is where we wanted to be when the trip began. We will evaluate what we could or should have done differently.
It is a time of sadness because we have to move on. We will leave behind some of our youth, some of our friends, and some of the fun and games. We will also be saddened by what we failed to accomplish, or what we failed to achieve. We will be saddened by the mistakes we made and those we wronged.
High school is a great time. At 35, I can sit back and say I still feel all of these things about my time in high school. I celebrate a lot about high school, I evaluate what I received and learned, but most importantly I am saddened about some decisions I made and mistakes that I can’t rewrite. The lesson to be learned is high school is a thing that they do not have a do over for. Life is also a thing that there is no do over for. What we learn has to be used to grow and improve everyday. High school is a small part of our lives but so many things can come from the experience.
God wants our best. He knows we will make mistakes, but he trust that we will not continue to make the same mistakes. God celebrates our triumphs, God will evaluate how we have lived our lives, and God will be saddened by the mistakes we make. Because of this, we have to work each day to be better, we have to run the good race, and we have to fight the good fight. I hope I can look back at each day and celebrate success, but be humble, evaluate and learn, to improve for tomorrow, and rewrite the sadness, so as to please God.

The Long and Winding Road

This past weekend I took an extended road trip with one of my players, Duke Phillips. Duke is a senior at Westbury Christian and is two weeks from graduation. Duke really wants to play college basketball and is talented enough to do so, and up to this point we have not found the right fit. So him and I decided we would become proactive and make a road trip to work-out for two college coaches, Jim Sanderson at Faulkner University and Tom Kelsey at Belhaven College. We left on Friday night and returned Monday night. It was experience to say the least. Faulkner is in Montgomery, Alabama-10 hours from Houston, and Belhaven is in Jackson, Mississippi-7 hours from Houston. You can learn a lot about someone during a 10 hour road trip. I want to share some stories and what I learned from this trip.
The first thing I learned is it sometimes takes a long trip to really get to know someone. I coached Duke for only one year, and we have had a good relationship, but it wasn’t until this weekend that I found who he really was. I thought I knew, but I only knew surface things, not the things we keep close to our heart. I was somewhat disappointed at myself that I didn’t know more about him and his family. That is the tragedy of today’s society. Technology is great, but it only allows us to give partial information about who we are. We do not take time to sit and ask questions, deep questions to gain understanding. We use excuses like not enough time, or I am too busy. Then once we generate excuses, we allow our conversations to be in the form of a text or an email, were we give short one or two line answers to everything. We then form assumptions and generalizations about only partial information. We need to take time to talk; it is the only way to learn about the people we care about.
The second thing I learned is the importance of doing for others what was done for you. In 1993, my high school coach Jim Sanderson, took me on the same type of trip. I wanted to play college basketball, so he loaded me up and drove to 3 different schools in the state of Alabama. It worked out that I received a scholarship to play at Alabama Southern Community College. I do not know if I would have gotten that opportunity had he not done this for me. This weekend would have been my first weekend off in a couple of months and it was Mother’s Day, but I knew I needed to do this for Duke. Someone did it for me, so it was my turn to return the favor.
I am so proud of Duke. He really did a great job and hopefully he will get to play college basketball. He is a great kid, and he is my friend. I know Duke now and I think Duke knows me. One day, I hope Duke will have the opportunity to pass on what was done for him, as I did. It was a great trip. Faulkner and Belhaven are great schools, with great Christian coaches. Duke will be blessed if gets to play at either school, but those coaches will also be blessed by Duke as well.

My Greatest Strength and My Greatest Weakness

One summer I had the opportunity to work as an intern with the United States Marshal Service. It was a great experience; one of the most memorable moments was the interview process. I was interviewed by the U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of Alabama. I did not fully appreciate it at the time, but for one-she was appointed directly by the President (she was a big timer); and two, it was my first very professional interview (I was 21 at the time). The moment that stuck out to me was when she asked two questions back to back- “What is your greatest strength?” and “What is your greatest weakness?” I have had about two more professional interviews since that time, and coincidentally they have asked the same two questions. As a current administrator, I have added those to my interview questions when interviewing new coaches. Those two questions are very important and reveal a lot about people-as long as they answer them truthfully. I want to share with you how I answered.
The first question, “What is your greatest strength?” My competitive nature is my greatest strength. I love to compete; I am at my best when I compete. I want to win. I like to win. I can be relentless when I compete. I can be cut throat when I compete. I want to be a winner.
The second question, “What is your greatest weakness?” My competitive nature is my greatest weakness. I become consumed with winning. I will do anything to win, no matter the consequence. I will say and do things, I would not normally do. I will forsake feelings-mine and others-to win. I want to win despite the cost.
Now, as I am a little older, I am learning to change my answers. I still love to compete, but not everything has to be competition. I do not have to always win. Sometimes losing is ok. Winning at the risk of hurting others, especially those I love, is not worth it. I would like my answers to be-my greatest strength is my willingness to be the best I can, by doing what is right, with love and compassion; my greatest weakness is loving to much, caring to much, and allowing others to succeed and celebrating their success, at the possible cost of my failure. These are lofty goals for a person who is constantly competing at everything. I know this is what God wants for me. I can learn from Jesus. Jesus was willing to sacrifice himself at the cross for the success of the Kingdom. He did it with love, he cared enough-some would even say to much. I will get better, I will learn.