Teachers

What makes a teacher a great teacher? I am a teacher and I want to be great. I am sure there is some great governmental tool for measuring an educator’s greatness; however I have taken a look at a few of those that I thought were great and cam up with my own evaluation system. I will explain.
1. The Mr. Garner/Mr. Crumpler Factor- you have to be very knowledgeable yet never too intellectually ahead of your students. You have to meet students where they are and try to stretch them further. This can be done by inserting interesting stories and good humor along with teaching the material. It is the fine line of making class enjoyable without losing class room control. Mr. Garner did it in high school Chemistry and Mr. Crumpler with 8th grade Social Studies.
2. The Mrs. Adkinson/Coach Sanderson Factor- you have to be demanding without compromise because you know it is best for the student. You have to get the student to strive for things they never thought they were physically or mentally capable of. It is much harder to appreciate this teacher greatness while going through it however it might be the one you appreciate the most later. This teacher will hold the line and will only except the students best, but the best part is that they will never make the student go through it alone. They will be there all along the way; they will come early and stay late. They never play favorites, they demand the same from each person, and they serve all those that want to be great; however not everyone makes it but those that do will be better for the experience. Mrs. Adkinson taught middle school Math and Coach Sanderson coached basketball.
3. The Coach Beam/Mrs. McAlister Factor- you have show them you care. You always have the right thing to say and you always say it in the appropriate way. You are positive when in your mind you want to shout and ring their necks. You can be critical without being demeaning, you show unwavering support. You will stand behind your students even those that have tendencies to be uncontrollable. You want to help them, and you have a sincere caring heart. You will probably go home many nights frustrated but you always return the next day with the same caring spirit; because you know that is what they need. You are going to love them no matter what. Coach Beam was a tennis coach, and Mrs. Mac was a Home Economics teacher. (Quick example- Mrs. Mac gave a sewing assignment, I failed miserably, but she knew I was a good student and that I could not fail Home Ec, so she re- sewed part of my shorts for me after class and then graded me on them. She could have just failed me but didn’t-she cared)
These are my examples of great educators. These are the three factors that I hope I have in the classroom and on the court. I will never forget these people nor the impact they made on me. The great thing is I bet there several others that when asked what makes a great teacher; they will name the same people. Great teachers impact all their students. I know not all those listed above will have the opportunity to read this; I say thanks all the same, and because of what you have done in my life I am now impacting others as you did for me. Thanks- Russell Carr GHS Class of 1993.

I'M BACK/LISTEN UP

It has been some time since my last update in the blogging community. I know my faithful followers have been disappointed and I promise I have legitimate excuses, but no time to dwell on that as we have so much to catch up on. I have compiled a myriad of topics and stories to share from the past season, past school year, and the last few months of marriage and parenting. This should be fun!
I want to start by repeating and reflecting on a story I read. It was about an experiment that was done with one of the world’s greatest violin players, Joshua Bell. They took Joshua and his 1713 Stradivarius violin and plaedy some of his favorite classical works in a subway in Washington D.C. The experiment was to see how many people would stop at the sound of the music performed by one of the world’s greatest violin players. As the story goes, Joshua performed 4 songs, one adult stopped and even left a larger than normal tip, some kids walking with their parents noticed and even tried to get their parents to notice, but no others stopped to notice the beautiful music. Wow. This story was told in a book by my favorite author, John Ortberg. He used the story to make a wonderful point as it related to our relationship to God. The cool thing about this story and how it impacted me was when I was reading the story in relationship to what I was going through during the time.
After reading this story, I began to ask myself would I have missed it. Would I have been so consumed with what I was doing that I could not hear the beautiful sounds that surrounded me. The scary answer was, “yes.” See, I was reading this paragraph in the book while waiting to catch a flight the day after we lost the state championship. This is significant because it was only our second loss of the season, and really the one we were not supposed to lose. I was upset, I was frustrated; I was disappointed, I was angry. I wanted to run away, I didn’t like myself, I didn’t like my team, I didn’t want to be their coach. We were 37-2, and only lost 5 games in two years. We were blessed yet I was consumed with the last game. I was so consumed with the last game that I was afraid that I had missed the beautiful sounds of the season. Hurriedly, I began to replay moments within the season, but I could only replay the games, not the moments. I thought ok; I will go back and watch game tape and the moments will come to me-nope- again I am consumed with execution, not the moments. I will admit- I cried. I have coached some of the greatest young men ever and I can only remember if won or lost, and how we played. Now-that is something to be disappointed about.
I made myself a promise that day-I will work harder to hear the music. I have lost the last couple of years, but I am young and hopefully there will be more to come. I have a new challenge each day-listen-you never know when the most beautiful music will be playing.

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.