Callin' the Play

This week, Drew's team was playing a 5-3 that should have been a pretty easy win, but for several reasons, we struggled. First of all, one of my players showed up after the game started and it messed the rotation I had set up. That led to two of my best players sitting at the same time for the third quarter. We lost our lead in that quarter and went into the 4th quarter tied up 8-8. Their best player started the quarter with 4 fouls. I told Drew to steal the ball and go down to shoot, but don't take the shot because I knew that kid would foul him. He did just that...stole the ball and paused at the other end for a second and let that kid foul him. They called it on the ground, so he didn't get the free throws I was wanting, so we played on. Still tied with about a minute left, I called timeout and drew up a play. I had been sending the high post, Corben, to go screen for Drew going with a pick-n-roll. They were covering that now. I had sent my wing as well, Morgan, on the last play to do a double screen that had resulted in a missed layup by that dork of a son of mine, so I knew their coach was preparing them for that now too. I had Corben come screen for Drew, and Morgan to act like he was going to go screen as well, but instead just take one step towards Drew and then break to the basket. Drew was to hit him cutting to the basket as he himself came off Corben's screen. Morgan's dad was sitting with his wife at the scorer's table where she was keeping the books, and he heard the play explained to the boys. The play was executed to perfection and Morgan scored the basket to put us ahead for good. Drew hit one more shot to finish the game 12-8.

I was excited for them, but Morgan's dad mentioned to me how much more exciting it is to actually hear the play explained and watch it carried out to perfection for the win. That must be how it is with God. He has a plan for our lives. It is a perfect plan for us to win in life. It must be exciting in heaven as the angels hear God call a plan for us, and then to watch us carry it out and succeed. Also, it must be heart-breaking to watch us stumble and make a mistake that messes it up, and even more frustrating to watch us deliberately go out and do something different from what He's drawn up for us to do. I guess just as bad, we can stand in the huddle and not even listen to the instructions, and just be totally lost when step onto the floor.

I probably have more to prove as a guy trying to coach this team, but I truly feel like my interest lies in seeing the boys faces as they win games. But, I'm sure I get a little pride and self-seeking in the process somewhere as well. Well, God has nothing but our interest in mind as he coaches us and draws up the plays for our lives. We need to listen, prepare, and execute those plays the best we can. I want to picture those in heaven clinching their fists and yelling, "YES!" as they see me do what God wants me to do and succeeding because of it. And, that all starts with me listening to the perfect coach of life, and preparing to do what I'm told.

Usin' a Sharpie

We begin each day of our lives with a Sharpie in our hand. As soon as we wake up, we take off the lid and place it on the page. It writes until we crawl into bed, close our eyes, and go to sleep. Everything we do that day is permanent to us and those around us. No words can actually be taken back, nothing can actually be made up for, and no one can dodge the permanence of their words and actions.

What we need to do is:
1. Be careful about those things...as careful as signing an important document in just the right place.
2. Realize that everyone is using a Sharpie, and they will make mistakes from time to time just like you.
3. Take time to look back at the mistakes you've made and don't repeat them over and over.
4. Take time to look at other people's mistakes and let them be lessons to you as well, so you don't have to make them.
5. Have people that you admire and look up to you in your life. Look at what they've done right and get where they are by following their example.
6. Don't spend all your time looking at the past. You can't pay enough attention to what you're marking now if you're just looking at old stuff you've marked all the time.
7. Don't let your bad markings dictate the rest of your life. Know when it's time to regroup and start in a different direction.
8. Be aware of people around you. When they are hurting reach out to them. Help them in their failures, and realize that you CAN mark your page and help others at the same time. If fact, helping others is marking your page...and good.
9. The faster you mark, the harder it is to "stay in the lines," and that's just the kind of mistake Satan wants you to make so he can get to you.

God made our lives move in one direction - FORWARD. We can't slow it down or speed it up. We can't change the past and don't need to worry about the future too much. If we take care of the present, the future will be good. If we simply prepare for the future, the present will be more enjoyable with less worry.

LOVE YOUR LIFE OR GET CONTROL OF IT BY GIVING GOD THE CONTROL!

Relevancy

I love to be stretched. I love to have my mind stretched. I think more people do than not...just in different areas. I love a difficult math problem (yes, I hear the gag sounds). I love to read blogs that stretch my thinking, expand my environment, and force me to back up and approach it from a different direction.

I love reading things that I could talk to someone about and come away thinking we must not have read the same thing. I love art. I'm not an 'artsy' person by any means, but I am intrigued by it and appreciate it as something beyond my natural talents.

All that to say, we must push ourselves...we must push our minds like a runner in the last stretch of a race looking for his second wind. However, there is this one caution. We must remain relevant. I want to give the world something that pushes their minds, but I have no desire to give the world something that is only useful to small portion of the population. I want to give the world something to think about that might be new or different for them, but I want them to understand it when they hear or read it. I want to be outside their box, but I want to be relevant.

I would humbly say that I am told I am a smart person, but without relevance, I am dumb...without wisdom, I am stupid...without the ability to improve people around me, I am...irrelevant. "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." I named by fantasy football teams IRONMEN as a reminder of that. If I participate, and win it all...hoist the trophy and set it on my mantle for the year, but don't positively influence those guys I play with, I have won nothing.

My world may not consist of that many people...my family, my friends, the kids I work with on Wednesdays, the kids on the teams I coach, my Sunday School class, and the few people that actually read my blog...but I want to stand before God one day and have him tell me that I was a positive influence on those people for him. That is what my prayer is. There is no "meaning in life" that does not include, and is most importantly, what you give to others. It's so easy to be selfish. It's so easy to lean on certain talents to get praise from others. It's so hard to keep your motives pure. But when we focus on pure motives, our actions will remain pure. When our actions remain pure, we remain useful and relevant to a world in need.

Sounds from the Patriots locker room

Here are some quotes heard in the Patriots locker room just prior to the Super Bowl...

1. "Uh-oh Coach, the VCR just ate the video labeled 'Giants Signals.'"

2. "Of couse we're gonna win...everyone says so."

3. "TO? This is Tom Brady...now exactly how did you come back from that ankle injury to play in the Super Bowl?"

4. "Coach, here's a bright new red hoodie for good luck."

5. "Backs, you've got to hit the gap." "Why does he want us to just run into Strahan?"

6. "We're 5-0 against teams from New York so far this year, so what do we have to worry about?"

7. "This is Tom Brady...sure, let Giselle in the suite...she's can't be as unlucky as Jessica."

8. "Randy, quit hoggin the play book!" "Wait your turn...I'm checkin' out which plays I wanna take off."

9. "Crap guys, you were suppose to wait till after the game to down the champagne."

10. "Line, keep me on my feet, and we'll be fine."

11. "Guys, keep my car running in the fourth quarter...if things are going bad, I'm out of there before that final second runs off the clock."

12. "I hear there's some hottie in Archer City sittin' on the couch with her man rootin' against us." "So, she'd have to be really hott for that to matter..." ;-D

Giant Accomplishment

That was the most amazing Super Bowl game for me that the Cowboys weren't in. My hatred for Belichick and Brady has grown to where I was not only rooting for the Giants, but loving them as if they were my team. I do love the story...I don't like Tiki Barber and I was glad to see him eat his words about Eli and the team...and glad to see the team win a Super Bowl the year after he retired early "because he didn't need the game." Game was awesome...commercials were pretty good...half-time show sucked. Anyway, I have nothing prophetic to say about the game. But I do need to mention that it's hott that my wife has a quote about it on her page...just sayin'...

God's Ways Are Not Our Ways...

Recently God revealed himself to me again in a way that was as clear as talking to him on the phone or something. I'd have to say there are three times in my life that he's spoken to me this clearly...or rather, that I've listened and heard him this clearly...because I'm sure he would do it a lot more if I listened more.

1. I was 19 years old. It was the weekend of the Greenbelt Bowl in Childress. I worked in the head office for Golden Fried Chicken in Wichita Falls, and I was taking care of some business at the Childress store. The shift manager there asked me if I wanted to go to the dance after the game with him and some other people, so I did. We began to goof around and pick out girls to ask to dance...like, "see that girl over there...I'm about to ask her to dance with me." For the last year of my life, I had been just living worldly and recklessly. At one point, I saw a girl across the room and said I was going to ask her to dance, and she instantly made eye contact with me and came and asked me to dance instead. As we danced and talked, she told me about how important Christ was in her life. It hit me that this was the type of girl I needed to be going after...and that I wasn't living my life in the right way to attract this type of girl. I asked her what she was doing later that night or the next day, and she said she was leaving on a mission trip with her church. She told me the name of the church, and we talked a little more and then split. Our 'spot' was by the entrance, and I went back to join the guys there. I never saw her again and I scanned the place over and over. I never saw her leave either. Later that night in my hotel room, I began looking through the phone book for that church and it didn't exist. That was my wake-up call. That was God telling me "I have a great life for you, but you're gonna miss it living the way you are." I don't know if that was a girl, an angel, or what, but it got my attention...and even more so for me to realize the woman I eventually married, people tried to set us up since I was 17, and I met her a year and a few months after that night. God knew I wasn't ready to meet her...or better, she wouldn't have liked the me then.

2. After being here for 5 years, I felt God specifically calling me to a different type of ministry. It was a very clear call. I applied for an education position at one other church. It was a large church in Oklahoma City. They called me, interviewed me, and gave me a ton of tests (spiriutal gifts, psych, etc.). They were ready to bring me in view of call, and I just felt God saying no. I was like, "You told me this was what you wanted me to do, so what gives?" I did say no, and just a few months later, Roger and a deacon from here began to discuss with me what God was calling me to do, and exploring whether or not it was here. Now, I've been here over 11 years, and I love my job. I don't know that the combination of things I do with education, children, and administration even exists anywhere else.

3. God is still in action on this one, so maybe I'll share it another time. But let me say that, like the second time, God was calling me to do something I felt I'd have to leave to make happen. As I explored moving, I again felt God telling me to stay put. I committed to him again that I would stay put even though I didn't see how the combination of what he was calling for and staying here could work. Within a couple of months, he began to put things in motion that is allowing for both. He is an awesome God.

These three things had some common ground. In each case, I knew...just really knew what God was asking for. Each time, as soon as I got the instruction from him, I left him and began to search for how to make that happen on my own. I thought I needed to track that girl down when she wasn't 'the one'--just a picture of the one. I thought I needed to move, when God wanted to make those things happen without me moving. Also, in each case, I heard him loud and clear on what needed to happen...he had someone for me, he had a change in ministry for me, and what he was showing me needed to happen recently, each really did need to happen. I just needed to continue seeking him to find out exactly when and how those things were to happen. I look at those three instances and feel a little like Abraham being told he was going to have a son, and then he looked around for how to make that happen on his own.

I just thank God that he works the way he does...that he'll make it so clear when the time is right...that he'll tell us things that need to happen and reaffirm it by putting things into motion that will make it happen...and that he does this for me when there are so many more important needs out there in the world...