Finish Well

This week I watched two great basketball games. One was a 7th grade game in which my son fouled out. (It was great) And the other was the 8th grade team playing for 2nd place in the region. Both games were very exciting and came down to the wire. Middle school sports, I Love it!
In both games the team I was pulling for played well and lead most of the game. Going into half time the momentum was in our favor. All looked well for the home team.

But then…

Momentum shifted the other team makes a comeback. And now with 30 seconds left we are behind…
now tied…now behind…now winning…now behind with 2 seconds…BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
We lost. Crap that really stinks. We played good, we made the free throws, and we did it all - but finish the game. And that is the most important part. Finish the game and finish strong.
I enjoy seeing how G-d can speak through different avenues even sporting events.
You see, It would REALLY stink (that’s an understatement) if I lived a successful life driven by momentum and potential and in the end- I lost.

Its all about how you finish.
Matt. 16:26a For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?

Haiti

I know many of you have a broken heart for Haiti.


Here at Stockbridge Assembly it hits home. Not only have I always had a heart for Haiti, my grandparents did several mission trips there, but we now partner with a Haitian Church that meet on campus. They have lost family members and still haven’t heard from some others.
It was so refreshing Sunday morning to pray together and give toward the relief effort.
We were able to send money to Convoy of Hope and reserve some for our Haitian partners.
Convoy of Hope has served over 300,000 meals. Over 1 million pounds of food are already on the way from Convoy of Hope Headquarters.

If you haven’t given yet please be generous and give.

Quotes from UnCommon

Character is tested, revealed, and further developed by the decisions we make in the most challenging times.

Others determine your reputation, but only you determine your integrity.

Rather than insisting that others respect us, we need to make sure that we are respecting others, holding others in the proper esteem.

The means matter as much as the ends, if not more.

Choose your riend for the sake of friendship.

Peer pressure works in both directions.

Use Athletics to complement your education.

G-d calls us to be faithful, not successful

This was a great book for men. It combined my two favorite topics - Football and Leadership

Learning to Learn

Learning to Learn


An old dog can learn new tricks, and so can we. No matter how old we are we can learn.

The question may not be about learning but rather learning to learn again. You may feel that you have learned enough. Or that you have done enough studying in school. However life seems to throw experiences our way that demand us to learn again. For example starting a new job no matter if it is within the same profession you are still in need of learning. What about relationships? If you are in a healthy relationship it will be growing and you will be learning. If you are in a bad relationship you need to be learning how to improve it.

I always look for opportunities to learn. And they usually come from outside the normal “school setting.” It may be from a situation, a friend, and even a foe. If I will pay attention I can learn and be better off at the end of the day. If I’m willing to listen to others I can learn from others. If I’m willing to evaluate experiences I can learn from any experience.

Learning to learn again!

What Lies Beneath

Today we are having new carpet installed in the house. The mess is tremendous.

As we removed the carpet from the rooms we begin to see the flooring/foundation. There were some obvious aging marks but for the most part all was well the foundation was strong.

However in one of the rooms, in a small corner the flooring was rotten. Water had leaked in and caused the damage. Now we have to replace the floor with new wood. The kicker is we had no idea this was going on.

This provoked a thought about what lies beneath.

What if in this new year we all did some personal improvements or at the least inspections. What would you find if you started digging around your spiritual/personal life? What if you could remove the layers for just a moment and examine the foundation of your heart.

What lies beneath? Beneath the show we put on for friends, beneath the act at the job, beneath the drama in our families?

How is your flooring? Sometimes we don’t even notice the small things that leak in and begin to destroy our foundation. Things like greed, gluttony, and pride they all start off small but if left unattended do some major damage.



What lies beneath?

Spending at Christmas

Instead of spending more money this Christmas spend more time.
The memories you make from spending time with friends and family will out last the gifts you recieve.
Spend more time Spend less money

Tis The Season for Voices

There are voices in my head! These voices are driving me crazy!

Have you ever heard statements like this?



I have a theory where some of these voices come from.

Some come from the commercialism of the season. They say Buy more, Spend More, Go here and get this and when all is said and done they say Spend, Spend, and spend.

Some come from past experiences. You may still hear the voice of disappointment and aggravations. These usually come from the people closest to you.

Some come from the greed in our hearts. This voice says “Bah Humbug.” This voice wants more but refuses to give more.

But then there is a voice that says be compassionate and spend less give more. A voice that sometimes gets drowned out due to the season. This voice says to be still and know something greater. This voice says there is a reason for the season.



The question is what voice are you listening to?