When Will We Learn?

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day and an awesome week coming to a close for you!

For me this is day 5 of vacation. How come I am more exhausted on day 5 of vacation than I would be if this is were day 5 of the work week?!?! Golf, baseball games, ping-pong, swimming, talks...there is a lot to do! It is incredible...7, 12 & 16-year olds are better than the Energizer Bunny!!! Their batteries never run out!!! What a blessing...

I have a couple of thoughts for you this morning and one excerpt from a book that I want to share with you. First though, the thoughts.

Before diving specifically into the thoughts I want to ask this rhetorical question; "When will we learn?" I don't mean "learn" as "understand" or "comprehend." I mean learn as "change", "live out" what we understand and comprehend. Their is a significant difference between the two Friends and I am pretty sure that here in lies the key to us growing to become all that we are called and created to become, to fulfilling our purposes. I sincerely hope and pray that we - inclusive term! - will become people of change, that we will walk out what we learn, not just hear and understand.

Thought #1
On Wednesday night my family and I were watching the ESPY Awards on ESPN. Eric LeGrand was receiving the Jimmy V Perseverance Award. Eric was a football player at Rutgers who became paralyzed after being injured while making a tackle during a football game in 2010. During his acceptance speech - Eric is obviously a very gift speaker, a very intelligent young man - Eric repeatedly stated, "Do your best." Over and over again he talked about how important it is to "do your best", how things can be taken away in an instant. Here sat a man of incredible strength and courage, in a room full of the most gifted athletes in the world, having faced struggles, adversity & challenge greater than many of us can ever know and comprehend, and he is sharing the wisdom he has gleaned from this season of his life - "do your best." But will we catch it, will we learn? Will we truly strive to do our best or will we continually chase society's definitions & standards of success?

Coach John Wooden, arguably the greatest coach of all time, defined success as, "peace of mind which is the direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best that you are capable of becoming." Isn't he really saying, "do your best?" AND, in great wisdom, Coach is telling us that the reward for doing your best, for becoming the best that you are capable of becoming, is peace of mind. He doesn't equate peace of mind with society's definitions or standards of success. He clearly states that the peace of mind you will experience when you do your best is "the direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best that you are capable of becoming."  The peace of mind is not dependent upon someone else's opinion, an established standard or tied to a ranking. It is tied to you and I being able to look at ourselves and honestly, pure-heartedly being able to say, "I did my best." Will we listen? Will we change? Will we truly strive for this, the highest standard - our best? For those fixated on societies definitions and standards of success, who think this is soft, who want to talk about scoreboards, annual reports and accountability; you might want to consider that Coach Wooden's teams won 10 National Championships while focusing on becoming the best they were capable of becoming, not by focusing on winning National Championships. Think about it...

So the question for you and I to resolve in our hearts today is where will we fall? Will we strive for the highest standard of striving to become the best that we are capable of becoming - in all aspects of our lives - or will we strive to fulfill societies standards & definitions of success? What we resolve - truly resolve - in our hearts will be lived out in our actions. Will we learn? So many great men and women have told us the same thing over and over again. Will we hear it today? Will we accept it today?

Thought #2
Just this morning I was speaking with a sweet friend on the phone. We were talking about the recent move the Haslam family had made, how everyone was adjusting, etc. When talking about my 7 & 12-year old Tender Warriors she stated, "kids make friends with everyone." The weight and reality of the statement hit us both. How come? How come little kids see the value in everyone? Little kids accept everyone? Little kids love everyone...unconditionally? And us, the "responsible, mature adults", with all of our knowledge and wisdom, stereotype, judge, devalue, etc. others. How? Why? 

When will we learn? When will we express our understanding by walking out in our actions that every life has value, meaning and purpose? When will we stop judging others by the standards that we have established for them and accept them, unconditionally? How much are we missing, how much more richly would our lives be blessed, if we would look for the value, the beauty - I am not talking physical here! - and the potential within each person instead of trying, fruitlessly, to raise ourselves above them? 

I also wanted to share a quick excerpt from the book, "The Resolution for Men" by Stephen & Alex Kendrick with Randy Alcorn.

"Throughout history, men who lived incredible lives and left great legacies did it intentionally. They knew that men do not stumble upon integrity or accidentally find themselves being faithful to God. Passivity merely leads to futility. A man cannot be passive about what Scripture tells him to do for his family and expect to be found faithful to God in the end. He must see with spiritual eyes and realize that future generations are directly impacted by his daily decisions."

 Wow! Are we listening men? Will we learn? Please allow this to speak to your spirit. Do we understand, comprehend and most importantly, will we walk out in our actions? Please let the ending pierce your spirit...future generations are directly impacted by your daily decisions.

Please let me know if there is ever anything I can do for you or your families. I am always willing to help you any way I can.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend and cherish your precious families...I am going to take a nap now!

Kev