Gentle Reminders

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day on this beautiful Friday and that you have had a great week!

This week I would like to share two, what I would call, gentle reminders.

Earlier this week I was reading my Bible and two different times the word "patience" was listed. The word stood out to me like it was highlighted...more specifically, like it was meant for me. I kept reading and my eyes kept getting drawn back to these words - patience. I decided to look up the meaning of the word instead of just assuming I knew what it meant. If you Google the word "patience" here is what you will find:

pa·tience

 

noun

noun: patience

1. 1.

   the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.

 

Let's see...the capacity to accept (hard sometimes) or tolerate (sounds more like me!) delay (augh!), trouble (feel uncomfortable), or suffering (really don't want to!) without getting angry (clear throat) or upset (throw up arms in despair!). How can an 8 letter little word pack so much power?!?!

Try the beginning of this scripture out that has been bouncing around in my head all week; "Love is patient..." So, love is the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. Now that is powerful! Man I want to be patient with my Beautiful Bride, my Tender Warriors, with every person whose life I cross paths with every day. It is a task requiring strength far greater than I can ever muster in my own strength, courage, knowledge and/or wisdom. I will need to meet Him again tomorrow morning if there is the smallest of chance.

I have been rereading some of my leadership books each morning. Earlier this week I cracked open Wooden on Leadership by John Wooden and Steve Jamison. There were a few things that I read this week that were like water to my mouth when it is parched & dry. It was so refreshing! I was like, "how did I forget this?!" In the hustle of life, in the constant striving and fighting for whatever we are fighting for, it is sometimes easy to lose sight of some simple and yet incredibly profound thoughts. Let me share a few quick excerpts here with you:

• ...most of us have a potential far beyond what we think possible.
• Through it all he [Coach Wooden's Dad] made the best of what he had and was thankful for it.
• "Sons," he [Dad] would tell my three brothers and me, "don't worry about whether you're better than somebody else, but never cease trying to be the best you can become. You have control over that; the other you don't."
• Many cynics, then and now, dismiss what Dad taught me about success as being naïve or impractical. But I have yet to hear the cynics or skeptics describe what more you can give beyond your best. To my way of thinking, when you give your total effort - everything you have - the score can never make you a loser. And when you do less, it can't somehow magically turn you into a winner.
• Regardless of the situation you face as a leader, you must believe and teach those under your leadership that success is theirs when together you summon the will to put forth everything you have.

This morning I was all fired up about some of the things I read in Coach Wooden's book so I decided to use quotes from him for my Facebook and Twitter posts today. I want to share one with you that I would like to offer as our challenge this week:

"I am just a common man who is true to his beliefs." - John Wooden

 

Most would not refer to Coach Wooden as "common." The term used to describe him would be "exceptional" or whatever is greater than "exceptional." And yet, Coach saw himself as a common man - and here is the nugget - who was simply true to his beliefs. The challenge to me, to you, is this - can we say the same thing? Can we truly stand tall and publicly state "I am true to my beliefs." I honestly can't think of a much greater epitaph.

 

Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always be willing to help you any way I can.

 

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families.

 

Kev

Honor Today

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having had a great day and a wonderful weekend! Additionally, I hope you have got your battery recharged and that you are ready for a great, difference making week.

Earlier this week I was speaking with a great friend...you know, the kind that calls you at just the right time without even knowing it is the right time. We had a great conversation and he said something that struck me as incredibly profound: "honor today." I have thought, I continue to think, about that comment.

• You want a closer relationship with God? Honor today.
• You want to become all that you were created to become? Honor today.
• You want to be one with your spouse? Honor today.
• You want to serve your family, to have a close relationship with them? Honor today.
• You want to fulfill your goals & dreams? Honor today.
• You want to live with joy & peace in your spirit? Honor today.
• You want to live free of regret, fear, worry? Honor today.
• You want to break free from an addiction, a bad relationship, a bad circumstance? Honor today.

Honor today...incredibly simple, incredibly profound. If, IF we truly lived by the simple motto of "Honor today" how different would our tomorrows be? How different would our lives - our marriages, our relationships with our children, our careers be if we simply honored today? It makes sense to me. If I focus on today - pursue God, lead & serve my wife & sons, if I do the very best I can in everything I do today all my tomorrows will take care of themselves. Today I am making this commitment. When the alarm goes off in the morning I will have to make it again. This process will have to repeat itself each and every day if I am truly to "Honor today."

Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your families. I will always be willing to help you any way I can.

Have a great evening, an awesome week, please cherish your precious families and please, honor today.

Kev

A Boys Sermon

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you having a great day on this beautiful Friday morning! 

One of my sons has been preaching a sermon through the life he is living. The lessons keep coming at me. I am proud, shocked, amazed, awed...all at once! For some context, prior to sharing his sermon, I want to share three paragraphs from the "Happy Friday" I wrote on November 11, 2011 titled "A Father's Love."

One of my sons has struggled lately with honesty - complete truth without deception. As my Beautiful Bride and I have found times of his dishonesty we have addressed it...first by talking, demonstrating grace, then taking away privileges...and yet, sadly, there was another instance of dishonesty. I was shocked, disappointed, angry, confused - how could this be? We had talked about honesty, how honesty is the foundation of every relationship, how his continued acts of dishonesty were harming our relationship, how it would be difficult to ever trust him if I didn't know he was ALWAYS (that is measurable by the way!) telling me the truth, etc.

Not knowing exactly what to do - and definitely not trusting MY initial thoughts & feelings...the song "Lead Me" by Sanctus Real comes to mind! - I prayed. I asked God to give me His knowledge and His wisdom to lead my son through me, to see the greatness that God sees in him and to do what God would have me do to empower my son to become all that God has created him to become. The answer came almost immediately...though all of the lessons of the action would be revealed slowly. My boys love sports - go figure! - and for a couple of months this son had been looking forward to the start of basketball season...the first time he would be able to try-out and play on a school team. This is a privilege that would now be taken away...there were much more important things to work on than basketball.

As I sat down with my son and began talking to him, he acknowledged his dishonesty, he stated that he knew he shouldn't have done it - though he knew in his heart it was wrong...this is a great sign! - and yet he did. We again talked about all the consequences of dishonesty and then I told him what the consequence of his actions would be. His eyes immediately filled with tears and a look of complete brokenness crossed his face...at that exact moment my heart broke for my son. Almost immediately I wanted to take it back. I silently asked the Lord if He was sure. Couldn't we do something else? Does it have to be this way? And then I recognized the peace in my Spirit that only comes from the affirmation of God. No, we couldn't do something else. Yes, it has to be this way. I am teaching my son a lesson and I am the one learning...I clear heard and felt God say, "Trust me."

I will NEVER forget that night, that conversation.

We grew together during that season of life, and that basketball season. Last year, as a 7th grader, he went out for the basketball team...and got cut, he didn't make it. I will never forget that day either, the moment he realized he had not made the team. Again, God led us through that time, through those seasons.

About two months ago Gehrig and I were talking. I asked him if he was going to try out for the team. He said no, that - according to him - many of the boys play club basketball, that their club basketball coach is the 8th grade coach and that he would not make the team. We talked about pursuing our goals & dreams, that God is in control of all situations and that we should not close the door on possibilities, that we shouldn't put God in a box. G didn't say much. I thought back to that night in 2011...

Over the past couple of months I would come home from work and G would be out front shooting baskets. Nothing unusual about that, all of my boys love to play all the time. I come home another day and he is up at the park shooting baskets. Again, nothing unusual. Then, about 3 weeks ago, my Beautiful Bride tells me "G is trying out for the basketball team." What?!?! She is unaware of the conversation he and I had. I share it with her. That night I ask Gehrig is he is trying out for the team. He says yes with a quite confidence. It is clear he has had a lot of conversations that did not include me, that he has decided to go for it and his spirit is at peace. Wow!

Last week I took G to tryouts every morning at 5:35. My bride and I prayed. Last Sunday I was driving to church thinking about all of this and I thought, "if he makes the team this will be 'Happy Friday.'" My spirit immediately convicted me; the lesson had already been taught, the "Happy Friday" had already been written. Regardless of whether or not he made the team this would be "Happy Friday." A boy had faced his fears & doubts, a boy had prepared, a boy had decided to pursue his goals & dreams, a boy was trusting God...A Dad was watching and learning, hoping & praying that he would be as strong as the boy, that he would pursue his goals & dreams with the quite certainty of the boy. Yes, regardless this was "Happy Friday."

The final practice of tryouts was Monday morning. The boys would find out who had made the team after school. As I drove G to practice that morning I asked him if he wanted me to pick him up after school, to be there when he found out. He said "sure." I wanted to be there for my boy - good news or bad - and yet it had the feeling that he was the one that was going to be there for me. 

I got to the school a little before 3. It took him FOREVER to get to the car. I prayed, I texted my Bride and I waited. He got to the car about 3 minutes after 3:00 - 3 minutes was my forever. He made the team. It strikes me as profound; he remained quietly confident. I am whooping and hollering, giving him high fives, all excited and he is...calm. It is clear, good or bad, he had resolved the matter in his mind weeks ago. He was going to do his best, pursue his goals & dreams and trust God. He walked it out.

That's it, that's the sermon. Now it is up to you and I. Will we resolve the matter in our minds? Will we do our best, pursue our goals & dreams and trust God? It's possible, I have personally witnessed it. I have witnessed the quite peace and confidence that comes with it.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always be willing to help you any way I can.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families.

Kev