Take Ownership! (Good Job Chloe!!)

Chloe came home from swim practice the other night and made my day! They have different practice groups...4 different levels. After practice she told me that she asked her coaches if she could move up to the next level. She said that she was meeting the times in the level she was in, but wanted to be pushed more...so she asked to move up. So, I asked her if mom had told her to do that...she said no...she just did it!

NICE! She is taking ownership of her development!! That is a parent (and coach's!) dream!! I am sooooo proud of her!

THEN today at her swim meet she says..."I was really comfortable in my other group, but you can't get better if your comfortable." ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!?!?!?!?!? This girl gets it...really she does.

I quickly had my mind run to the messages that Sam has been preaching on the past couple of weeks...the essence of the messages is to take ownership of your spiritual life. That YOU are in charge AND responsible for your growth...then my mind ran to how my spiritual life is going...Chloe's challenge ran deep for me...Take ownership AND go do something about it!!!!

Dear Swim Dad...STOP IT!

Chloe had a swim meet today...and I was about to go CRAZY up in the seats! For the 2nd meet in a row there is a dad there...with his own stop watch...yelling at his child and shaking his head after EVERY race!! REALLY?!?!?!? How does this HELP your child be successful? How does this make him better at all?!?!

NOW...those of you that know me, know that I'm a "little" competitive...I love to compete and LONG to have my kids and EVERY ONES kid do their best...when I'm coaching I'll talk...pry...beg...plead...SHOUT...to pull out the best in that child...NOT screaming or raving...but I can get a little fired up!!

BUT THIS PARENT...COME ON!!!!!!!! Do you want your child to HATE the sports? Worse yet...do you want them not to like you?? Your not the coach and if you think the coach isn't pushing your child hard enough...then contact them...and make time to talk to the coach. But you...sitting up in the stands as a wanna-be coach when what your child really needs is a cheerleader...COME ON!!!!

Here is the deal...there are way to many parents out there that are trying to live their sports dream through their children...let them go...let them thrive...let them develop and ENCOURAGE THEM.

PLEASE don't take this that we shouldn't push our kids...We do...we have high expectations of our kids...we expect them to perform at their best...did you catch the key word...THEIR personal best.

Hey...will someone remind me of this blog someday...when I'm sitting in the stands and no longer coaching my boys??? Thanks! (I don't coach Chloe, because she picked a sport that I have NO CLUE about!! :)

The Journey from here

My brother in-law Ed had major surgery today...Kelsey was down with her parents, family, and church people at the hospital. Everything went as well as it could...results won't come for quite a while.

MANY have been praying for Ed...for the whole family...lifting them up. Pleading with God for healing and for wisdom for the doctors. Begging God to help him come through...as of this minute things look very good for that! Praising God!

Now the journey really starts for him and his family though. It is from here on that they will need MASSIVE support...as a people we are VERY GOOD at being there in the urgent moments...it is in the "long haul" that we struggle. And understandably so...life is busy and if you are not in direct contact with the person who is battling...you won't have the same urgency.

This is not intended to discourage us...BUT instead to encourage us to think right now of a couple of people that you need to connect with...people who you know are wrestling through some junk...and give them a call...an email...ask them to grab some coffee or go watch a game together. Don't assume that someone is contacting them...because they might not be! YOU might need to be that person!

As for Ed...his journey is up ahead...he has a FANTASTIC support system around him...people that will walk with he and his family every step of the way. There was proof today at the hospital...and my prayers have been and will continue for his stretch to full recovery.

Random Stuff

Chloe was reading my blog tonight and said: "DAD you need to do another Random Stuff" So...being the compliant dad...here goes...random stuff as it runs through my head tonight:

-Praying hard for my brother in-law Ed...he has surgery tomorrow.
-Praying for people to have a passion for God...not just their comfortable lives
-Ever get some life altering news...the kind that you know will change the rhythm of your life forever? How did you respond to that?
-I'm glad that I know God...I'd be scary without him!
-OK...here is random stuff...I had a dream last night that I was back in High School...there was A BUNCH of former classmates...we were playing games and I was really being annoying!! It was weird! Glad I woke up!!
-Coaching basketball...5/6 girls...good group
-I JUST LOVE pulling the best out of people!
-I REALLY HATE THE WORD CAN'T...JUST DRIVES ME CRAZY!
-What if...every person on the Southside of South Bend made a decision to not just say they believe in Jesus, but to live like him...MAN...the compassion...the people who would be shown love that right now think no one loves them...the kids that would have homes-clothes-time with someone who cares...
-Listened to Romans 8:28...great verse...life verse for me.
-Along those lines...one of the hardest days of my life was Pearl Harbor Day, 1989...blew out my knee...created a lot of pain over the years...Truth is...I probably NEVER would have met Kelsey and had the family I have right now, if it hadn't been for #35 undercutting my knee...so today...I'm thankful to him
-That one moment in time is still getting me...I just had an MRI...torn ACL (I knew that already), torn meniscus and "worn down" cartilage. Seeing the surgeon on Wednesday to see what is next.
-Back to Ed...my bro in-law...I don't always understand why tough things happen to good people...I know...we live in a world that sins...that has evil in it, but still...this stuff just stinks...glad God doesn't just leave us in these times...I hold on to the verses that say...although we are outwardly wasting away (our bodies our gettin' old) still INSIDE I can be renewed day by day...priceless words right there. (2Corinthians 4: 16)

Did you feast today?

Several years ago I went through a study that had pretty strict accountability...probably the best accountability I have experienced...at the end of every study the question was asked..."Did you feast on God today?" I HATED that question...cause it wasn't...did you do your token couple of verses or say a little prayer...the question was...

DID YOU FEAST on God today?

Sam preached on Sunday and the essence of his message was this same thing...he asked us what the things were that we didn't want to bring into 2012 with us...he encouraged us to grab some paper and confess...repent of...the things that we wanted to leave behind. Then we TRASHED our lists and took communion together...POWERFUL and meaningful stuff right there!!

BUT...his biggest point was that NOTHING...ABSOLUTELY NOTHING would change unless we surrendered to God. That unless we fell more and more in love with HIM...we would come to the end of 2012 and nothing will have changed.

THAT brings me back to the question...so...DID YOU FEAST ON GOD TODAY?

Deep question...and I encourage you to ask yourself that question...and to ask it when you wonder why God isn't answering you...could it be that you aren't really spending time with him? That you just keep asking for things and not looking to him as your source of strength?

HEY...the best part is...HE WANTS US! NO REALLY...he really, really wants you to talk to him and spend time with him...he wants to hear what you are struggling with...he wants you to thank him...

SO...how about in 2012 we make the choice to FEAST on the God we claim to love...I wonder and get excited about how our attitudes and life will be different at the end of the year...gets me excited to think about...