Talk Mode

"My name is Coach Eli, but you can call me Coach E!" My 7 year old bellows at the 7/8th graders I'm coaching this year.  They all laughed and have been calling him Coach E all week long.  He loves it; they love it when he is encouraging them and repeating whatever he hears the rest of us saying.

I love having him there, I'm wanting my own Remember the Titans type moment with him becoming a part of the team and coaching staff.  Half the time he runs off and just jumps on the bag, but I love having him with me.

Tonight as we were leaving, the pastor and his wife at the church whose parking lot we all use right by the park, came driving through.  I stopped and talked with them for a moment when we heard 'Coach E' behind me...

A big joke Mandy has is that she can't send me to the store for anything and expect me to return quickly.  The nature of our community is that I am going to see someone I know, and I am going to

stop and talk to them.  It's just what I do.  And, apparently, she isn't the only one who knows this.

"Dad!!  You're getting into talk mode!"  As he drags his bag and car seat behind him.  "We have to go get Dom and Mia.  You have to stop getting in talk mode!"  We looked each other, smiled, and said good-bye for now.

Thanks buddy.  Glad I've got my assistant coach with me to help me keep moving :)

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Call it a Comeback

"Lord, there are people who have curled up and died in a corner for no reason other than they lost hope.  When there is no hope, there is no life." - Thomas G. Pettepiece

You can see it on sidelines.  You can see it in hallways.  You can see it in the face of those who have been beat down.  Eyes are blank, staring into nowhere.  Shoulders sagging, as if buried under an intense weight.  I've watched coaches pace sidelines, clapping their hands, imploring their athletes to not roll over, to not quit, to not give up, to not abandon hope.  There are teachers who are looking for any kind of sign of life in their students that points towards hope.  We've all seen it, at one time or another...the signs of those without hope.

Hope, like love, is so powerful.  It can stand in the face of immense adversity and cause you to still believe; to hold on for dear life, believing that no matter the chants that come from the stands...

it.

is.

not.

all.

over.

There is a reason we all love a comeback.  We love to see a team that didn't quit.  We love to see athletes who chose to believe in hope, who in the face of a loss chose to rally together and over come the future that seemed inevitable to write a new story.  Their belief, their hope allowed them to be over-comers.  In sports, these teams often hold onto each other.  They trust each other, they cling to one another, teammates and coaches, all staring each other in the eye and saying.  We. Can. Do. This!!  And when they do...they do.

As I read Paul's letter to the Ephesians when he writes:

...that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with the fullness of God.  Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.  Amen.

I find myself filled with hope.  We don't have the capacity to fully understand what we are capable, let alone what the Creator of all things is capable of.  That who I am becoming has not been fully revealed.  That how God is working in the life of my kids hasn't been fully comprehended.  That the place the athletes and coaches I get to do life with have not reached their final destination because God is just that big! 

Not only am I filled with hope, I am challenged to be an agent of that hope.  To do whatever it takes
for hope to become a cultural norm, not a moment that bursts forth only to be swallowed up by 'reality'.  It is time to paint a new reality, one in which hope is the norm, where setback is nothing more than an opportunity to see just what God can do.  We must allow our imaginations to run wild, to dream of a preferred future and believe in the One who can get us there.

Lord, we do not hope in ourselves, our technology, our governments, our laws, our tenacity, our courage, or our will, though these things are all necessary to conquer...We hope in you.  Amen - T.G.P.

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Familiar place

Its that old familiar place.  I've run hard,  done as much as my body, mind and heart can handle without causing me to flat out fall apart.  So I'm back in this place of just resting within the presence of the Creator and perfector. 

And I'm at peace.  No guilt at not doing it more often, no shame in my exhaustion, but thankful for the opportunities to have been used for Divine glory.  Of course, my imperfections and sin rear their heads and cry out how unworthy I am to enter into the presence of the King, but just as quickly Christ comforts and covers me in his grace and blood setting me free. 

Thankful for the ways Jesus will continue to dwell within, perfecting me and carrying me thru being used and keeping me focused while I run.  I keep saying that November is coming and rest will happen then.  Truth be told, rest will happen as I abide in Him.  So, while I run...I will abide.

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True Song

I sat there in the front pew on Friday morning; i was the only one in the church so I went ahead and wailed away on the guitar and sang.  After playing a few songs I go back to one of the first songs I learned.  April Showers by Caedmon's Call.  Why'd I learn that one?  Well, it had a tab and chords which involved picking and strumming and if I could play that song, well then people would be impressed because I could do both in one song.  As I played that song, those same thoughts re-entered my mind as I wondered if anyone would come in the church, hear me play and be impressed...

...yes, i crave praise like that...

...and that's when I heard it.  Not an audible voice, but this whisper that said.  You can't play the guitar.  Oh,
you can fake it, and you've figured out some of the tricks to play the right chords and such with some fancy palm muting and whatnot...but you really can't play the guitar.  You don't know any kind of music theory or anything and if, IF a jam session were to erupt and you were called on to play from within...you'd be without.

And as quickly as my guitar skills were humbled, so was my faith...and you better not let your faith become that either.  If you think an ability to play the 'right chords' to make the 'right sound' is music to My ears...then you don't know my song very well.

 - Do I have your heart?

I sat quiet.  humbled.  ashamed....

 - Well, do I?  Do I have your heart?

Oh, how I want You to!  Lord, I want you to take my heart!

 - That's not how this goes.  I'm not taking it.  You know that.  Do I have your heart?

Lord Jesus, yes, please!  Take it, take it, take it...

 - Would you let it go?  Do you trust me?  Do you trust me to teach you how to play my song?

Oh, to play the song of the Most High.  That the life and breath of God would flow through me as melody and harmony in perfect sync drawing all hearts to Him.  Do we do what we have to do to look like we think we should...or does He have our heart?

Here's my heart.  Make it yours.

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