Giving selflessly...

I started attending Kevin’s youth group towards the end of my freshman year in high school.  I started going because a couple of my friends were there, and of course there were pretty girls.  But the ministry was so incredible that I soon found myself enthralled with the entire group, and especially the leaders.  The young men and women who hung out with all of us high school kids were so committed, it was crazy.  But of course, I did not know that back then...  I just thought that was normal.  Fortunately for me, I was in a great ministry system that did not really exist in too many places.  This youth group, and its staff especially, were unique.

As I began to spend more time at the youth group during both the midweek program, and eventually the weekend service, the leaders always seemed to be there.  They ranged from college kids all the way to adults with kids themselves.  But this leadership team was committed to all of us high school students even though they themselves were super busy with life.  They gave up night after night, weekend after weekend, and even time beyond that... it is no wonder the youth group flourished and grew, both in size and in faith.  They were very unselfish with their time, and were always ready to give more to others. There selflessness reminded me of what Paul wrote to the the church in Philippi:

“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” ~Phil 2:3-4

Because of the time invested in me by these men and women, it spurred my love for youth ministry and wanting to give back.  My question is: who are the people who have given selflessly to you in your journey?  My encouragement is that you reach out to them and let them know that you appreciate the time that they have put into you.  If it weren’t for them, you would not be the person you are today.

Praying for you,

MO

Attitude matters...

I was never the biggest or fastest athlete. In fact, I was always one of the guys on the other side of the spectrum. Which means, I had to work twice as hard just to be as good as the rest of some of the competitors. I remember my swim coach telling me one time, “By the time you enter the water and surface for your first stroke, you are already losing the race.” Ouch! But hey, a good coach will help an athlete live in a world of realism rather than to be stuck in the fantasy world of idealism. It was a great lesson for me to have learned, and early. I decided that I would work harder.

I have been coaching young people for several years now. And I have some of the same conversations with my student athletes. Some of them are not the most talented, or the biggest or fastest even. But what each of them has is the opportunity to give her very best. One of my favorite quotes from John Wooden is, “It is not the will to win that matters, but the will to prepare to win that matters most.” Holy cow!

There is a lot of stuff in life to complain about, and most people do. But what I have made a point to do in my coaching is to help my student-athletes enter each training day with the best attitude possible. With so much else going on in life for each of them, it is a small miracle just to get them to focus on the practice sets of the day. I’m not saying that they always have to act fake and pretend that they are loving life, but consciously making an effort to enter each day with the proper attitude can make or break them for both for today, and eventually over the course of a season, or even multiple seasons.

Right now my church is going over a multiple week series on the following verses:

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” ~Philippians 4:8-9

There is so much to unpack in just these couple of verses that if anybody chose just one of the words above that Apostle Paul is talking about, it would seriously be a game changer in that person’s life. So I guess my question is, do you think about any of the above qualities? And if so, what would this mean for your life, and the way you choose to live? My prayer is that you think about qualities and traits that would make you better, and strive for one or two of them.

Praying for you,

MO