Trial by Fire

     When I think of the phrase "trial by fire" my mind envisions a piece of unforged steel being cast into the midst of a pulsating bin of fire and coals and then pulled out only to be beaten and formed into it's eventual destiny of a razor sharp sword. When I looked up the origin of the phrase I found three different ways that "trial by fire" is used in context. None of these have to do with the testing of precious metals such as silver, gold, or even steel for that matter, but instead all three deal with the mettle of men and women in the face of some type of adversity. The first is when someone is exposed to flames to test their courage, truthfulness, or commitment, you get the picture. The second use of this phrase is when soldiers are faced with fire from their enemies and the testing is of one's fortitude in the face of this threat. The third usage for this trial by fire is found in any ordeal that "tests" someone's strength, endurance, or resolve.
     So it is, the essence of withstanding a trial by fire is not directly related to my visual image of a mass of steel being submerged into the fire, but instead it is directly related to how we, throughout our lives are tested and formed by the trials by fire in all the various forms those tests present themselves. Nevertheless, let's stay with my visual image and relate it to the trials by fire in our own lives. If we were that piece of unformed metal preparing to face the trial of fire what would we be thinking and how would we present ourselves? Would we willingly accept the adversity or would we "melt" under the heat of the fire?
     When we face adversity or affliction many times it is to test just how committed we are to our purpose in life. When the metal is placed in the fire it has to withstand the heat and maintain it's form. Regardless of how hot the fire gets we must persevere! Situations can test our fortitude or our ability to withstand uncomfortable circumstances, but when we endure the test our character is strengthened and those around us that look to us for guidance are assured that they are in the company of someone they can depend on and trust. It is our responsibility to endure for the sake of those that we have been entrusted to care for and direct along the way. Just like our comparison of the bar of steel that is forged and formed into a razor sharp sword, we must endure the heat and allow the blacksmith to create in us that same sharpened tool.
     Life is full of trials and unfortunately most of them are more along the line of the "fire" type. As you enter this week and as you journey forward keep in mind that the trials by fire in life are necessary to create in us what we are truly supposed to become. Stay the course and endure the test, the resulting impact will allow you to grow and mature into who you are meant to become! 

Running Uphill

  "Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified."  I Corinthians 9:24-27
     I started running a little over a year ago and know it has become a regular part of my weekly workout regimen. Of course my first motivation for running was health related, I started by walking only and have built up to where I can actually run a decent amount of distance. That was my other contributing factor, our school started a 5K run/walk last year and I wanted to be able to participate in it without falling over exhausted before I even completed the first quarter of a mile.
     The Storm Chaser 5K, as it is named us being the Tornados, is a little different from many normal runs due to the number of uphill challenges coupled with the obvious downhill accompaniments and nestled in the middle are two nice stretches of flat, straight pavement. In training for this run slatted for early April I am preparing both physically and mentally by running a similar practice route near my home that includes the same type of uphill challenges along the way. Each time I encounter an uphill section of the trail I have to dig deep to not give up and stop along the way and a tool that I have used frequently has been a big help. I find marks along the way such as a tree, a road sign, a rock, whatever happens to be available and as I reach each landmark I am encouraged that I made it that far and now I just need to make it to the next, and the next, and the next until I have ultimately reached the peak of that uphill ascent. Then after reaching the top of that hill there is invariably a down hill jog to recoup my breath. You have to train yourself to relax and take in some long, deep breaths as you go down the hill as to prepare for the upcoming hill in sight. When I make it to a stretch of flat ground then I am on cruise control and that is where you actually can make up some ground because of the easy grade of the flat terrain, knowing all along that this stretch is allowing you to get ready for the next uphill climb that is guaranteed to be right ahead.
     According to our scripture from above, Paul said you have to have a purpose in life's 5K. If we just go out to run without a purpose then it will soon feel as though we are running in vain with no goal visible. The uphill challenges will appear overwhelming, and we will run out of energy and endurance before we reach our destination. Even if we do make the pinnacle of an uphill challenge then we easily misinterpret the ensuing downhill accompaniment as a negative instead of an opportunity to prepare for our next challenge. Then when things are on cruise control in life we fail to take advantage of the place we are at and we don't give thanks for all that we have made it through and all that we have overcome that has created more endurance and perseverance in our minds, bodies, and soul. Life my friend is an uphill climb. If you aren't climbing a hill then you are sitting in a valley. Just a hint, the view gets better as you reach the top of the mountain!
     So having a purpose is of the utmost importance whether it is in athletics or if we are talking about life. Don't let yourself down by giving up on your run in life. Referring back to I Corinthians 9:24 paraphrasing Paul he says everyone is running the race, but only one will win the prize. Then he said, run or practice in such a way that you will be in contention to win. Have a purpose. Paul goes on to say that he isn't just going outside and running around in circles he has a goal, a purpose in his preparation. In your life you have got to do the same thing. If you are just going through the motions of getting up, getting ready for work, and then going to work, going through the day, finishing the day and then returning to home all without a sense of purpose or a goal accomplished you are probably feeling defeated and exhausted before you hit mile marker one in your daily 5K.
     In Angela Duckworth's book entitled "Grit The Power of Passion and Perseverance" she quotes Kat Cole, former president of the Cinnabon bakery chain as saying, "When I am around people, my heart and soul radiate with the awareness that I am in the presence of greatness. Maybe greatness unfound, or greatness underdeveloped, but the potential or existence of greatness nevertheless. You never know who will go on to do good or even great things or become the next great influencer in the world-- so treat everyone like they are that person."  If you feel like you don't have a purpose in life this would be a great place to start each day. Set your sites on helping one person realize their importance today and you my friend will be on the way to realizing your own purpose in life. I'm encouraged by the lyrics sung by the band Third Day in the song "The Mountain of God",
Even though the journey's long
And I know the road is hard
Well, the One who's gone before me
He will help me carry on
After all that I've been through
Now I realize the truth
That I must go through the valley
To stand upon the mountain of God
Run your 5k in life with a purpose and always remember you are never alone on the journey, run hard and run uphill! Coach Carter

You Can Lead a Horse to Water and You Better Make Sure it Drinks

     There's an old saying that goes something like "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." Well, if the cowboys in the old westerns I grew up on would have lived by that motto, I would feel safe to bet a great many of them would have never made it across the expansive, dry prairie of the late 1800's. I can picture John Wayne preparing to head out on a round up across the unsettled U.S. and as he is getting ready to saddle up he leads his steed up to the watering trough and then watches as his horse stands there and refuses to drink. Well the Duke being the wise man he was would have known that the next watering hole could have been a great many miles away, possibly even a day or more out, so not getting a good, long drink would have not been an option as much as it would have been a necessity for survival across the vast, dry wilderness. I believe John Wayne or any real American cowboy would not have dared starting out across that desert like expanse without hydrating himself properly and making sure his mode of transportation was as hydrated as possible  as well. It just wouldn't make for much of a movie if the cowboy pulled up at the water trough, dismounted, and then as the his horse stands there defiantly denying the opportunity to store up some essential water, the cowboy says "please drink some water" and then "well if you're not going to drink I guess we'll just go ahead and move on anyway." Not sure if that movie would have sold many tickets at the box office. No, men and women of the "old west" were tough and determined, filled with grit and resiliency, not much in them in the way of giving up especially when they knew that the resulting outcome in such a case as this watering hole example would most certainly result in possible death of the horse and inadvertently create a life or death situation for the cowboy himself.
     My interpretation of this old saying is that you can provide someone with the right example, the right answer, the correct way of doing things, or even the means to a better end, but you can not make them accept it or receive it. Well as the title of today's FTM thought suggests, my take on this old adage is that if we know the importance of what we are attempting to accomplish in someone's life then we better have more persistence about us than just saying well I led my horse to the watering hole, but he didn't drink so I did my job and then move on into the desert of life unequipped or unprepared for what lies ahead.
     Being in education this example is evident in the story of many a child over my 25 years of experience. Educators are faced with "hard" cases where a child just isn't responding to the instruction provided and appears to not want a drink of water from the education well. Whether it is being obstinate, unmotivated, uninterested, or just plain old lazy there are students that appear to be content to not hydrate their minds before entering their journey of a lifetime of wildernesses and prairies they will most certainly encounter. Have we done our job if we provide the material to this child, possibly multiple times, and maybe even in several different formats and this  student refuses to accept it and embrace this education we are offering? What is our responsibility in this situation? We led them to the water, but we can't make them drink? Or knowing what lies ahead do we strive on, look "outside the box", accept the responsibility that we know this child is thirsty and that it may just take a straw, a bucket, or maybe even a swimming pool of water to get this young mind to accept what we are offering. The point is, it is too important to ever just say, I made it available and they refused to take it.
     This same principle is not restricted to the realm of education. In so many situations in life we want to do our "due cause" in helping someone get a hand up and then when it doesn't take or the person fails to succeed we feel justified in saying "Well I did my part they just didn't want to help themselves." Whether it be an education, a job skill, fighting an addiction, changing a habit, creating a change, or maybe even instilling hope we have to decide do we want to see this person be equipped for the desert that lies in front of them, the one that we all have to cross, or are we satisfied that we did our part and now it is up to them to take that nuturing drink?
     Well if we know what lies in front of these challenges and we settle on "we did our part" I think we need to ask ourselves did we do all we could do or did we do all we should have done? What if we had held on one more day, what if we would have tried one more time? When is enough enough? I guess each of us have to ask that question in the situations we are in and the circumstances we each encounter as we journey the trail of life's wilderness. But I would contend that we can't give up, especially since most of us have traveled some of the same trails that others are about to travel and we know what lies in front of them without the proper amount of "hydration" applied to the situation. It is too important, too critical, to give up, we must persist and apply the amount of grit necessary to see the situation through to the other side of the great expanse. Sounds like a calling, but how do we continue to support someone that apparently doesn't want the drink of water we are offering?
     First we never give up, we look at things through a kaleidoscope of options and adopt a mindset that I have more will power and perseverance and I won't give up on you. We look outside of the normal methods or practices and realize that an alternate route will get them to the same destination it may just take a little more time or effort. Understand that a drink of water is what we are attempting to accomplish and some will drink it through a straw while others need complete immersion to supply what is needed. And most importantly we have to have faith. If you are attempting to help someone or a group of someones and you don't have faith it will be that much harder to stay the course and see it through. Faith is unwavering in the face of adversity, it is accepting during a drought, and it is relentless when it looks like the desert is unending. Faith tells me that if we pray, if we ask for an answer, if we believe even when it seems impossible to believe that resolution is possible, then we will see success. Matthew 21:22 "And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” (ESV) It is too important to let that horse cozy up to the water trough and stand there without getting a drink and excusing ourselves by saying "you can't make it drink". We must be relentless in our faith and hope that if we stay true to the course and we continue to seek a way to assure that horse gets hydrated, the deserts of life will be that much more conquerable and a cool drink of water will eventually be achieved.
Coaching you up and praying for a week of purpose and fulfillment of that purpose! Make the most of it, it's all you've got so don't waste a minute of it!
Coach Carter

The Shin Bones Connected to the Knee Bone

     In today's world it seems some of us are having a hard time understanding it takes each of us to make all of us complete. The old spiritual song "Dry Bones" aptly describes how it takes all the bones in the body connecting together to create a whole, complete body. Take away one of those components of the song and the body does not reach completion. It would go something like this, "Well the toe bone connected to the foot bone, foot bone connected to the heel bone, heel bone connected to the ankle bone, ankle bone connected to the knee bone?? Well now wouldn't that make a funny looking person? We all know and understand that it takes a shin bone to come in between the ankle and the knee, yet in some circles the world would be a better place without shin bones.
      Hey, this isn't just me doing my elementary anatomy lesson, consider the words of the apostle Paul as he wrote in 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 "Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Let me paraphrase, it's going to take a whole village to get this thing done! 
     When I meet a person I don't see race, I don't see religion, I don't see a different political party, I see a flesh and blood person. I see a person with a purpose to fulfill in life. I see a person that may be the very person that makes the shin bone connect to the hip bone in my own life. What would the world be like if we had no shin bones, well for sure we would all be about a foot shorter than we are and we wouldn't be reaching that top shelf at the grocery store! It takes all of the bones in our body to make it function properly and to do the job it was created to do efficiently. 
      Throughout the Bible we are instructed to love thy neighbor as thyself, and in 1 John 4:20-21 the author presents a thought provoking concept as he wrote, "Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.  And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister." As the song "Dry Bones" concludes the final line says it all, "Now hear the word of the Lord". Have faith and stay the course, you may be the only God someone sees today what will they see? 
Coach Carter