Controlling the Controllables

     
     This past week Jordan Stapleton, a recent Hamblen County graduate, spoke with groups of middle school students about making the most out of their high school experience and developing that strong "work ethic" that we all know is necessary to be successful in life. I personally did not get to hear Jordan speak, but one particular thought that Jordan shared has resonated with me ever since the moment it was brought to my attention. This young, 20 year-old adult, who now has a supervisory position at one of our local businesses didn't come up in an environment which afforded him the support and guidance we commonly expect all children will receive as they grow and mature. From his account life was tough and he was slowly becoming a product of his environment. That's when he made a revelation that turned his life completely around. That revelation created a mantra in Jordan's life that not only helped him get his life on track to move forward, but also his declaration has provided me with today's Flat Tire Ministries Thought. In life, there are certain things that are out of our hands, we have no physical control over, and that is just the way it is, but in life there exists so many things that we can have an impact on, and that's where Jordan made the decision to "control the controllables" in his life.
     I'm not sure if Jordan Stapleton has realized what an important realization he has made at such a young age, but I will say if he gets a firm grip on his concept of controlling the things in his life that are controllable, and then he comes to terms with the fact that everything that is out of his control is fully and completely in the hands of our Maker, Jordan Stapleton is going to be just fine. What are "controllables" you ask? Well to me those are all the things that impact your day in which your decision to go right or go left make a difference in the outcome of your day. For example, I see many people that spend a great deal of their time with their face stuck in a mobile device. That my friend is a controllable. If you struggle with making deadlines, you feel like you aren't getting things checked off your things to get done list, or your life just seems to be stuck in a rut, then you have to make some changes that will get the ball rolling. I'm not saying social media doesn't have a place in society, but I am saying it has a place and it isn't all day long and it isn't meant to replace real productivity, which leads to making deadlines, getting things accomplished, and allowing you to set goals and reach them. What about rest and sleep? Food choices, junk food or healthy choices? Exercise or sedimentary? The choice is yours. All of these areas of your life fit into the "controllables" category.
       Jordan's speech to the students was centered around "work ethic" which is a topic I deal with in my position as Career and Technical Education Supervisor. Many people call them "soft" skills, I prefer to use a term I picked up this summer and call them "power" skills. These are a set of skills that tend to set people up to be successful in the work place and also in life. Being on time, being there period, working on a team, passing a drug screen, pushing yourself to be the best you can be, and opening yourself up to new opportunities and then gleaning all you can from those opportunities to enhance who you are and what you are capable of accomplishing in life. Those are all controllables, we may have to work hard to make some of those choices and decisions, yet at the end of the day, we do make those choices. Good or bad. If you want to get better at your job, read books and watch podcasts that are related to your job field. Say there aren't many jobs about being a great dishwasher out there? Well that may be so, but you can read about how to become an entrepreneur from the ground up or watch a video series about how to raise yourself up the ladder in your work station in life. Unfortunately, many people instead make the choice to sit in front of a television watching reruns of some show with about as much worth in it as a bag of air. The key here is how we spend our "free" time is ours to control, how we improve ourselves is ours to control, and what we do to change our lives for the better or for the worse is ours to choose as well.
     But what about those things that we can't control? What about when we go to the doctor and the news isn't what we wanted to hear? How about when unforeseen accidents happen and the lives of those we love are impacted and altered? Loss of job, loss of spouse, loss of everything we personally own, what about those "uncontrollables" in life? Uncontrollable events and circumstances are part of life just as much as those things that we can control. The problem is when we hit an uncontrollable we want to control it, we want to make it right, but that just isn't possible. That's tough. But there is an answer. Those that know it can be at peace in a storm. Those that have found the strength to go forward when they are faced with insurmountable mountains will tell you that it is only by submitting to the omnipotent mercy and grace of God that they are able to face these uncontrollable forces in life.
     The apostle Paul reminds us “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7. To tell someone to place their trust in God to see them through the uncontrollables they are experiencing may sound like an easy answer that doesn't provide a ready- made solution to the matter at hand and that has a certain degree of truth in it. What you must do is place your trust in God, that unwavering faith that God has a plan, His plans are bigger than anything we could ever imagine, and that our job is to keep moving forward taking charge of the things we can control and allowing God to take care of the rest. Our mind has to be set on the truth that whatever is going on in life, it is only preparing me to handle what is coming up next. That's called faith, and a faith like that is founded in a relationship with God. Just calling on Him when the storm hits won’t give you the strength you need to battle the uncontrollable event in your life. You have to believe, you have to commit to nurturing your relationship with God, and you must hold firm to the belief that God is with you and will be with you no matter the outcome. “Be still and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10.
     So, in life there are the controllables which Jordan Stapleton spoke wisely about with our students this past week, and then there are those uncontrollables that we must submit to our Father in Heaven and place our trust and our faith in Him to see us through the storms of life and the uncontrollable events we will most certainly encounter. For me having God's assurance that He will always be with me allows me to confidently and courageously move forward! My prayer for each of you is that you too can know the peace of God in your uncontrollable situations in life, and that you will boldly take charge of all of the controllable aspects of your life.
Coach Carter

Keeping Your Flashlight Charged

    
     Not many of us today are carrying around a flashlight in our pockets. Due to the overwhelming convenience of the advent of flashlight apps on most mobile devices, that just isn't necessary. It is highly convenient to be able to pull out our phones and have an instant flashlight. Whether you rely on your Iphone's flashlight app or if you have an old style EverReady flashlight rolling around in the trunk of your car or stashed away in a kitchen drawer, it really doesn't matter if the batteries are not charged properly. The light that your device of choice can shed is only going to be as bright and glaring as the strength of the batteries in its storage tank. Neglecting to regularly check on the charge of the batteries life can lead to some frustrating situations. Failure to check on the life of, and then regularly charge those batteries, will most likely end up creating a situation where you are in need of some additional light and you will find that our source of light is either dimming quickly, or in many cases non-existent. Funny how our life's "light" is much the same as that of the flashlight.
    In Matthew 5:16 Jesus proclaims, "... let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." We each have a light inside of us. The extent of our light's effectiveness in helping others "see the light" first falls on our ability to turn the light on. With our flashlight analogy, there is an on / off switch or button, and to shed our device's light we only are required to press that button. Instant light! For us to shine our light to those around us it's not that simple. To be a light in this world is a choice that we have to make. There isn't a button that someone can press and suddenly our light is visible to the world in which we live, we have to make the decision to be a light. Unfortunately, we can choose to hide our light or actually be an extinguisher of that light.
    In the same chapter of Matthew, Jesus makes the point that we don't turn on a light only to cover it up with a basket, but instead when we turn on our flashlight we set it up on a table so that it's light is beneficial to everyone in the room. Do you cover up your light? Do you make an effort to share your light with others so they can see? Have you even turned your light on or is it hidden deep inside your calloused soul? Believe me when I tell you that you have the potential to brighten the life of those that you come in contact with each day. You have the potential to bring light to the darkness that envelopes someone you know or a whole group of someones you live with, work with, or encounter in some way each day. Your job is to make sure your batteries are charged up and prepared to shine each day.
     Charge your batteries on the source that provides energy to your very soul. The Word of God is able to lift you up and energize your life, but you must connect to it much like batteries that receive their charge when they are plugged into an electrical outlet. Store up God's Word in your heart, mind, and soul so that you are prepared to shine in even the darkest moments of your life or the life of those you encounter. Finally, keep your light with you at all times. In life, we don't know when we will encounter a time that a flashlight will come in handy, and in much the same way if we only shine our light when we are in the places that already have light such as at church or among like-minded friends or family our light will not be able to reach those that actually need the "Light" in their lives. If you aren't shining your light wherever you are at this moment in your life, then you are allowing your batteries to be depleted of their energy in an extremely unproductive manner. 
      I pray daily that God will fill me with His Word and with His purpose for my life, and then I pray that He will pour me out each day, emptying my life of its batteries charge completely, so that I can come back to the source for a new charge each night before I lay my head down to rest. It is my prayer for each of you reading this today that you too will charge your battery, shine His light brightly, and always leave a room brighter than it was when you entered! You are blessed, shine and share it each moment of every day!
Coach Carter

Leaving the 99 for You

     
If you haven't heard the song "Reckless Love" by Cory Asbury, let me recommend it to you right now. The message is as simple as it is complex. In our lives, it is easy to feel like you are going it alone. Your hardships, your isolation, or your situations create a sense of hopelessness for many people, it's just hard to believe that if God loves you why would He, the omnipotent, all knowing, all seeing God of Creation allow you to go through your crises alone? Well that's just it, you are not alone. In the Asbury's song, he pointedly provides a clear message to each of us:
"There's no shadow You won't light up
Mountain You won't climb up
Coming after me
There's no wall You won't kick down
Lie You won't tear down
Coming after me"
This message is being delivered in the context of a parable Jesus shared with a group of people gathered in the streets. The parable shared was is best known as the "Parable of the Lost Sheep" and that is the subject of our Flat Tire Ministries time together this week.
     Keep this in mind, you are important. Your life matters, you have a purpose and God wants to see you fulfill that purpose. In our adversities and afflictions, we don't always feel that way, but we have an assurance that serves as a constant reminder that it is true! In His parable, Jesus shares a story about a shepherd and the one sheep from his flock that has wandered away from the comfort and security of his 99 buddies. Jesus says "surely, this shepherd would leave the 99 to go out and find the one that was lost."(Luke 15:4). That one little, lost sheep means that much to the shepherd, so much, that he would risk leaving his flock of 99 just to find the one. That one lost sheep is representative of each of us. Wherever we are, whatever our circumstance, we have an assurance that God sees our adversity and He is willing and able to help us in our times of need.
      There's a whole different lesson connected to this parable about being lost, but really what I am focusing on is the simple understanding that you are important. Not important because you are some type of celebrity in society, but you are important because you are a part of His flock. When you feel all alone, He is there with you. When you feel trapped, He is the key to your freedom, and when you feel like there is no hope, look to God for your assurance. God is there, he always has and always will be, it is us that has wandered away from our faith in His ability to meet our needs and heal our afflictions.
      There's no mountain He won't climb up, there's no shadow too dark that He can't light up, and there are no walls or lies that Jesus can't overcome in our times of need. We must only remember that God's plan will be fulfilled. He wants us to carry out our role in His plans, but at the end of the day, His plan will be fulfilled. We are important, we have a duty that we are called to complete, and it is up to us to fulfill our purpose in this life we have been given to live.
     At one point in the song "Reckless Love" the chorus starts in a low reassuring manner, and then  repeated several times culminating in a proud declaration of God's love for us. My prayer for you today is that in all situations, under all circumstances, you in the same manner as this powerful song, allow God's love to grow in your hardships and become more robust in your time of need. He will leave the 99 for the one, and that one is YOU!
Coach Carter

Locked Out?

     Our administrative building for the school system recently installed a new elevator to provide access to the different floors for individuals with special needs. This new mode of travel has also been a big service to anyone moving large, heavy items either up or down the three floors of the building, of which I am a member of that group. My office is situated on the top floor and at times when I have several loads of materials or equipment to disperse to our teachers having the luxury of utilizing the elevator definitely makes the job a little easier to say the least!
     Well this elevator is unique in that the bottom floor access is actually on the exterior of the building. In designing the bottom floor entry this allowed for easier access and also a staging area for moving large, heavy items either up or out of the building. That outside entry arrangement provides the topic for today's Flat Tire Ministries Thought.
    As I previously stated the entry for said elevator is from the exterior of the building. To keep those who don't need to enter the building and also to assure individuals with wrong intentions aren't entering the building at all times of the night, the exterior entry has a keyed function that unlocks the controls and allows you to access the elevator. Well, on my first encounter with the outside entry, this knowledge was unbeknownst to me, so when I made my first trip down the elevator to unload some items with a co-worker, we began unloading the items and putting them on a truck bed when the time elapsed and the doors began to close. My colleague alarmed me to catch the doors, which I attempted, but to no avail. Alas, we were locked out. I guess it's probably a good time to mention that it wasn't like we were stranded outside with no hope for re-entry, but actually it was more of the fact that it was over 90 degrees outside, the main entry to the building was around the corner and up the parking lot, and the sweat was already starting to make my shirt somewhat sticky. That's when I had my epiphany! When I was hired at my new position I was given a key that would open the exterior doors to the building, that didn't include the elevator, but it did include a door that was just around the corner that would actually be a short hop, skip, and jump from the elevator. Much to my surprise, I was actually only a short grasp of a key away from being back in the building and also back to unloading the contents of the elevator to the awaiting truck.
     Isn't life like that in so many ways? We feel like we are locked out, running into closed doors, and missed opportunities which leave us feeling defeated or isolated from our goals in life. Too many times we only look at our circumstances in one light and if that light is dimmed by what appears to be a locked door we hang our heads and accept the situation as an inevitable defeat. 
     A job promotion doesn't happen, a relationship is on the brink of a break-up, the application was denied, or the door just closed on a deal that you happen to find yourself on the outside of looking in with no hope of being included. Just like in my situation with the elevator doors closing and my fear that I was locked out, I needed only to stop, evaluate the situation, and think through the possibilities which reminded me of the key in my pocket. We shouldn't look at our situations and believe that a positive outcome is impossible. Locked doors are only locked because there is a key to lock them, and yes, unlock them as well. Situations and circumstances happen and we believe the outcome is inevitably destined, yet in almost every situation, what appears to be the end of the book, is only the end to that chapter of the book.
     You write your book. You determine what happens next. You have the promise of a savior that He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5), He will be there to help you edit the outcome of your story. The apostle James exhorts us in James 4:2 that "you have not, because you ask not". Like I said we determine what happens next in our adversities and afflictions and if we desire to move forward it is imperative that we have the faith and strength provided through that faith that will allow us to ask God to unlock that door or to provide us with the key to open that door or the door that we are actually supposed to enter. Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."  
     Don't get that scripture's promise confused. I was locked out from the elevator and I realized I had a key that would get me in a different door, but it wasn't the key to get me access back to the elevator. In the same way, when we ask God we must follow through on the rest of the scripture. We must seek God, and we must knock on the door to God through prayer, study, meditation, and an attentive spirit. The door that He opens, the answer to our prayer He provides may not be what we originally thought was the only answer, but His "key" leads us to where He wants us to be, where we are supposed to be. 
     If you feel like your life has hit a locked door and you don't have the key to get back on track in life, stop, reflect, think through your options and possibilities, and most importantly seek out God's will for your life. You will find that you have the key right there in your pocket!
Godspeed, 
Coach Carter