Instruction Manual for Leaf Blowing

      
     One of the good things about being an educator is Christmas break. Time to relax, recharge, and reunite with family and friends is much more attainable when you have a week or two off around the holidays. That being said one of the not so good things about being an educator is the breaks that you receive, because most of us spend a great deal of said "break" getting caught up on work around the house and yard. Don't get me wrong, I certainly do appreciate the time off, but man, most of the time I feel like I need to get back to work so I can get a little bit of rest!
     Due to the unseasonably warm weather we have been experiencing in our area, the leaves hung on to the branches a little longer than usual and I found myself up on the roof and out in the yard blowing the leafs into piles and rows during this year’s winter break. Most of the time when I am doing a job like this that doesn't require a great deal of focus or attention to detail my mind tends to wander and I do some of my best brainstorming for projects and plans. This particular winter, fall like, day was no different as my mind drifted off in thought about the possibility of a leaf blowing instruction manual. Is there such a document I asked myself? What would it include? How would it be accurate, due to the fact that every yard is shaped differently, some on a hillside, some flat, some small, some extremely large, some with maple trees, and some with oaks, poplar, or maybe even just a small pair of ornamental dogwood trees. A generic handbook on how to blow leaves effectively and efficiently would be a pretty broad topic to cover. (See what I mean about my mind wandering?)
      Armed with that bit of useless information, my mind drifted on down the line to a much more valuable nugget of information. A leaf blowing instruction manual probably wouldn't make the best seller list, one because it would be rather boring, and two because everyone's yard is different and what works for me in the forest I call home, probably wouldn't be so effective a strategy for those that maybe just deal with one of two small trees in the front yard of their home. That being said, we do have an instructional handbook that guides us each day, answers our FAQs, and is infallible whether you live in Tennessee of Timbuktu! The apostle Paul assures us that the Holy Bible is a sure guide with this promise in II Timothy 3:16,"All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right." When we aren't sure about how to conduct ourselves, or even better yet, to guide us each day in our business dealings, people dealings, or life situations along this journey we are all embarking turn to God’s instruction manual. Unlike my concocted "Leaf Blowing Guide for Beginners", the Bible serves as a direct line of communication from our Creator to each of us if only we will spend time in the Word and then mediate and apply the principles and lessons provided. You can rest assured that for any situation, question, or trial you have, are currently in, or will encounter going forward your life's instructional manual has the answers inside. Seek them. 
     As we enter the new year this week and we all make those New Year resolutions that are laced with good intentions, but not sewn with strong commitments, resolve to turn to "Life's Instruction Manual" and apply the principles, commands, and laws that it so readily provides. Who knows, you may even find some guidance on how to blow the leaves from your yard! Proverbs 14:23.
Coach Carter

When the Answer is "NO", Your Response Should Be "It's ON"

     
Here's something for you to think about as we head into the new year 2020. In life, you have a choice when a proposal is presented to you. You can answer "Yes" or you can answer "No". Pretty simple, and not very thought provoking you may be thinking, but what I'd like to share with you today is the "why" behind the "No" response and why the "Yes" response is what we need to align ourselves with as we enter 2020.
     I guess it would be best to remove the disclaimers first, so we are on the same page, a response of "No" is appropriate in cases of safety, morals, ethics, and when legality is in question. I am by no means advocating for lawlessness to prevail when it comes to questions seeking to get you to do something unacceptable in society or in the realm of law and order. A simple response of "No" is totally the right choice, but it is in those areas of moving people to action for the betterment of a cause or in making decisions about change in the way we do things that it is both undesirable and dangerous for anyone in a position that allows you the privilege of making those decisions to just say “No”. For my friend and colleague Daniel Aldridge, we have decided that when we get the quick answer "NO", all we can hear is, "It's ON!"
     Just a simple inversion of two letters. One vowel and one consonant, yet the power that each word yields can make a monumental difference in the course of life for an individual or for a shift in the way business is conducted. In too many instances the quick responses to a proposed change in the normal accepted way of doing things, (i.e. routine) is "Well we tried that before and it didn't work", or "We can't do that", or maybe you've heard this one, "We haven't ever done that before so would it be fair?", in other words those responses could be replaced with two simple letters "NO". In matters that will impact lives that simple response "NO" is just that a simple response. Basically, what that response says is I don't want to give the effort it will require to try something different,  that doesn't make it acceptable. It definitely doesn't make it right, and it isn't the mentality that has shaped this great country in which we live.
     What if George Washington had said "No" when he was asked to lead the colonies to freedom from Great Britain? He could have said "We can't do that Mother England is a powerful country with all the resources and military might to squash any effort we might conceive to put into action." Wouldn't that have been the safe answer to give? Wouldn't that have assured that George Washington would not be associated with failure? Yet because he along with the other founding fathers of this great country did say "Yes" we now live in the land of the free and the home of the brave! That is a pretty dramatic characterization of how saying "No" can impact society, yet put it in terms of a suggestion to make a change in the way your office conducts business, or in my profession attempting to make a change in the way we “do” education. If the question is one that will ultimately impact a child's life, instead of saying "No" we need to be saying "Okay, it's On, let's try to come up with a way to make this happen". By giving the quick response of "No" we proclaim that we are completely satisfied with the status quo, in essence we are stating that we are comfortable with sitting in idle on the interstate of life.
      The apostle Paul warns the church in Thessalonica about the dangers of sitting on your laurels and thus being stuck in idle in Thessalonians 3:6-15. Paul admonishes the believers by telling them that if they are idle, that basically is a disruption to progress. He goes on to say that if you aren’t willing to work towards progress and change then you basically aren't earning your keep and shouldn't be provided with the means by which you are able to pay your way in life. In other words, earn your keep. It's easy to say "No", it's easy to make excuses about why you are responding "No", and it doesn't require any energy or effort on your part to answer "No". Does that make it right? Or, does it make it the easy answer with the least amount of effort involved?
      Back to the previous example given about sitting in idle on the interstate of life. Picture a car on one of the tracks like at an amusement park. Without any effort on the part of the driver of that car the car is going to go around and around that amusement ride. Will you get anywhere in life by sitting on that track, car in idle, following the path of the zillion other passengers that have rode that same round and round circular path? That to me is how someone responding "No" to a new idea lives their life. Is that a safe ride, absolutely, little risk, small investment of energy, and almost a guarantee that we won't fail, yet is that how we make progress and how we challenge the status quo? Not for me. When you tell me No, all I hear, see, and think is "It's On!". Let's put our heads together, let's brainstorm, why don't we come up with ten ways we could change it and then figure out which one is best for the recipient of the aforementioned change and then put a plan into place that will make it happen. Decisions in life are too important to those that will be impacted to sit in idle and continue going around and around in circles. The latter part of the message from Paul to the disciples in Thessalonica challenges them to "Never tire of doing good". Say yes till it hurts, say yes in matters of what is best for those that will be impacted not best for yourself because it will require the least amount of effort, remember sitting in idle? I’m not even suggesting that the choice of the “No” answer is even intentional, I believe we have just got caught in idle and that is where we are living.
      As we barrel roll through this last few weeks of 2019, make a commitment, a resolution to hold back on the quick "No" response. Slow down, ask questions like "How?", "Why can't we?", and "What if?" before we blurt out that definitive short answer of "No". Saying no requires little effort, (sitting idle), instead when you face a dilemma or when someone proposes a new way, a new path, why not say to yourself and those you live and work with, "It's ON!!"
To paraphrase one of my favorite quotes from Winston Churchill which sums up today's FTM nicely,
"The pessimist sees the challenge in every opportunity, while the optimist sees the opportunity in every challenge."
Breaking the Norm in 2020!!
Coach Carter

"The Ocean Doesn't Need the Sailor"

         I heard a song yesterday that really hit home. I listen to a radio show on NPR entitled Etown which features musical guests from a wide and varied span of genres. Ron Pope, one of yesterday's guests sang a song titled "My Wildest Dreams" (just posted on my Facebook page) in which today's FTM is centered around a particular line from this musical journey.       A lot of times I'm bad about just listening to music without paying enough attention to the words or message of the content in the lyrics. I tend to just enjoy the beat, melody, or rhythm of the song, but in this case, one of the first lines in the song grabbed my attention and set me to thinking about how true the statement was. Mr. Pope, a folksy type artist chimed the line "The ocean doesn't need the sailor, the sky was there before the dusk", and suddenly my mind started thinking about how true that is. The ocean would still exist if there were no sailors to set sail upon it, yet if there were no ocean where would sailors go to sail? Not wanting to say that we are insignificant at all, but just think we need to put things in perspective a little and in so doing realize that our purpose on life is completely necessary, yet if we choose to ignore the purpose God created you for, His will, will be done.
      When we get so caught up in how important we are, how critical it is for our schedule to be the focus, how our plans should have the spotlight or even the idea that someone just cut "me" off on the highway, I would suggest we keep this little reminder in place that really the ocean doesn't need the sailor. We need to remember that just as with the ocean and sailor equation, this big, old world is spinning with no support from us, and if God wants us to do something and we choose not to do it, it will still be done it just may have to take a little different path to get there. The one that loses out in that situation is the sailor.
     Didn't want to sound offensive today by no means, just wanted to send a wake -up call to someone out there that may have a calling that they haven't answered yet or a mother or father that needs to place a higher emphasis on teaching their child about what Christmas is over who they still have to buy a present for this year. Maybe you're listening to the words of Ron Pope's song and that line makes you feel insignificant, well it shouldn't. The fact that the ocean doesn't need the sailor could make us feel a little insignificant, but in my mind all that is saying is yes, the ocean doesn't need the sailor, but the ocean gives the sailor a purpose and through that purpose the relationship of the sailor to the ocean is everlasting. The more the sailor depends on the ocean the more their existence is intertwined. May your life with Our Maker be the same. God existed before us and He will be in existence forever, I just want Him to be in existence in my heart forever! He may not necessarily need me, yet I could not imagine my life without Him in it!  
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
Coach Carter

The Air We Breathe

     I'd like to start out this week's FTM with a big thank you to my dear Union Heights Elementary family for inviting me out to speak at their Fellowship of Christian Athletes FCA meeting earlier in the week. It's always great to get around a classroom full of kids, they speak from their hearts and they intently listen to what we say. Their eyes are watchful and our actions definitely speak louder than our words! Advice to self and others, live life like you are on a stage, you are!
      As I prepared my message for the mighty Tornados, I wanted to come up with an object lesson so  they would have a visual image to take away with them as our small window of time together closed. Funny, the visual image I landed on isn't visual in a literal sense, yet figurative as it may be this image can be and should be as clear as the air we breathe. Here we go!
     Air, can you see air? We can see the impact of wind, but really if someone asked you what air looks like you would probably think they were a little bit loony. If we can't see it then how can we prove that air really exists? As one of UH's best put it, "You can breathe it in." which was exactly what I was hoping to get as a answer. The air we depend on, the air we take in almost unconsciously, is always there we just take it for granted. Once we established that we may not be able to see air, but we definitely proved it exists, I asked my "Fellow Christian Athletes" to take part in a little contest. I had the students take in a deep, deep breath and we were going to see who could hold their breath the longest. As expected they about all beat me, but as the contest prolonged it became harder and harder to hold in their "air". Finally, I along with some of the other participants in my little contest allowed their lungs to expel their hold with a burst of exhaled air. I had just set the stage for my object lesson in this message.
      We can't see air just like we can't "see" God. We take air into our body and it flows through our lungs into our veins and eventually makes its way to our heart. In much the same way, we breathe God into our lives and He flows throughout our body, mind, and soul. Ultimately, He lands in our heart and is pumped out through the intricate network of thoughts, instincts, and plans that we create. And then just like the deep breath of clean air that we take in, we exhale and share the air we took in with the world that we live in. Quite the visual for something that at first glance appears to be invisible. We know air exists because as we breathe it, the deeper the breath the more space it fills in our lungs, to the point that we can't hold it in very long because our lungs feel like they will pop if we don't exhale. Picture the type of exhaled breath like mine on my fifty-sixth birthday with all of those candles being extinguished, tsunami style!
      This is the same experience with God. When we take Him into our life, we breathe in, deep and long, but just as in the experience of holding our breath, at some point we exhale. In our walk with God that exhale should be just as animated as the visual you created of me blowing out the wildfire set on top of my birthday cake! What we breathe out should make an impact on those we live and interact with each day. The world you live in should feel the force of your exhale as you share what God gave to you when you made the conscious decision to breathe Him into your life. Jesus commanded His disciples to go out and tell everyone about Him and the precious gift of eternal life that he offers. Matthew 28:16-20. That charge still exists for you and I today, exhale. But, you are not alone. Just as the air we breathe is readily available and always present the same is true with God. In Exodus 33:14 God proclaims "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest".
Breathe in deep and exhale hard!
Coach Carter