Impossibilities Made Possible

 

There is a French proverb that goes something like this, "To believe a thing is impossible is to make it so". How true that is. Throughout my 35+ years of coaching I have witnessed that proverb playing out countless times and it bothers me just as much now as it did the first time I heard a student/athlete lament,
"I can't do it".  It hurts me to even write those words down, and I most certainly don't want anyone to think those are words in my vocabulary. There's just something about saying you "can't", it's almost like magic sprinkle dust that suddenly destroys our efforts and creates a losing situation. For anyone out there today that feels like they are in a hopeless situation and that you "can't" defeat that demon that is standing in front of you, I assure you there is hope, I'm in the making impossibilities possible business, and I have a business partner that makes "all things possible"!

I've had volleyball players who were struggling with successfully getting their overhand serve across the net. It's almost funny to watch, because one day it just starts clicking and then it was kinda like "What was I doing that I couldn't get the ball across the net?" The player really can't pinpoint the answer to their own question, but most certainly it is not because they had a mindset that they couldn't do it. Adversely, in pretty much every similar situation, the drive, the commitment, and the hard work that went into practicing their technique, and a downright belief that they could do it had everything to do with making it happen. 

Saying the words "I can't" are almost like creating an invisible force field that assures you won't breakthrough the problem that is in front of you. We call these invisible force fields barriers. Some may appear to be visible barriers, but I suggest that even a visible barrier has an invisible force field encircling it. Those barriers are sometimes harder to break because we are the ones that have created it in our minds and we are incapable of seeing around, thru, or onto the other side of the barrier standing in our way. These invisible barriers exist in our relationships, our work places, and athletic endeavors such as learning to swim, lifting a new personal best, or even serving a volleyball overhand across a net. 

It may be hard, it may be challenging, it may be downright close to impossible, but... not impossible. Ever heard of a man named Roger Bannister? Before he did it, the notion of someone running a mile in less four minutes was thought to be impossible. It was actually thought that anyone attempting to accomplish that feat would die trying. But on May 7, 1954 Roger Bannister did exactly what had previously been labelled impossible. He ran the first recorded sub four-minute mile at Oxford in England. I listened to a recording by Bannister and he told a story about how the Swedes had a runner make it to just above four minutes and that many in the sports science world thought that four minutes might just be a barrier that no one could break. It was impossible. Bannister's comment on that falsehood, "Just because they say it's impossible doesn't mean you can't do it". Today it is estimated that 1,497 humans have ran a sub four-minute mile and guess what there will be 1,498 then 1,499, and then well you get the picture. It was not impossible, it was an invisible barrier that had to be broken by someone willing to believe that all things are possible. 

Your barriers, invisible as they may be, are there to keep you from achieving what you want to achieve, but if you are willing to hold on to hope, trust in a power bigger than yourself, and work harder than anyone else around you, you can break through whatever is standing in your way. You know why I'm so sure of this? I have the testimonial from my business partner, listen to what he says about the words impossible and can't. "Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Mark 10:27. The situation may appear hopeless, the circumstances may be dire, or the odds just aren't in your favor, but what I hear is that all things are possible with God in control. Trust, believe, work hard, never give up, and always, always give your best! 

Coach Carter

Here's a link to the news clip from Roger Bannister's record setting feat!

Roger Bannister 3.59 Mile Run

 

Shooting Stars

One of the benefits of being up around 4:30AM each morning is having the good fortune to catch a meteor shower on full display. I unknowingly, literally walked right into an early morning light show this past week and it did not fail to impress and set me up for an amazing day. It is hard to describe the smile that comes across my face when I am fortunate to catch a falling star in full descent. It happens so fast and many times you just catch a quick glimpse of the trail as it trails quickly to its demise. If you are fortunate enough to experience a meteor shower encountering over 100 shooting stars in a short period of time is completely possible. I hope I'm not writing this blog to someone who hasn't witnessed a shooting star, if there is someone out there who hasn't had the enjoyment of watching a falling star make its descent, I encourage you to search for the next one that will be occurring in your proximity and then make plans to find a dark sky spot and load up your blanket and a good friend to share this spectacle with. 

The unfortunate aspect about watching a falling star perform is that the whole thing signals the end of the star's life. There's an old rock and roll song by the band Bad Company titled "Shooting Star" which tells the story of Johnny who wanted to be a rock and roll star. Johnny reached his goal, but just as quickly as he reached stardom, his ultimate demise was hastened with a bottle of whiskey and a bottle of sleeping tablets beside his bed. Textbook "shooting star" example. Alas, this Flat Tire Ministry Thought is not set to focus on the lost potential of so many bright and shining stars, no today's message is one about potential gained not lost. 

Shooting stars, we are not. Although today's message is about the beauty and power observed through the demise of a literal falling star, your life isn't meant to end in such a manner. It is our job to assure that when the light in our star is exhausted, it isn't just a meteorite rock that remains as evidence of our existence. Your legacy, your impact on your family, friends, the community in which you live, the state where you reside, the country you align with, or your impact on the world are all things that you have control over and I want to challenge you to make a positive difference in as many of the aforementioned aspects of your influence. 

I am inspired and motivated by the proclamation of Solomon in Proverbs 17:6 "Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of a son is his father." In other words, if we do our job the way God intends for us to live out our lives fulfilling His purpose for the life we have been given, then the confirmation of a job well done will be found in our grandchildren's lives. In addition, our children will be a "shining" example for their children. Don't lessen the impact you will have not only on your own children, but also on the lives of so many other children, adults, and even institutions or movements. You were given a purpose on purpose, if you don't fulfill that purpose, your life will be much like the meteorite rock scattered across a field with no purpose of meaning accomplished. Or, your life can glow, flame, and impact so many others much like the brilliant stars of the night sky and spectacular performance of a shooting star. Don't allow your light to fade out of existence, leave your impact of this world in the lives of those you live with, work with, and spend your time with each day. Our shining example to follow is Jesus. Jesus wasn't going to be a shooting star, His plan wasn't to shine just while he walked this earth, but to continue shining into eternity! Won't you join Him as he moves us to action, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."  John 14:27 What legacy piece will you leave?

Coach Carter

It Only Makes You Stronger

 

I had something brought to my attention earlier this week and it definitely was one of those "Aha" moments. I was listening to a sermon by Pastor Chip Ingram, and in the sermon, Ingram made a reference about lifting weights and building muscles. The obvious point was that anyone who lifts weights wants to develop their overall strength, or improve a certain body region, arms, legs, chest, back, so on and so on. You may lift weights just to maintain your muscles, but the majority of people who lift do so to build their muscles. So, with that being said, the desired muscle growth will not happen if you don't progressively add more weight to the bar. After the body gets "conditioned" to a certain amount of weight on the bar the muscles plateau. To continue to build more muscle mass you have to add additional weight and/or change the exercises to alert the muscles to get busy and grow. Basically, what happens is the increased resistance produces more muscle tissue as the weight lifter trains and pushes his or her body to the point of exhaustion, the whole "no pain, no gain" idea. 

Unfortunately, if we aren't growing our muscles just the opposite happens. If you don't use a muscle for a period of time the muscle will become weaker. Go outside today and do about fifty squats and see how your legs feel the next day. Squatting that much just isn't something that we do on a daily basis so it only stands to reason that we will probably experience some pain in our thighs after a round of squats. We don't want our muscles to atrophy so we exercise, we run, we stay active to avoid the negative impact on our muscles and overall physique. 

Well guess what? This analogy fits perfectly with how we grow through our adversities and even our afflictions. We don't want to experience bad or negative events in our lives, but for us to grow and "exercise" our faith muscles this is exactly where it happens. Think about it, if life was easy we would definitely or should definitely be content. No sickness, no conflict, no work issues, kid issues, financial woes, and your marriage is bliss. Wouldn't that be nice? Well it would be nice for a day or maybe a week, but if we really stop and think about it, when we go through something in life is when we actually go to work on finding a solution, remedy, or fix. That search is where the growth opportunity lives. 

I'm not suggesting that we jump up and down the next time that a life event happens, but instead to change our attitude and perspective about what is happening and how we approach the situation. Instead of taking the stance that we are the victim in every situation, how about we look at it as an exercise for growth. Maybe your faith muscles are at a place where they have atrophied. Could it be that through the cataclysmic journey you are traversing currently, you are headed exactly to the place that will be your next area of impact? I don't know and I can't give you guarantees, but I can assure you if you don't grow through it you will get stuck in it and that is where our muscle memory starts to fail us and atrophy most certainly does exist. 

The good news is we are not going to lift that weight by ourselves. Just as any weightlifter has a spotter coaching them as they lift that heavier weight, we are not alone as we "lift" life's challenges and circumstances. We have a promise that should reassure us in those times when life is feeling too heavy to lift found in Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” When you feel all alone, remember you are not. As you lift that heavy weight hold tight to Paul's proclamation "I can do all things through Christ which gives me strength." Philippians 4:13. 

You got this!

Coach Carter

 

Playground Rules

To say I loved my ten years as principal of Union Heights Elementary School would most definitely be a true example of an understatement. Actually, I could say the same thing about my sixteen years at East Ridge Middle School where I taught and coached in the first stage of my educational career, and now for the past five years as the Career and Technical Education CTE Supervisor for our Hamblen County School system. It rarely has ever felt like work, thankful to be in the profession I feel like I was purposed to be a part of from the beginning. Blessed. Okay, note to self, stay on topic. 

As a principal one of the major roles you carry out is to be the extreme conflict resolution center for the school. Students who wound up visiting my office for behavioral issues normally had missed the opportunity to reach a resolution in the classroom, or even better before the teacher got involved. Classroom conflicts happen, albeit more rarely, when organization and structure are evident in any classroom. There just isn't too much room for misinterpretation of the expectations in an elementary teacher's class. Head down to the cafeteria and, for the most part, the same set of expectations from the classroom apply in the cafeteria. Stay in your seat, keep the conversations at a table level, eat the food on your plate, if you make a mess please clean it up, and don't mess with another student's food. All pretty much anticipated wouldn't you say? Walking to and from in the hallways, morning and afternoon bus duty, each of these had rules and expectations to help make transitions doable and efficient. The one place that I did not create a set of standard rules was on the playgrounds at our school during recess time for each grade level. 

The simplistic, general rule of thumb on an elementary school playground is allow the students to work out problems they encounter as much as possible. The "rules" set for this structured “free for all” time are fairly simple and for the most part can be easily maintained. That being said, I have many fond memories of being present on one of our playgrounds when one of our teachers would have to provide some minor conflict resolution guidance to some not so content playground participants. I can vividly picture a pair of sweaty, little seven-year old’s coming to their teacher to settle a touchdown related dispute, or times when inclusion just wasn't happening and feelings were devastated between two friends whom moments before were as thick as thieves. The responses from our teachers that I generally heard could have been written on stone tablets and posted on the outside classroom posts. The rules were so consistent whether it was on the Kindergarten - 2nd grade playground or up on the bank at the 3rd-5th grade location. I. Thou shalt share. II. Thou shalt play nice together or if you can't go find someone else to play with. III. Name calling is not allowed. IV. No fighting. V. Thee shall include everyone, this is not your personal playground. Of course, there were myriad nuances to this set of rules, but for the most part these five standard bearers could pretty much address most anything that occurred during recess each afternoon. 

Were these five "commandments" never broken? The question goes without being asked, yet I'll answer it with another question, "Are the ten commandments never broken?" Simply stated we are not humanly capable of not breaking from Moses's contribution to the standard rules for mankind. Yes, the rules did experience deviators, but that was what the teachers were there to provide resolution for when necessary. I can pretty much guarantee you though that the teachers were always striving for students to solve their disagreements on their own when at all possible. 

So, my question today is this, "What happened between our days on the elementary playground where we all had to get along or wind up sitting out on the sidelines, and where we are today where the only person that matters in most cases is "me"? Think about it each of the playground rules apply in the adult world of work, home, and even during our daily travels. Sharing? Aren't we taught that it is better to give than it is to receive? Play nice? Well if you don't like the way something is going in your world I suggest you either figure out how to get along, or go find somewhere else to go play, remember it isn't your playground anyway. We are just borrowing this world we live in from our grandchildren, let's leave it better for them then how it was when it was given to us. Name calling, fighting, those actions aren't allowed for our kids on the playground, in the classroom, or out in public, why is it okay for adults to behave like that? It isn't. We should be the role models so that our teachers won't have to do our job on the playground. The fifth playground rule was include everyone. Beyond popular belief, you are not the judge. You don't get to decide who is right and who is wrong, you can have your opinion, but this is not your playground so you don't get to decide who plays on it or who doesn't. I didn't write the rules, I'm not judging anyone, all I'm echoing is the commandment that encompasses all of the ones above. Jesus of Nazareth, Son of the Living God proclaimed in Matthew 7:12 "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law...". I suppose the "in everything" and "to others" Jesus stated includes everyone regardless of their skin pigment, I think everything includes our relationships at work, at school, at home of course, and how about on the roads and highways we travel each day. I won't digress towards the topic of road rage, but keep in mind those roads aren't yours, you are just as much a guest on the highway as the person that sat an extra :10 seconds after the light changed to green. 

I firmly believe our elementary school playgrounds are an outstanding learning platform for our children to learn how to get along and play well with others. Maybe we all need to take a break and go for a swing? "I want to leave you equipped with two verses.  

"Hatred stirs up strife but love covers all sins" Proverbs 10:12.

 "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." I Peter 4:8

Coach Carter

"Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda"

 

Contemporary Christian singer songwriter Matthew West has a relatively new song out titled “What If?” which challenges us to not be someone who looks back and is forced to ask themselves the question, “What if?” Two little words, but man do they pack a powerful punch. Place a fill in the blank spot at the end of the sentence, “What if ______________ ?” and if you are like me, you could come up with a laundry list of regrets and wishes. With one more month left in 2021 we do not have to wait to make that “New Year’s Resolution” for some change to take place in our lives. We have the ability today to turn our “what if’s” into “I did’s”.

Probably one of the most haunting verses in West’s song shares a fear that many of us can relate to, and some of us still need to wake up to.

“My biggest fear is waking up to find what matters
Is miles away from what I spent my life chasing after
Is my story gonna have the same two words in every chapter?
What if, what if”

It is never a bad time to stop and do a little self-reflection, call it a check up on where you are and what you are chasing. We get so darned busy being busy that we can easily lose sight of what our goal was in the first place.

 

Parents pack their schedule with do this, go there, be here, be there, run, run, run all for the sake of giving the best to their children. Is that the best thing to do with our time “together”? I don’t have that answer, that one is yours to navigate. Mothers and fathers spend 60+ hours working a 40-hour work week to provide everything, anything that their children ask and many times don’t even ask for. We just think they would love it and we want them to be happy. What if? What if what they really want is to just spend some time with their mom or dad doing something that costs nothing more than a little time. Speaking of work, for those of us that believe the world will stop spinning if we aren’t there in the middle of the workplace making it all spin, it may be time to stop and internalize what we are doing and how we are spending our time. (That one hits home, I’m just saying)

 

As I said early on, you can fill in the blank after the phrase “What if________?” with just about anything you can imagine. “What if I had exercised a little more? Would I be experiencing the health issues I am right now?” Or “What if I had gone back to school and obtained that technical skill I wish I had pursued when I was younger?” We can spend all of our time boasting about what we “woulda, shoulda, coulda” done, but unfortunately once that ship has sailed there isn’t always a chance to go back. One of the charges I have always told the student athletes I coach is to not be someone who looks back and tells others that you could have done this or that if you would have worked a little harder you would have been all state. It is easy to tell people that you should have gotten that scholarship, and that you would have gotten it but… It is too easy to look back and play the blame game, when in reality, the blame has to sit right there in your lap.

 

Flat Tire Ministries was created to build hope, and there is hope for those of us that have fell victim to the regrets of misappropriated time in life. Matthew West’s song offers this note of inspriation, “But last I checked this heart inside my chest is still beating well, I guess it's not too late”. That’s just it, as long as you have breath in your lungs and your heart is still beating you can change the direction of where you are headed. Some things may be gone, you can’t go back and rededicate yourself to practice more for your high school wrestling team when you are almost 60, but you can spend more time with your grandchild making sure they get the most out of their ability and focus. Other things in life you can still change your focus and amount of focus that you invest. Relationships, time management with family and friends, career focus, hobbies, pass times, TV time, social media time, or whatever you put in the center of your life time. Those are all things that could wind up being a “woulda, shoulda, coulda” what if statement/question, but you have the ability to shape the outcomes and not be a victim of your own procrastination.

 

What if I would have given more time to developing my relationship with my Creator? What could I have accomplished if I would have sought His will more for the life that He gave me to live? I tried to give my family all that they wanted, but should I have given them more of the one thing that could impact our grandchildren and their children’s children as my legacy to them? Well the last time I checked I’ve still got a heart that’s beating inside my chest, I guess it’s still not too late!

 “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.” Philippians 3:13-15.

 

Coach Carter

 

 

Grateful for Being Thankful

 

As we in the USA are fully aware, our annual Thanksgiving Day holiday is right around the corner. Most of our focus on this day is centered around the roasted turkey that didn't receive a pardon, yet it is not uncommon to see the retail/marketing world move from Halloween directly to Christmas mode with little thought of the day set aside to give thanks for all we have been given. If you think about it, Halloween and Christmas garner a great deal of worldly attention because the focus is set more on what you "get" as opposed to what you "give". Hence Thanks"giving" which is, as it should be, more about giving thanks. We have so much to be thankful for faith, family, and friends top my list with opportunities and lessons learned following close behind. But, today I want to spotlight something that I am thankful for that may sound a little redundant at first, but if you sit and ponder on it for a minute, my hope is that you can add one more thing to your list of all the things you are thankful for this Thanksgiving season. 

Way too many people live life without seeing how blessed they actually are, and that keeps them from enjoying the life they have been given to live. I'll use the term grateful here. If you aren't thankful for all you have, regardless of how little or how much you have, the art of being grateful for you may seem foreign or indescribable. What would it be like if we could get to a place where as we give thanks for all we have been given, we include a thankful thought for being able to recognize that we recognize how blessed we actually are? Like I said when we started out today's message, redundant right? Not really. 

Some of us give thanks and some of us say thanks, but how many of us realize how thankful we should really be? Let me be the first to go on record to say "Thank you" for the ability to be grateful on the Sunday before the Thursday we traditionally "give thanks" for all we have been given. The world feels broken, we work to "get" for self, we self-promote to "get" likes and views, we covet what our neighbor has and then we go out and "get" one better than theirs. What if we could stop placing the emphasis on "getting" more stuff and focus on what we have already been given and give thanks for that each and every day? 

I have room to grow in this area, I haven't mastered the art of being thankful in all situations and under all circumstances, but I am thankful that I have been given eyes to see how fortunate I am and how I enjoy saying thank you for all I do have. I am thankful that I don't take that for granted. I am grateful that I am a thankful person. May I go about each day, not just Thanksgiving Day, thanking those that have given me the opportunities I have been given and thanking my Maker for all that I have been given. And God my provider, I am grateful that I am a thankful person and not someone that is always wanting more. The Apostle Paul tells me that "You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God." I Corinthians 9:11, which speaks to my heart telling me to realize that I am thankful and thank God each day for having that peace of mind and clarity of purpose. 

As we approach Thanksgiving this Thursday, is there a chance you will stop and give thanks for all you have and all you have been given? In so doing, give a little time to thanking God for the ability to see just how much we have been given. Pray for gratefulness and how you show the world you live in that you are thankful for being thankful! 

So grateful that I am thankful!

Coach Carter

 

Traveling Along the "Trials" of Life

 

Trails and Trials, one little letter transposed and we transition from an enjoyable walk down a winding pathway, to a dreaded period in life that challenges us to dare move forward. On the first look those two words are distinctly different. I mean who doesn't enjoy a leisurely stroll down a mountain trail or even following a man-made trail to take in a series of historic landmarks such as a memorial park trail? As for trials, I don't think I recollect people lining up to take part in their next trial of life? Marital issues, financial matters, work issues, home issues, health, mental health, basically anything in your life that happens along the way that is unexpected and undesirable, those my friends we call the trials of life. Distinctly different, yet uniquely similar, both trials and trails take us on a journey, it is our choice where that journey takes us in life. 

The metaphor of our lives being a series of trails that we journey could easily have the word trials substituted and convey the same message. Actually, we may actually travel through many more trials in life then trails if we think about it. I have traversed many trials in my life and I can attest that the "journey" through each of those trials has taken me to new levels of perseverance and resiliency in my life that I most likely would not have achieved had it not been for the trials of life that I endured. 

Think about going on a hike, a leisurely hike if that promotes a better visual image in your mind. Without a trail to follow how easy it would be to get lost. Trails are marked in most cases, directing us to take a left turn here and a right turn there. Well-traveled parks have signage alerting the journeyman about upcoming features such as waterfalls, sunset views, and even steep or dangerous sections of the path ahead. The markers along a trail and the beaten down path which lays out the "way to go" are there because many have traveled that trail before you. Trails are easier to travel because of those that have been there and done that before us. Wouldn't it be nice if the trials of life were the same as a well-marked trail? 

What if those trials of life were laid out specifically for you or I? What if instead of looking at trials in life as punishment for bad choices, misfortune, or even the result of generational influences, we adopted the mindset that trials of life are set to build us up and take us to where God can actually use us for the purpose we were designed to accomplish? Psalm 37:23-24 tells us that "The Lord directs the steps of the godly, He delights in every detail of their lives ^Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand." Moving from being a victim of a trial, we suddenly transform ourselves into a servant of God traveling down a trail that we must journey and grow through to become that man or woman we were purposed to become. I am reminded and comforted by the words of David in Psalm 23:4 "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for Thou are with me Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me". Confidence gained, stamina packed, and doubt removed, I walk forward not knowing what tomorrow holds, but motivated and empowered by the knowledge of WHO holds tomorrow! 

If you are going through a trial currently, place your trust in the one that created you to endure and even thrive in this moment. Life isn't easy and the trails are not always flat and marked with what lies ahead, but if you can get to that place where you place your faith in the understanding that you weren't made by mistake, and what you are going through can grow you and fulfill you, then you no longer will be traveling through a trial, but instead walking hand in hand with God down the trail of life you were purposed to traverse! 

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

 

Coach Carter

Loving Conditionally

I had a hard time getting the words out of my mouth, "loving conditionally" It just doesn't flow right when you try to say it. Of course, the real phrase is to love unconditionally. The idea behind the thought is that regardless of what you do, who you are, or how bad it gets, you are still loved. Is that a hard one to swallow? In human terms it certainly is a challenging concept. How quick are we to pass judgement on others and discard them when they don't fit the mold we see as "loveable”? Unconditional love is heavenly, literally. If you want an example of unconditional love look no further than the example God provided with the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. 

Jesus is the epitome of what unconditional love looks like. Think about it, after the Romans had beaten him, tortured him, and nailed him to the cross, this man looked down at his persecutors and then looked to his Father and asked God to forgive them. Why would Jesus ask his Father to forgive them? Why didn't He say, Hey Dad, how about you make these guys pay for what they have done to me! There can only be one reason, unconditional love. We can't move far enough away, we don't have to measure up to some kind of standard, and we don't have to look, act, or behave a certain way, God loves us unconditionally. 

God's son, Jesus, explained it like this. Love the Lord Thy God first and then love thy neighbor as thyself. (Luke 10) After sharing that guidance with a group of people that had gathered to listen to Jesus, a man asked Him "who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied by sharing the parable of the Good Samaritan and then asked the man who do you think the neighbor is in the parable? Of course, it was the man who stopped and gave a hand up to the man from Samaria who had been beaten and left for dead in the ditch. 

Interestingly, the neighbor Jesus referred to wasn't the man's next-door neighbor, it was someone, anyone, that needs a helping hand. Unconditionally displaying love which coincidentally is also known as the word "charity". Charity: voluntarily giving to someone in need. Someone in need, not someone that looks just like me, believes the same way I do, someone that I think deserves my "charity", but instead the word charity means giving to someone. Someone, anyone, I believe those two words are interchangeable and very well should be. If Jesus, beaten nearly to death and then nailed to a rugged cross can look down at the men and women who demanded He be put to death and say, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do" Luke 23:34, then who are we to be picking and choosing who we want as our neighbor. 

It is hard to say the term conditionally loved, because the two words do not go together. We are called to love unconditionally just as we are loved unconditionally by our Father in Heaven. If His love for me was conditional, I'm pretty sure I would not be loved. If love is only to be given to someone that has the same skin pigment as mine, then is that really love? Does someone with a different hue of dermis deserve less of a life than you or I? If someone speaks a different language am I allowed to not love them as my neighbor? According to the words of Jesus I don't think so. 

Today's Flat Tire Ministry may strike a chord with some, so I ask you to consider something. We are a country of immigrants, immigrants that have traveled across oceans to call this continent home. A land of immigrants so much that we have been labeled the great melting pot. Why did our forefathers come to this land? For a better way of life. Why does anyone still come to America today? For a better way of life. Fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, and anyone else reading today's message, I want you to put yourself in a situation for just one minute. The place where you live is destitute, crime, drugs, murder, and thievery are the daily norm. If you don't like that place then how about putting yourself in a city where there are no real jobs, poverty would be considered living well, and the prospects of things improving are minimal at best. In either of those cities the likelihood that your child could be molested, stolen, or at best uneducated and destined to live the same hopeless lifestyle that you have lived is highly probable. Would you not reach out to a "Good Samaritan" for a hand up? Would you not want your "neighbor" to love you unconditionally as a human being with a family? Would you not do the same thing for your family? Would you not take a chance on picking your family up and moving them to a place where you know there are jobs, food, clean water, housing, and hope that if you worked hard and gave it all you got your family could be safe? If you can honestly sit there and say you would not move your family then I'm not sure why you are even reading this today. No, it is not my place to judge you. I will leave that to the One that will judge each of us when it is our turn to be judged. 

While I am on this earth, while I have lungs that breathe and provide me with a voice to speak, while I have the opportunity to support our students, all students, I will make every attempt to be your neighbor, a neighbor that will demonstrate loving others unconditionally. I ask you to look deep in your heart today, do a self-assessment and ask yourself, "Do I love conditionally or do I love as my Father loves me, unconditionally?" Ours is a grand venture, the tone of our country is one of division not union. As people look for ways to divide us, I challenge you to be someone that pulls us together. "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends." John 15:13.

 

Coach Carter

Precious Stones

 

Precious stones, we know who made them, but who made them precious? Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires, at the end of the day what makes those particular rocks so special? Is it the shine, the glisten that happens when the sun’s rays bounce off their hard surface? Or is it the limited quantity that make them so valuable and coveted? How can it be that a rock dug out of the ground could make men steal, kill, and destroy to possess a stone? The aforementioned stones make beautiful necklaces, and who could imagine a wedding taking place without a ½ carat diamond proclaiming the union to the wedding congregation on hand. I honestly don’t have an exact answer on how this all came to be, but I’m pretty sure it was all a human thing. We made precious stones precious, and mankind has made them valuable, but in the scope of what really matters, what value do “precious” stones really possess?

I suppose in the world of supply and demand the appropriate theory to explain the value of a stone would be the less of something that exists the more valuable that something is. My question is, valuable for what? I know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and somewhere along the way the beauty of a diamond caught the eye of a beholder and the rest is as they say history. Right? Well probably something like that. So, staying with that same line of thinking, the beholder had to have the beautiful, glistening rock so he went out to find his own. For the sake of our story, let’s say he couldn’t find his own. What is he to do? His mate would look stunning with that beautiful rock hanging around her neck and he wants to give it to her really bad, so what is he to do? Well one of two things, he either goes to the man who possesses the diamond and offers to trade him out of it, and if that doesn’t work then he makes a plan to obtain the rock any way he has to so that he possesses what he covets so bad. For the man who possesses the diamond, he is now proud that he owns something that someone else wants. He sees the opportunity to find out exactly how bad this potential buyer wants to own his rock, so he holds out, upping the ante just to see how valuable this little rock might be. To top this off, our owner of this little diamond happens to know where a whole cave full of these little diamonds can be found and he starts making plans to offer diamond necklaces to others, because he now sees the potential these little rocks possess. All of a sudden, a shiny little rock dug out of a rock cave wall has become an object of desire and desire makes it valuable. Otherwise it’s a rock.

I hope this brief look at my version of how a diamond or any other precious stone became precious made sense. Think about all the things that are “valuable” in our culture. Ferraris are really nice cars, but so are Hondas, right? What makes a Ferrari so much more valuable than a Honda? My guess is because there isn’t a Ferrari manufacturer speckled all across our continent or even all across Europe. There is tiny city in Italy, Maranello, where every Ferrari that roars down the road has been manufactured, and that is the only place that makes these “valuable” cars. Isn’t a Honda car valuable? Of course it is, if you were stranded in some remote desert part of the world and someone offered you a Honda Accord to get you out of there, I don’t think any of us would say, “No thanks, I believe I’ll just wait on a Ferrari”. Maybe it’s about time to do a little self-check on what we deem as valuable and how much time we put into obtaining what really is valuable for eternity.

Jesus made it very clear in his teaching, “No one can serve two masters: either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.” Matthew 6:24. Notice Jesus didn’t name one over the other, he just says you’ll love one and pretty much despise the other. What we place value on gets our attention. Why are gold and silver so valuable? Honestly, it is the accessibility, or better the inaccessibility, to possessing it due to the finite amount available to possess. If we suddenly were transported to a planet that the surface was made of gold, all of a sudden what we have labeled a precious metal would be worth about as much as a shard of granite in my drive is worth today.

Do you have “treasures” that you value possibly a little too much? Jewels, gold, silver, cars, trucks, baseball cards, comic books, or any of the hundreds of other collectibles that we covet just a bit too much. You know you can’t take those with you at the end of the day, right? You can pass those down, but at some point, they can’t take them with them either. “Naked I came into this world from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there.” Job 1:2.

 Recalibration time. What grabs our attention gets our attention, that goes without saying. If it is important to us, diamonds and rubies or gold and silver, then we spend our time and effort working to possess more of it because it is valuable to us. How valuable are your children to you? How much does your family glisten in your eye? Is your relationship with the God that created you and purposed your life important enough to you that you make it a priority to possess? I’m reminded about the young, rich man in Matthew 19 that asked how to obtain eternal life, and when Jesus told him to give all of his riches away he turned around and walked away. You can’t serve God and possessions. The question is, what is valuable to you? Precious rocks or the Precious Rock that we can stand upon in all of life’s ups and downs. At the end of this life what will you be leaving to your grandchildren? Will it be a pile of rocks that man has made valuable, or will it be a legacy of faith, trust, and persevering obedience to the One that gives the eternal gift of life to you and to me?

Coach Carter

Storage Units, What's in Yours?

Storage units. Ever rented one? Maybe you are currently renting one, who knows maybe you have two or three storage units, there is nothing wrong with it, been there done that. The question is more are you getting a good ROI (return on investment) with this storage unit. It is understood that the renter pays a monthly or yearly fee for storing items of personal or monetary value in an environmentally and physically safe space. The storage unit industry recorded 39.5 billion dollars in revenue in 2021, so on the owner side of this investment, I would say it definitely can be a lucrative ROI. I guess where there might be some concern is on the other side of this business arrangement. I feel pretty certain that if I posed the question to someone that has a rented space for storage about whether they really needed to be storing the items in their unit the answer would be of course, absolutely. I'm not so certain that after a year or let’s say after three years the total of rental fees for your storage space won’t supersede the value of what is in your storage safe space. I'll be the first to admit from my own experience that after a few years of paying for a pretty big storage unit, I was prompted by my brother-in-law to take an evaluation of what was being stored and how much it had cost me to store said items and see if it really made sense. The outcome was mindboggling. I immediately began the process of retrieving what was of real value and moving it to our house, selling what wasn't really of personal value in the first place, and finally tossing out anything else that was just taking up space. Wow, that was an eye-opening experience, if you currently rent a storage space, even if it is just a "temporary" rental I'd advise you to perform an evaluation of your own ROI and see if you truly are storing items that need to be stored, used, sold, or discarded. 

Today's FTM wasn't meant to be an infringement on the "Money Matters" weekly podcast, yet the stark comparison of how we utilize the storage unit industry to how we "store” our talents and time is worthy of an insightful comparison. Remember the parable in the Bible that Jesus shared about the talents/money? The successful businessman was leaving town for a while and entrusted a certain number of talents to each of three of his able minded servants to watch over his wealth. Or so he thought. Two of the three servants invested the talents which they had been entrusted with, while the third investor rented a storage unit and placed the one talent that he had been directed to watch over in safe keeping. Well if you are familiar with this parable things didn't work out too well for the last supposed investor. When he had to make an accounting of what he did with the talent he had been given, all he could do was return the one talent just like it was when he received it. No increase, and actually it might have been worth less depending on inflation, if there was such a thing back then! Point being, are we taking our God given "talents", our skills or spiritual gifts, and yes, our resources, and placing them in a storage unit waiting on the right time to use what we have been given? Trust me the time to use your talents is now!

Jesus talked about this in Matthew 6:19 where he warns about "storing" your treasures, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal." What good is a talent if you don't use it? Oh yeah, I forgot, you're holding out until the right time, I can assure you that there is no better time to retrieve what you have stored, both literally and figuratively and start using it today. If you are being called to serve, side note you are, then serve. What are you waiting on a sign from above?? If that's it then today's Flat Tire Ministry thought is your call to action. Unlock that storage unit door, pull out the skills, talents or resources that you've hidden away and then lead, serve, just do what you were born and purposed to do! 

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,"
Colossians 3:23

Coach Carter 

Who Goes Next?

 I was driving in our downtown area a few weeks ago and happened upon a scene that reaffirmed that people know right from wrong and what we are or aren't supposed to do.  The issue we face in our society today is more about people making the right choice and actually doing what we know is the right thing to do. In our "old city" downtown there is one main four-way intersection that is managed by a traffic light. On down main street there are a couple of four-way stop sign intersections, yet this one intersection has enough traffic to merit a red light. Well on this particular day, as I neared the intersection of Main Street and Cumberland Avenue, I noticed that the traffic light was blinking red and traffic seemed to have come to a complete stop. I was headed to a meeting and knew this could create a delay if the problem wasn't soon remedied. Just as that thought was crossing my mind traffic began flowing in a very rhythmic fashion. Without anyone saying a word the commuters began following the rules of a four-way stop intersection with cars taking turns in a clockwise rotational fashion. A smile landscaped my face as I thought about how in the midst of adversity a group of complete strangers, all with their own individual agenda, worked in harmony with each other to assure traffic didn't come to a complete stop waiting on the problem to be fixed or the arrival of a law enforcement officer to direct traffic in the same fashion as the four way stop effort that was being employed. It was comforting to see that in the face of conflict a certain level of "right" thinking prevailed. 

Why did this simple gesture of right over might grab my attention? I guess it was the fact that in an adverse setting, one where individual agendas (my meeting and not wanting to be late) could have been the driving factor in the decision about who goes next, this communal group of transit neighbors made a decision to cooperate and follow a standard rule of driving in a setting where the rule was not specifically in place. No big deal you're saying to yourself. Well maybe, yet in this world we are living in now where the emphasis is all on "me" and my agenda, it was refreshing to see the cooperative whole surpassing the egocentric choice of what is best for self on full display. 

As a society, everyone knows right from wrong. My three-year-old granddaughter knows when she is about to make the wrong choice, it just boils down to what she ultimately chooses to do. In this situation, it would have been easy for someone to have been thinking, "I've got to get to my meeting, so I'm going next regardless of where I am in the rotation because I'm going to be late if I don't!" That's fair, isn't it? Possibly nobody else in queue had somewhere they had to be and thus would be completely fine with the one taking precedence over the whole. Right? 

I'm not exactly sure where the view of the individual surpassed the betterment of the whole, but on this particular day I was encouraged by this simple gesture of selflessness. I challenge you today to put the wants or needs of someone else in front of your own agenda. A simple act of kindness, buffered by good manners and good morals can go a long way. Think it doesn't matter? I beg to differ. A random, simple act of right thinking with selfless motives made a difference to me on my morning commute, the difference you can make in another person's life today is waiting to see who goes next? 

"If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them."  James 4:17 NIV

Coach Carter

Pleasureful or Purposeful??

We are living in different times that is for sure. Now, that might be what would be considered an understatement. Just look at all the universal issues we are facing as a society today. I would dare say that there is no more than a small handful of men and women alive today that have endured a global pandemic. The influenza outbreak around 1920 may be the worst global incident in modern history. That being said, the times we are currently traversing are obviously uncharted waters. 

I personally have moved in and out, back and forth, and through over half a decade of history and I can honestly remark that I have never witnessed times such as this in regards to jobs and work in our society. Help Wanted signs have pretty much became permanent displays in almost every job sector. Incentives such as signing bonuses, days off with pay, hourly wages that far outdistance the minimum wage, and flexible scheduling to meet the employee's desires mark the competitive nature of finding an employee. 

Our educational systems have been rocked through this pandemic, forcing school systems to revisit teaching strategies, scheduling methods, attendance rules, and grading policies to meet the needs of our students, teachers, and all other educational support cast academically and also to ensure their safety. Food prices escalating, political division on the right and the left and in the middle, social media dependency, mental well-being, and on, and on, and on we could go. "For the times, they have been a-changin", to borrow a line from Mr. Dylan. 

Everyone knows times are changing, especially those of us that are inhaling oxygen and exhaling carbon monoxide. I guess what is so alarming to me in all of the change that we are experiencing is the slow methodical move towards a "me" driven society. We, and I do mean "we" as all inclusive, are at a crossroads of sorts. Are we going to be a country that covets a pleasureful lifestyle view where every decision is centered around me and how all choices are made based on what the impact on "me" personally is? I would suggest that in so many of the aforementioned "changin" times, "me" and how "I" am impacted are at the point of the arrow in origin. The question today, in my opinion, is how long do we believe a society that places self in front of service to others can endure? 

In a world that is now prone to asking "How will this impact me personally?" quicker and more frequently than "How can I make this world a better place for the next generation, for my children's children, and the world in which they will live?", it is time for each of us to stop and reflect on how we will proceed. Our personal time on this third rock from the sun is limited at best. James 4:14 NIV reminds us that, "....Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.", so the question begs to be asked what is really important, what should keep us up at night, what will our legacy piece to this world we live in be? 

I advocate that we move ourselves away from a self-driven "pleasureful" mindset to more of an others before self, "purposeful" mentality as the driving force in our daily output of effort and energy. I fully respect and honor those that have offered their service to our country in times of war and also in peace. Their personal sacrifice was and is a choice that is made based on the desire to serve others over self. Service over self to the point of giving their life for the lives of countless others that they would or will never meet. Leaving their families, possibly never to see them again, and yet they went and they still are going today. What if the "me" mentality ruled in the hearts and minds of those that have and are defending our country? I'm pretty sure we would not be the land of the free and the home of the brave, but instead the land that once was free and once displayed bravery through sacrifice for others over self. 

I am an optimist through and through, I believe we can be better through our adversity and afflictions. I firmly believe, because I see it in the actions and plans of the students I am blessed to work with each day. So many of the young men and women that fill our classrooms want to give rather than receive. They want to work and be a productive member of society. Do they have the blueprint and road map in front of them? My thoughts say the template exists, they just need leaders to demonstrate the skills and belief system that will support them in being successful in life. And that is where you and I enter the picture. 

Earlier we established that our life here on earth is pretty much comparable to fog, here for a time and then gone. Well, even though the fog dissipates, it leaves dew. The dew sticks to the ground and provides moisture to the leaves, grass, flowers, and even mother Earth. Your legacy needs to be much like the dew from the fog, dew sticks to surfaces long after the dew is gone. If we choose to live a purposeful life the example we provide to our children, our students, and even to those we live and work with each day will build the mental fortitude associated with placing the needs of others (purposeful), over the wants of self (pleasureful). May our driving force in life be centered around this advice from the Apostle Paul, "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:3-8. I have said it before and I will continue to say it over and over again, your life isn't about you. It is abundantly more about what you can do to impact the lives of others in a positive manner that will ultimately have a positive impact in the world in which you live. You were designed on purpose with a purpose in mind, Rick Warren coined that phrase well, the crux of the matter that you must decide for yourself is clear. Will you spend your life fixated on me, me, me and mine, mine, mine? Or, will you commit to making your life have a bigger purpose where "me" is set aside and "we" takes the main stage of life? 

“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
Luke 22:42

Coach Carter 

Helium Balloons

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that pretty much everyone has had a helium balloon on a string and either intentionally or inadvertently let it go. Once that string is out of arm's grasp it is gone! Up, up, up it goes higher and further away until it ultimately disappears out of sight. Unlike a drone that has a controller to direct where the drone goes, a helium balloon goes off to its own ultimate destination. Although we cannot control the destination of the helium balloon after we let the string go, the balloon goes nowhere unless someone first fills the balloon with helium. So, the point of this little object lesson isn't about how to negatively impact our environment and ecosystems by cutting loose helium balloons, but it is all about understanding our role in training, raising, and preparing those we are tasked to teach.

We all teach, remember that, you are a teacher. You may teach life skills to your child, you may coach a sport and teach your athletes how to play the game, or you may teach coworkers or colleagues how to maneuver your area of expertise at work. Just as with our example of the helium balloon, you have the opportunity to share your knowledge and thus fill the brain, mind, or soul of those you are teaching, but you can't determine where that student is going to go after you carry out your side of the equation. That isn't your job. Your job is to share, teach, and provide opportunities. The "learner" has to make the decisions and choices which we would refer to as the outcomes of that learning. 

Don't get hung up on outcomes, those are Gods to guide and direct. You have a specific role and after that role is fulfilled it is up to the individual to determine what they will do with the learning you provided. If we do our job the way God created us to do it, then we have fulfilled our role. If we sit back and evaluate our impact by the outcomes that we visually see then we might get discouraged. Fulfill your role, teach, coach, and lead, but don't sit back and think you are also the judge. That job has already been taken.

As a parent, grandparent, coach, teacher, and advisor I have had thousands of opportunities to support the development of young people, both my own and a plethora of other students and athletes. I have been fortunate to witness so many positive outcomes from the learns and earns, and along the way there have been myriad flops that I would prefer to change if it had been humanly possible. My job isn't to worry about the outcomes because I can't visualize God's plan for someone's life, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways." Isaiah 55:8-10. My job is to keep on doing what God has called me to do!

So, when you get discouraged by the outcomes you see as a result of your teaching/coaching, don't dwell on it too long. God has a purpose and His will, will be done. Just keep on coaching and keep on praying!

Coach Carter