"Canvas and Clay"

    
     I dabbled in painting when I was in high school and even went to our local community college on an art scholarship my senior year, but seriously, my abstract art would have made Picasso cringe. I loved the freedom that my instructors gave me to pretty much do whatever I wanted to do on the blank canvas and that is exactly what I did. That freedom of expression can best be summed up with the idea that there are no mistakes in art, just new opportunities to make the piece of art what it was originally intended to be before it was even started. From what I know about potters the same is true in this craft as well. We see a lump of clay the potter sees a beautiful piece of art that just hasn't been released from its confines yet. The job of the artist and the potter isn't to create an object in a color by number fashion, but more so in a free form approach. There is no such thing as a mistake in art and the same can be said about the life that God has given you to live. No mistakes.
     The Contemporary Christian singer songwriter Pat Barret has a new song out entitled "Canvas and Clay" which inspired me in writing today's FTM. In the song, Barret talks about how God made us with a purpose in mind and that purpose is ongoing, changing, and metaphorically being born anew each day. It is our responsibility to embrace the understanding that we have a purpose. Barret's words "You're the artist and the potter, I'm the canvas and the clay" reminds us that just as the artist makes what some would label a missed stroke on the canvas, the artist can only see a new direction for the piece of art. An addition to the original work that will only make it better than it was. Same with the potter, as the potter works with the clay on the wheel many times the original concept is altered by what could be mistaken as a mess up. Nothing could be further from the truth in the eyes of the potter. The clay is being formed and reformed in an ongoing process that isn't finished until the work is placed in the kiln and fired under immense heat and pressure. That's a whole other FTM in the making, but let's just say the heating process creates yet one more change in the original work, thus still working on the original piece of clay even under fire!
     What I need you to embrace from today's message is you are not a mistake. Your life's circumstances are not just by coincidence, there is a purpose for your life and thus there is a purpose for everything that happens in your life. When you see adversity, God sees an opportunity for growth. When you feel like a mistake, God sees you as an ever changing, always growing creation that has a purpose to serve. What we see as devastation God uses to make His creation exactly what it was intended to be from the first stroke on the blank canvas of our life.
     Our role in His creation of this masterpiece? It is our responsibility to never give up, to never think that a situation is final, but instead to trust that for every stroke of misfortune in our lives, there is an intentional outcome waiting to be released. Artists can't use erasers and such is the same in life. We can't change our past mistakes, errors, or misfortunes, and honestly, we don't need to think about that as an option. We need to allow God to use those mis-strokes to guide us to where we were intended to be. What others would see as a failure, we can choose to say to God, "You are the artist and the potter, we are your canvas and clay".
     Keep this in mind this week, you are never alone and God doesn't make mistakes! No matter how overwhelmed you may feel, or how devastated your life appears to be, if we will only trust in the knowledge that God has a purpose for each person's life, we will move forward working to release that masterpiece you were created to be.
"Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand." Isaiah 64:8
Coach Carter

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

To Get What You Want...

     What a wake up call I received this week. I'm not talking ATT or Verizon, I'm talking about an epiphany that has altered my mindset about many of the trials and circumstances I am either currently living in or those that I have overcome in life. As my daily prayer life has become a part of who I am, and as I have learned to go to God with thanks for what He has done in my life, I realized that during most of my prayers I am asking God for something. It may be strength, courage, perseverance, or wisdom, but whatever it is I guess I have always thought God was just going to pour it down out of Heaven much like the rain that nourishes plants and provides them with what they need to grow. Well, my "Aha" moment was this. Yes, God hears our pleas for strength or wisdom or whatever you may "want" in your life, but to get what you "want", you've got to do what it takes to get it.
     Let's take the virtue of patience as an example. We may desire to increase our ability to have patience with a loved one, a friend, or some type of situation at work. We go to God and make our request for patience known and then I guess we think all that we need to do at that point is to sit back and let the One that made us go to work on pouring some patience into us. I get a mental image of milk jugs on an assembly line making their way around to the milk dispenser and as each one reaches the delivery point it just sits there and the milk pours out exactly the amount needed to fill each jug to the lid. Sounds pretty easy huh? Unfortunately, fortunately that isn't how it works. You may have heard the old saying, "Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it", that's kinda the same principle here. If you ask for patience God doesn't work on the milk jug method of filling us with patience, instead to gain patience we have to go through the process of learning patience, giving patience, and enduring situations that build patience in us before we finally realize that we have become a more patient person.
   The training ground is what we would prefer to get a free pass around, yet that is exactly what we must have to actually gain the gift God wants to give. I've been enjoying the song "Let it Rain Is There Anyone" by Crowder and Mandisa lately and the gist of the song is to allow God to "rain" down on us the problems, issues, matters, and circumstances that will eventually create in us the person God wants us to become. There's one part of the song that really hits home with today's thought:

"So let it rain if You want
You are God and I am not
Let it rain, rain down on me
Every day whatever You want
Not my will but Yours, Lord
Let it rain, rain down on me"

 

If we truly want that strength to see us through each day, if we want wisdom to see us through a situation we are facing, or if we need God's courage to face those demons standing in front of us then we need to understand that to get what we want, we must go through what it takes to get there. 

     How could we gain strength without doing the workouts? Remember "No pain no gain"? Bodybuilders go through a tremendous amount of pain and sacrifice before they ever reach the level  professionals in that field strive to achieve. Same for us, when I pray for patience I must understand that I'm going to have to go through some pretty uncomfortable situations to reach my destination. Along the way, every situation I endure builds that patience I so desire to obtain. To acquire wisdom, I have to go through some experiences where I probably won't look very wise in my decision making, yet the lessons I will learn through those experiences is where the wisdom is actually obtained. This may have been a no-brainer for most of you, but for some reason this one just hit me full frontal this past week. 

     To close out today's time I'd like to share one last thought for the week. You may need forgiveness. You may be asking for forgiveness and just don't feel like you could ever be forgiven. Keep in mind, none of us really deserves forgiveness, yet God has a plan for each of us to receive forgiveness. Within that plan we have to be willing to forgive those that we may not want to forgive. Today's  principle holds true in this situation as well. How can we gain forgiveness if we are unwilling to forgive. Jesus shared a parable about a king that forgave a servant of a huge debt owed to the king, and then the same man went out and threw a man in prison for a small debt owed to him. The king found out and placed the first debtor in prison. (Matthew 18:21-35) Whatever we want, whatever we ask for, be reminded God will give it to you if it is truly what you want and what He believes you need, but it doesn't come in a neat little box with a pretty little bow on it. We have to be willing to do what needs to be done to receive the gift, so as for me, "Let it rain, let it pour, let it rain, rain down on me!" 

May God richly bless you today and every day going forward! 

Coach Carter 

 

"Try It, You Might Just Like It"

      
     This week families will gather around tables filled with turkey, ham, dressing, potatoes, gravy, and a plethora of other vegetables and of course their favorite desserts as well. I faintly remember as a child that some of those dishes just didn't really appeal to me and I would slide right by those as I made my way down the buffet style table. Today I don't experience that issue in the least, I love to try new foods and in many cases I'm asking for recipes so I can duplicate them in the future for family and friends. But as a child my memory serves me well, maybe because I've encountered the same experience with our own children, I was the kid that liked cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and pizza and the green stuff or any other bright red, orange, or mixed colors usually triggered a snarled nose and an emphatic "No thanks" when offered this fare. As I did with my children, my mother would systematically make her plead, "Chuck, just try one bite you might just like it" to which I would reluctantly open my mouth, pursed lipped, and take what would have amounted to a "nibble". In most cases my mother was right, of course, so I would end up adding a serving to my plate. As I grew older and my taste-buds matured I don't seem to have that problem anymore. If anything, I have to watch my plate to make sure I don't end up with an extra one! 
      Our walk of faith could be compared to this same mentality of "Try it you might just like it". Regardless of where you are currently on the faith spectrum, taking just a small bite could be the difference maker in your perspective on life. David was a man after God's own heart. From giant slayer, to refugee on the run, to King of Israel, David's faith ran a wide spectrum of reliance on God. In Psalm 34:8 King David proclaims, "Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!" Just take a bite David seems to be saying, give God a chance in your life's ups and downs. Some of us have a relationship with God established, but when it comes to life's challenges and struggles are you relying on Him for your strength and encouragement? Take a bite. When life gets tough, I mean really tough, do you give God your problems or are you going it alone? Try a bite. For those that don't have a relationship with Him, life is tough going it alone, my advice would be to try just a bite, you might find that you like it and you really needed it!
      As you sit down to eat your turkey and dressing this Thanksgiving, be sure to take the time to give thanks first. Give thanks for the relationship you have! If you don't have a personal relationship you can start one today, "try it, you might just like it!" 
Happy Thanksgiving every day!

Coach Carter