Line Charts, Moving One Direction or the Other

Let us make an assumption that if our lives were on a line chart or graph we would constantly be moving in one direction or the other as each day passes. Try to get that visual as we get started today. Straight line an arrow on each end of the line pointing towards an unknown end, and then several key events plotted along the line representing milestones that have occurred throughout your journey in life. Usually on this particular graph there is a zero in the middle and the numbers usually increase as you move to the right or they move the negative zone as you move towards the left. Ample description for our purposes today. 

Now think about what moves us along life's line chart one direction or the other, would it be safe to say positive choices equal a move to the right end of the spectrum, and concurrently not so good decisions would move us to the left or negative side of the equation. Simplistic as this may sound, we go about our lives with the idea in mind that the things we do don't really have an impact on our lives now or in the future. Well if the data we collect from studying a graph such as this is correct, the simple math of the matter would provide a different response. 

As we delve in deeper please note that I am in no way judging anyone with this simple observation, why truth be told, I would probably be the one with the largest variance of plots on the line if it came down to a statistical count anyway. So, how do we move on life's line graph? In life, choices either move us closer to God or adversely further away from God. That old saying "what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger" aptly applies here. Whatever happens to us, is in no way greater than He who is in us! (I John 4:4) 

What we perceive as good, or what we deem as bad is all relative in the scope of which direction we are moving on the spectrum of closer to God or vice versa. On the surface, nobody would say that Joseph being thrown into a pit and then sold off into slavery by his brothers was a good thing to have happen in your life. Add being lied about by his boss’s wife and then imprisonment, and it would be hard to say the events in Joseph's life were aiding him in moving closer to God, but they did. Joseph trusted that God had a plan, although he didn't understand the plan, He believed in the One that created the plan. Eventually, Joseph's trust and faith moved him to the place where God had intended Joseph to be, second in command of Egypt and all the lands it controlled. Would it not be fair to say that Joseph's decision to stay the course and continue to serve God moved him to the right of the line graph closer to God and provided Joseph with the strength to carry on and move forward or to the right of the line graph?

Yet not everyone on their line graph of life moves in the right direction. Consider Cain, son of Adam and Eve, living in the lap of creation, yet jealous of his own brother Able. Cain's jealousy stemmed from Able's sacrifice to God of a lamb, whereas Cain had brought crops to be sacrificed. God preferred the sacrifice of the lamb and the rest of the story is what it is. Cain's choice to get angry and take revenge out on Able caused Cain a lifetime of pain and struggle, moving him further away from God, and ultimately passing that legacy on to his posterity. 

The bottom line is in each of these scenarios the Bible character had a choice to make, and that choice either pulled them away from God and His plan for their life, or the person gravitated closer to God and in essence became more like God. Choices move us one way or the other on our own line chart. As we make the decision to spend more time in God's Holy Bible reading, reflecting, and studying we are naturally going to move towards God, it will happen without you even really trying. Thus, it is safe to say that as we move our lives away from God or if we never strive to know God, and we put our efforts into pleasing self over others, we move further away from Him. 

Life is one choice after another. How you look at adversity and affliction in your life is a choice that will either draw you closer to God, or it can completely do the opposite and pull you down into a pit of despair and a landslide of destructive choices. The good part is the choice is yours. Nobody said life was going to be easy, matter of fact struggles are what make us stronger if we make the choice to grow in our conflicts instead of submitting to the burden of conflict and moving ourselves further away from the only one that can save us from ourselves and the negative mental state we are headed towards. 

As we are preparing to start a new year take a moment to verify where you are on your line chart of life. After self-reflecting, if you don't like where you are on the spectrum of life, you and only you can make that change. Choose life, choose God, and make a concerted effort to move closer to God. Move to the light of hope and you'll find yourself on the right end of your life's line chart. 

Looking forward to the New Year 2021!

Coach Carter

No Free Lunch

 

I read a devotion this week that built off the premise that there is no such thing as a "free lunch". I liked it so much I thought I would shape it a little more Flat Tire style and share my takeaways with you. The idea of the old cliché "There's no such thing as a free lunch" centers around the fact that regardless of whether your meal today was free to you, somebody or in many cases lots of somebodies paid for it. I mean we can all agree that meals aren't just falling down out of the sky, right? "Buy one get one free", "Free to the next ten callers", or "Take one they're free while they last" are all slogans we have heard over the years and oh boy when we hear the word "free" we flock to it! I guess the question is, is a free lunch actually free?

Well if you adhere to the cliché, the quick answer is an emphatic "No". The support for that summation is readily available, which makes the case for "No such thing as a free lunch" that much more plausible. Think about it, if someone buys your lunch today it was free to you, but only because your friend purchased it. Let's advance that a bit and put it in the context of programs that provide "free" or reduced priced meals to those that will benefit from the assistance, are those meals free? Obviously, none of us believe that those meals are bona-fide free, yet to those in need receiving the meal it is without an upfront cost to the recipient. So maybe it is free? If I receive it and I don't have to pay for it, would that not be the definition of free?  On the surface that is true, but the underlying theme of "no free lunch" is that somewhere, someone paid the price due for that meal.  The farmer paid for that meal with his hands and the land he purchased that produced the crops. The company that manufactured the processed products in that meal paid their workers to produce the food. The restaurant or person cooking the meal had to pay for the ingredients that make the meal, and then if by chance you received that meal for free someone paid the price for everything that went into that meal from the farm to the table. It definitely wasn't free.

Hopefully everyone knows where I'm headed with this one. My salvation is free. The mercy and grace that has been given to me that allowed me to be forgiven for my sins is free. God gave it to me even when I did not deserve it. That is a gift, much like a free lunch wouldn't you agree? So, when we are talking about a free lunch and the understanding that it really can't be free, how does that fit into the notion that we receive our redemption from the sinful life we have led free? 

We can work and serve, serve and give, give and pray, yet none of that in itself will buy our salvation. In Ephesians 2:8-9 Paul explains that, "... by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." So, the work we do is a by-product of the faith we possess. What then is our faith supposed to be? Our faith is the understanding that God, the all-knowing, all seeing God of all creation, sent His Son to live with us and then die for us before ascending back to His Father so that we could be forgiven of our sins. If, and only if we believe. That is where our faith equals the free lunch we've been discussing. 

There is no such thing as a free lunch, I believe we can all agree on that. Someone has to pay the price at some point in the process. For us our salvation is free. We can ask for forgiveness and we are then forgiven, but if we are forgiven we also understand that the gift cost Jesus his death on the cross. That certainly equals a price paid so that we can be forgiven. The free side of this equation is that we don't have to have a list of things we have done to pay for redemption and salvation. God offers it to us for free and then we serve Him by serving others, thus our works basically are an outcome of our faith not a price to pay to receive God's free lunch!

Believe, submit, and then accept. The lunch is free, you just have to come get it! My prayer is that each person, each family, and all those that you come in contact this holiday season will accept God's offer and the free gift of salvation that Jesus paid for you and for me!

Merry Christmas, 

Coach Carter

Day 2133

 

I've been on a 30-day challenge for a while now, and each morning for the past 2137 days I have logged the days of my challenge as I go. Well on day 2133 this week, I suddenly paused and contemplated for a minute about the uniqueness of this particular day. As I entered my prayer time, I asked God to not let me take for granted this day that had been given to me. I'd like to share an excerpt from that prayer with you for our Flat Tire moment today:

"Lord, as I wrote down "Day 2133" a thought ran across my mind, "Do I take for granted that tomorrow will be "Day 2134" and the next "Day 2135"? Or, do I just say tomorrow will be and then go on? Do I write today's "Day 2133" and then not give thought to how unique this day is, how blessed I am to have this day? Father the uniqueness of today is that it has never happened before, and most importantly it will never happen again. What do I need to do today Lord that will allow me to serve you and give this day you have given me purpose? You call us to serve you today not on Sunday and then hang that hat on the wall until next Sunday. No, instead you call us to serve you today, the day that we have been given, "Today is the day that the Lord hath made I will rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24) If I am truly glad in it then let me show that gladness, let others hear it in my voice and more so in my actions. May I step up, step out, and do something today!... Amen"

The crisis of the global Coronavirus pandemic is real, children go to bed at night cold and hungry, those who have thoughts of harming themselves or act on those thoughts are on the rise, the drug epidemic is as much of a pandemic if not more than COVID-19, and one out of two marriages are ending in divorce. That is just a sampling of the myriad issues and concerns that are running rampant in our communities, cities, states, and around the world. Pick you place and make a mark. 

Our superintendent of schools is giving a drink tumbler to all employees in our school district this Christmas. Inscribed on the tumbler is this fitting quote from Esther 4:14 "Perhaps you were born for such a time as this." Perhaps I was born to do something on "Day 2133"? Perhaps YOU were born to do something today that needs to be done? Perhaps you are the one that has an answer to one of the countless problems and issues that are facing our students, our parents, our co-workers, or our neighbors. The apostle Paul encourages us to "Bear ye one another's burdens", and the prophet Isaiah shared his declaration of service over self with this reply to our Savior, "Who should I send as a messenger to my people? Who will go for us?" And I said, "Lord, I'll go! Send me." Isaiah 6:8. 

Each day is unique, this past Monday was day 2133 of a challenge that started almost six years ago, yet I am not promised tomorrow, I have been given today, so today is when I have to step up, step out, and do something about whatever it is you and I were individually created to do. You won't realize what that something is if you don't set out to find it. You won't make the difference you were created to make if you don't step out today. Someone's life, may depend on you taking that first step today. Today hasn't happened until you live it, and tomorrow isn't guaranteed to any of us, so I challenge you today to realize that YOU were made for such a unique day as this, live it well, live it out!

Coach Carter

 

Your Job or Your Work

 

You may have read the title to this week's FTM and thought what's the difference? Well, the semantics are in the same ballpark, yet if we dig a little deeper there is a wide gulf between the two. Let's look at these two words and see if we can clarify and prioritize where your bang for the buck is going to come. 

Goal one for me as a Career and Technical Education supervisor in our school system is to assist each and every student that graduates from our high schools to have post-secondary and career plans in place. I tell groups of students of all ages that if you are fortunate enough to be doing what you are really good at and something that you like to do, and something that people will pay you to do, then you probably won't ever feel like you are working! I know because I love my job as an educator. I have been involved in education for almost 30 years and each morning I wake up, I bounce out of bed and am eager to head into my job. Not going to sit here and tell you there haven't been "those days" along the way, but overall I am one happy educator! 

So that is my job. I have been a classroom teacher, an elementary school administrator, and now a district wide supervisor and each has been rewarding and all three have enabled me to support my family financially. That's what a job is supposed to do, make living possible. A job provides us with a certain standard of living based on our income which allows us to buy the things we need and also enjoy the little extras in life along the way. Definition of job: A paid position of employment. So, what's the difference in the phrase "your work" to the this definition of "your job" you ask?  Let's move in for the takeaway today.

I heard a segment on NPR's Story Court the other day that caused me to draw this distinction between a job and the work you do. In it the narrator shared a story about his grandmother and the sacrifices she had made throughout her life working to support her family. Lola, the grandmother in the story didn't finish high school, because of an untimely death in her immediate family that created the need for her take on a job. Throughout her life, she took several hard jobs just to provide for her children. As a widow and sole provider for her children, this "uneducated" mother was only qualified for laborious jobs that paid little, so she often took on multiple jobs to make the "ends meet". Later in life, she moved in with her daughter and grandson's family and still cooked food items to sale to supplement the family income, one more job that Lola had over her life. The key moment in this brief two minute segment is when the grandson, Tan, noted that what he had learned from and gleaned from his grandmother was not necessarily about her jobs, but about the love and dedication to her family that she had demonstrated over the years. Tan's takeaway is best described by his statement, "We leave our job at the end of the day, but what we leave behind at the end of our life is the product of our work." Wow, that hit home really quick. 

We all have jobs, at least I hope you have a job that provides for you and/or your family. We each also have an ongoing work that we are doing or should be doing. Our jobs provide sustenance for the day to day life we live. Our work, on the other hand, should provide a legacy that will last long after we leave this world. Work ethic, persistence, perseverance, grit, resiliency, integrity, compassion, empathy, love all of these should be the byproduct of the work you are doing. Above any of these there should be an underlying theme of faith. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" Hebrews 11: 1 Our work here on earth should have a direct correlation to our faith. We hope in spite of circumstances that appear overwhelming. We provide hope when others give up and quit. Our hope should not be in man, but instead our hope is in direct proportion to our belief in a higher power. Believing in God means that regardless of what happens to us, it could never be bigger than He who lives in us! 

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho it's off to work I go, every day, every minute of each day God grants me to live! Leave a legacy that will encourage and motivate those you live with, work with, and share life with each day. Make the world a better place because of the work you did while you were a part of it! 

Coach Carter

We Are Her Legacy NPR link

Driving Into the Fog

 

Although this Thanksgiving was a great deal smaller in terms of family members in attendance, we were able to give thanks for all we have been given and all we have to be thankful for. One of those blessings is our little angel Ivy, who was able to join us for the holiday down from Virginia. The hardest part of her coming to visit is having to say goodbye until the next time she gets down this way. The physical challenge of Ivy's visits is the drive up Interstate 81 to the Lynchburg area and the immediate turn around return trip, basically a nine-hour drive. Believe me it is worth every second of the drive! 

Our normal routine for the return trip is to get up super early and arrive at our meeting spot before noon. Well this particular trip was a little different than others we have made over the past ten years’ compliments of a heavy fog advisory alert I received on my phone Friday morning. Normally, the early morning drive is coupled with a beautiful sunrise which is a joy to view as it illuminates the morning sky, although that same sunrise also creates somewhat of a driving hazard as the sun glares directly into driver's eyes as you barrel east up the interstate.  That was not to be the case on this particular drive. 

About the time I crossed the Tennessee/Virginia border patches of fog had settled among the peaks and valleys of the farms, rivers, hills and valleys. I also noticed that the normal morning sun hazard was suddenly not a driving hazard. I thought to myself, "Well this fog issue might actually work out to my benefit, I may not have to deal with the sunlight in my face." That thought dissipated much quicker than the fog as I drove deeper into what eventually became a thick grayish, blanket enveloping the whole landscape. My driving speeds dramatically slowed and I honestly could not see twenty feet in front of my car. It did not take very long to realize I was in a very precarious predicament. What I had thought was going to be a relief from the morning sun in my eyes, turned into a dark cloud that hindered my vision and created extremely dangerous conditions for driving and the safety of my precious granddaughter. Fortunately, on this particular day the fog lifted soon thereafter and we were able to resume our trip unhindered by the dense fog, nor the morning sun angled directly in my line of vision. 

As the danger subsided my thoughts as they normally do began to wander around a bit, and as in many cases, today's Flat Tire Ministries Thought was berthed. The dread of the sun beaming in my vision path led me to believe that the fog which hid the sun's light was going to be a positive, but as I drove deeper into the fog my vision became impaired to the point that I literally couldn't see at all. What I thought was an answer to my original problem quickly became a far greater problem with dire consequences immersed in the morning blanket of fog. That's how life and the decisions we make are so many times. We take things into our own hands and believe we are capable of solving problems all on our own. What starts out as taking prescription medicines for the pain associated with a painful surgery recovery is acceptable, allowing those pain pills to become an addiction that destroys your life is a masked danger that lurks around much like the blanket of fog I encountered. Sharing your marital struggles with a co-worker is okay on the surface, yet the potential extra marital affair may loom right around the bend in the road, or financial matters that start out as "just this one time" can land one into a future of embezzlement or fraud. You can see how the foggy conditions of our choices can become dire as fast as my vision was blanketed by that morning mist. The biggest danger we are confronted with is the risk of driving through life without a relationship of faith in our God. 

It is possible to drive through life without a relationship with God (not advisable). Inconveniences rise up and we make adjustments like lowering a sun visor which can provide relief from the problem, but does not remove the problem. We drive into the fog thinking we are getting relief from what is hindering us, only to find that we are now completely engulfed in darkness and our sight has been completely obstructed. We then are driving around blindly, hoping we are in the right lane and that there are no dangerous obstacles in our paths ahead. We need the sun. Just like we need the Son. Leaning on, learning from, and standing with God allows us to see even when the fog of life's problems rise up around us. Will our problems dissipate like the fog did on me the other day? Not necessarily, but knowing that you are driving through life with God inside you and all around you gives you a sense of comfort that nothing else in life can do. Even when I am facing the fog of adversity in my life, I am confident and assured that the illumination of God's love will enlighten my path and protect me along this journey. "We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!" I Corinthians 13:12 (The Message Bible) We do not have to remain lost in the fog, God is the light that lifts the fog and clears our path, find God and stay His course. 

Coach Carter

 

Tested by Fire

 The key step in purifying raw silver is the smelting process, which removes the impurities of the silver under the extremely high temperatures of a forged fire. As the heat intensifies the "cream" kinda of rises to the top you might say. This intense heat for our purposes today can be defined as adversity or affliction. We are just like silver, in our raw state we are full of impurity, yet if we are able to "stand the heat" instead of getting out of the kitchen, the end result is a valuable servant capable of withstanding the fire of life's trials and tribulations. 

Psalm 66:10 is an acknowledgement of this process and a statement of gratitude in the presence of adversity, "You have tested us, oh God; You have purified us like silver melted in a crucible." The current state of this pandemic could very well be the fire that was meant to test you, and through the challenges and uncertainty you are being forged into something that wasn't there before. God takes what we see as being a negative and uses it to build us up to where we are better able to do His work. The key is we must be willing to grow through the process and that is where we find the crux of the matter. 

We all want life to go along smoothly and our schedules to be exactly what we planned them out to be as each day unfolds. Wouldn't life be nice if it were so? My response is a direct "NO". Although it is easy when life is going smoothly, I would not have started writing Flat Tire Ministries if it had not been for the excessive number of literal and figurative flat tires I experienced a few years ago. Through those experiences, and life was not easy then, I grew, I was purified in a sense. The weaknesses in my life that caused me to rely on self instead of God had to be removed. My self-reliance and my self-centered view of how life was impacting me personally had to be purified to a place where I released adversity is a tool and the growth I experience through that adversity allows me to serve others over self.  Moreover, I relish in those moments because I am assured that I am not facing life's storms and disappointments alone. God is with me. “Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction”. Isaiah 48:10

Being tested by fire comes in such a wide array of life experiences relationships, finances, health issues, physical attacks or abuse, setbacks, set ups, knock downs, and kicked arounds all qualify as fires that can be a valuable part of our lives if only we can pluck out the opportunity from the adversity, and then purify it into a silver aspect of who we are. Does it feel good? I don't even need to answer that one, of course not. Do you think a little baby attempting to walk says "Wow that really feels good when I fall down and bust my chin on the floor"? Yet if that baby doesn't get back up armed with the experience and understanding of what made her fall the last time she may never learn to walk, which leads to skipping, which leads to running, jumping, and eventually standing still giving thanks for the ability to walk where He leads us to go! Praise God not for the adversity, but for the growth that we can experience through the fire if only we will allow it to purify us for His purpose. "... And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." Romans 5:2-5 

You were created for such a time as this. That doesn't mean that you will thrive through whatever "fire" you are facing today. That my friend is your choice. You may choose to wallow in it, make excuses through it, or just lay down and hope to endure it, but I won't do that. The purifying of who I am has taught me that only when the fire gets hot, does the growth occur. Do I enjoy the flames of adversity? No. Do I understand that God won't give me more than I can stand and through any adversity or affliction that comes my way God will be there with me? ( I Corinthians 10:13) Yes, and that is the difference. If you are reading this thinking "Yeah right, you just don't know what I'm going through, if you were dealing with what I'm dealing with you wouldn't be so sure about this whole idea of growth through suffering." And you would be correct I don't know your personal circumstances, but you may not know what your neighbor has endured and has grown through just the same. It is your choice to grow through and purify your mind, soul, and body by way of the fires of life. Earlier, I mentioned the word resilience. Just the other day I was listening to a podcast about success and it was stated that one of the most predictable qualities of someone's level of success is resilience. Being able to get back up again, learn from our mistakes, and then push forward helping others to get back up again is exactly what resilience is all about. Use the fires of today to create the silver inside you for tomorrow!

Coach Carter

 

Veteran's Day Recognizing Sacrifice

 

This week we recognized those that have given of themselves to serve our country and defend/protect the freedoms that we enjoy as citizens of the greatest country on earth, the United States of America. As I thought about the sacrifices of our veterans and those that are serving in the military today, I had to stop for a moment and think about how relevant the term sacrifice is for all Americans and really everyone around the world as we battle the Coronavirus. I can rest assured that the sacrifices that we are making in our daily lives do not equal or even come close in comparison to the sacrifices made by our military veterans, so I would like to spend just a moment today, giving us all something to think about before we blurt out again that we are making grand sacrifices in the pandemic war that is being waged around the earth.

Call it WWIII if you like, but please don't compare it to the two previous World Wars. Talk about the things you are having to endure like avoiding large social gatherings, having to eat take out instead of dining in, or maybe even the most controversial sacrifice being asked of all Americans to wear facial coverings, but please think about your use of the word sacrifice and stop. The World Wars, Vietnam, the Korean War, and the extended years of war and conflict in the Middle East have impacted the lives of thousands and hundreds of thousands of young men and women across this great country we call home. In most cases these heroes made the voluntary choice to serve their country, in some cases our government volunteered young men to serve by means of the draft. Regardless of the means by which they ended up serving I feel pretty confident saying they endured so much more than we will ever be asked to "sacrifice" during our battle with this virus. 

In no way, a comparison worthy to be made, but during the Vietnam War nearly 60,000 American soldiers made the ultimate sacrifice of laying down their life for their country. In less than one year the COVID-19 virus has taken the lives of well over 200,000 Americans and counting. I was a young preteen during the Vietnam era, but being a history major and just knowing the history of that time period, it would be fair to say there was some controversy surrounding our reason for being in that region of the world. The loss of life that our country sacrificed in that war, not to mention the number of lives that have long been impacted by what these patriots endured in that war, should make most of us red faced in shame for talking about the discomfort of wearing a mask to "possibly" protect the life of another person that might be at risk more than yourself. I won't even go into all the "sacrifices" you and I are making in this war that we are fighting today because they are not sacrifices. More like inconveniences than anything remotely similar to a true sacrifice. Those serving our country in the medical and educational fields are making sacrifices by exposing themselves in our hospitals and schools placing their health on the line each moment that they are working, providing health care to a certain percentage of individuals that have stated they won't stay home and sacrifice going out to eat Friday night. Educators are faced with classrooms packed with students whose parents are not wearing a mask, because they are Americans and nobody is going to tell them that they have to wear a "diaper" on their face. Something to consider, if the men and women who we recognize on Veteran's Day and even more so those we remember on Memorial Day had said I'm not going to serve my country because it will mean I have to sacrifice some aspect of their life, or even considered the possibility that they might very well never return to American soil again where would the "land of the free" and "home of the brave" be found today? Shame on us, we are spoiled. Notice I'm not pointing fingers, I own this myself as well as each and every American should!

I could go on, but deep down inside, do I really need to go further? If you can't see that the small sacrifices you are being asked to make in the effort to fight an unknown enemy that we are finding out more about each day that passes, then this message probably still won't make a difference to you. But if you won't think about the sacrifice you are being asked in comparison to the men and women who have defended and are defending our country today, then maybe you will consider this last comparison. God sent His son to die for the very people that would eventually hang Jesus on a cross. Jesus knew that He was about to be tortured, shamed, and then murdered on a cross that he was nailed to, and the only thing He asked His father in Heaven was to "let this cup pass" if possible, but if not then "Thy will be done".  Matthew 26:39 As Jesus was taking His last breath He cried out to His father, "Forgive them for they know not what they do" Luke 23:34. Love is sacrificial. Not love of self, love for those that you disagree with, love for those you serve, love for thy neighbor, and love for all mankind over love of self. The Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" Matthew 7:12, certainly does apply here. God gave His son knowing what the outcome was going to be. Jesus willingly went to the cross to die for YOUR sins today. Jesus died for all the sins I have committed against Him and He did so without a question about what that sacrifice was going to be for himself. 

If I complain about my french fries being cold because I am unable to eat inside a restaurant, if I dare refuse to wear a mask in public because "I don't want to and I don't have to", or even if I deny the reality of a virus that has ravaged the world and continues to be a war that we have not yet won, I certainly hope that I won't deny that the men and women who have fought, and in many instances given their life for me sacrificed so much more than I will probably ever be asked to sacrifice. I pray that as we place men and women, boys and girls, health care personnel, educators, cashiers, waiters, and all other public servants at risk because we don't want to be inconvenienced, we will stop and consider the sacrifice our Lord and Savior made for each of us and then think about what our "sacrifices" are in comparison. 

May God Bless America, I for one do not deserve His mercy nor His grace!

Coach Carter