Drowning

That first step, it's a doozy,

Part of you may feel a little bit woozy.

On the water the boat behind you,

Feeling the water soak your shoe.

You hardly feel it,

Because your eyes are on the one who gives you the spirit.

It feels so good starting out,

Then you remember the storms and start to shout.

You begin the sink,

The water feeling like ink.

The water now above your head,

This is where you will be dead.

Why would God let this happen to you?

Does he want you to die now that you've been made brand new?

Under the water the voices begin,

Surprised you can hear them over the din.

You are not good enough,

God can't love you with all your stuff.

You are doomed to fail,

Each thought tearing at you like a nail.

Try and try to keep yourself afloat,

The thoughts pull you in like a moat.

Trying to swim away from it all,

While further and further you begin to fall.

Why not just stop?

You know you will always continue to drop.

A whisper....

Causes your mind to stir.

Let it go...

It's hard, I know.

Give me your hand,

I will help you to stand.

Trust.

Grasping, gripping,

The hand of the king.

Pulling you above, eyes on Him,

The storm suddenly and strangely dim.

Why did you doubt?

There's still no reason to pout.

Overwhelmed with love,

The storm calms enough for you to see a dove.

So, what does this poem mean to you? Where are your eyes fixed? How can you keep your eyes of Jesus in the storm?

Daily Motivation

    Have you ever needed to do something, but you didn't feel like doing it? Maybe you had a task at work that was unpleasant. Maybe your child or family member was acting up and you didn't want to fight it though you know you should. 

   Motivation is a hard thing. Zig Ziglar, an author and motivational speaker, says: "People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing that's why we recommended daily." Our everyday routines and problems can become mundane and tiring. However, it is important that we find motivation daily. We are not going to be at our best everyday as we are human. But we can do our best each day.

   1 Corinthians 15:58 says "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." Everything we do, we are doing it for God. That is our motivation. That is where we should be getting our motivation. If we don't focus on why we are doing things, then we can lose our motivation. 

   Where are you getting your motivation? How can you focus on your endgame each day?

The Trap of Complaining

   One of my favorite sayings is "attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference." All of my students and players know that if you have a good attitude you will get far with me. I say I will take a player who has a good attitude, puts in the effort, and is not that skilled any day over someone who thinks they know it all and is skilled.
   One thing I cannot stand is people who complain. I heard a story about complaining once that went like this. One day a man was walking down the street. He saw an old friend. They got to talking and were trying to catch up. The friend said, "I cannot believe schools nowadays kids just are not learning what they should be learning." The man said "at least kids can go to school to get an education." 
   Later on the friend said, "I was driving the other day and I got cut off by a trucker. People just have no common courtesy; he was just being an idiot. He had the whole other side of the road to drive on!" The man said, "I am just glad that you did not get in an accident and that you are safe."  
   The man was running out of things to say to his friend because he felt so drained so he said, "nice weather we are having. It has been so sunny out lately." His friend looked up at the sky and said, "yes it has been nice. But, it looks like it is going to rain soon. When it rains my body just tenses up so much and people are so gloomy."
   Can you see why I am telling you this story? This life will not be easy. But, that doesn't mean we cannot focus on the good. There are some people out there who choose to never look at the good. I don't know why some people are that way but if you've ever been around those people you know it is draining. We are Christians. We care called to be a light in the world. How can we be a light when we choose to complain all the time? If we complain all the time we are just creating more darkness. 
   If you are caught in the trap of complaining I encourage you to check your heart. In this world we will have trouble but we also have hope. Because of that hope, we know that any trial we go through will only be temporary. Am I saying that we cannot vent to others? No, I am saying that if you tell any Tom, Dick, or Harry about your problems over and over then you are either trying to get attention or you are hurting yourself. If you complain you will keep going back to complaining and people will not want to be around you. 
   If you know someone who is caught in the trap of complaining I encourage you to help that person be accountable. In a nice way go to your brother and tell him what you see. Use facts; do not say your opinion. If all else fails and your friend does not listen, to you or to others, pray for him. Pray that he is able to let go of contempt for others. Pray that he is able to see the good in all situations. Pray that he will cling to God no matter what trials come his way.
   So, will you choose to complain or will you be a light to the world? How can you stop complaining if you are caught in that trap? Will you pray for your brother if he is caught in the trap of complaining?

   1 Thessalonians 5:18, Ephesians 4:29, James 5:9

   Image from here. 

You're Awesome

    Okay story time because you know I love stories. Once there was a soccer player named Maria. She was a very passionate player and worked hard on the field. One time she went in to slide tackle someone and got injured. After that she showed up to practice even though she could not do any running because of her injury. Instead of just sitting on the sideline she did core and pushups while her teammates were working on the field. She continued to try to get better in the only way that she could at that point.

   A few weeks passed and I could tell she was starting to get discouraged. So, one day I looked at her and I said, "Maria, you're awesome." She gave me a nervous smile, laughed, and said "why?" I said, "just because you are." I could tell she didn't believe me which I found interesting. Then, each day I saw her I continued to remind her that she was awesome. This girl exuded confidence. However, it seemed like she had lost that confidence because her identity, in soccer, was taken away. Allow me to explain a bit more.

   Awe means "a feeling of amazement." Thus, awesome means "in awe and then some." Maria is awesome because of what she continued to do for her team even though she couldn't be on the field playing the game she loved. She is also awesome because of who she is in God. What do I mean by that? 

   1 Peter 2:9 says: "However, you are chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, people who belong to God. You were chosen to tell about the excellent qualities of God, who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." Is God awesome? I assume you said yes. He is our father. You belong to God. He chose you. He loves you. He is amazed by every little detail about you. He made you unique. He created you to be awesome and show his awesome light to others. If God loves us and thinks we are awesome then why don't we believe it? 

   Here's the problem with us not believing that we are awesome. If we doubt ourselves, then we are doubting God and his love for us. That's not to say we should walk around cocky and prideful. It does mean that we should have confidence in the Lord and who he made us to be. We are awesome because an awesome God made us unique. Do you believe that?

Image from here.

Righteous: New Years

   Each year I give myself a new spiritual focus. Of course I work on everything but I have found that having one specific focus helps me improve in character areas I need to work on. This year I was trying to focus on righteousness.
  Now, you may be thinking "righteousness is not an easy thing to improve in." You are correct. But I was following many different verses. 
Matthew 5:6 says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." I don't know about you but when I am hangry it is scary. I just need something to eat or I feel like the Hulk. If I was that hungry for righteousness what would my life loom like?
   Answering that question was far from easy. I knew it was impossible to be righteous without Jesus. I mean, he is the only one who can make us pure of heart. But that does not mean we are not to try to follow him still. Following him is not easy many times.
   Throughout this year I had many challenges with this challenge. There were times where I wanted to watch something that I know God would not have approved of. There were times I made a mistake and had to fess up to it. Choosing right was not easy but it was worth it. I learned much about myself and the Lord this year.
   So, I encourage you to hunger and thirst for righteousness as well. And maybe you could also come up with a spiritual resolution for this year as well.

An Unexpected Story: Christmas

     I enjoy stories. I like, reading them writing them, and hearing them from others. Nowadays many stories, whether they be movies or books, have become predictable. However, there is one story in the history of the world that had a plot twist so unexpected that no one saw it coming: the story of Christmas.

   Many times, stories this unexpected are untrue. But not only is the Christmas story true, it is the beginning of the most important story in history. Think about it: if you were God, which you are not but hypothetically, how would you save those you created?

   Maybe you would come down and declare yourself ruler over all that way you could fix human's mistakes. Or you could come down with the sword of justice and destroy all who oppressed your people. You could have just left them alone to figure out on their own how to save themselves. After all, they did betray you and choose to sin. Perhaps you could just end them all and start again? Would that be the answer?

   Whatever you think you would do if you were in God's shoes, I am pretty sure you would not have done what God did. He sent his Son to become one of us. Jesus went through everything we went through. He chose not to sin. He followed his father's word. And he showed us his father's love. Then, he chose to die on the cross for us. He became the perfect sacrifice so we could spend eternity with him.

   See, if God would have come down and declared himself ruler, we would not have free will and thus there would be no love. If God would have come down to destroy those who oppressed his people, then he would have killed those he loved. And only the Israelites, who also did not always follow God, would be alive today. If God would have left us alone, we would be dead and have no hope. And, obviously, if God would have ended us all then it would have broken his heart because he loves us.

   That's what the Christmas and Easter stories are about: love. God sent his son in a unique way to save us because he loves us. Anyone else may have tried to fix the world through force which is not love. And God is love. 

   So, this Christmas I encourage you to think about the Christmas story. Think about how special it is. Think about how God sent his son FOR YOU. He did it because he loves you. He wants to be with you forever and he gave up his Son so he could be with you. It is an unexpected and amazing story, isn't it?

Are You a Victim or a Victor?

   Have you ever met a person who seems to complain about everything? I am talking about a person who could've won a new car but instead of being thankful all he thinks about is the gas and insurance he has to pay for. Okay so maybe not that extreme but you get what I'm saying.
   I have seen this on the soccer field, and I'm sure you have as well if you've ever played a sport. In soccer we typically played each team twice. If we lost badly to a team we knew we would get another chance to play them. The problem was if a team crushed us, swore at us, or hurt many of us we looked back at that first game and thought "there is no way we can beat them."
   We were thinking like victims instead of victors. Victims look back at what happened to them. Victors look ahead at what they are going to do.
   It is a mental choice to decide if you want to be a victim or a victor. As I grew I began to realize that I decided what my attitude was. I could look back at how bad we played and say "we are going to get crushed again." Or, I could say "it doesn't matter how we played last time. We can do better this time."
   The time in between games was a time of growth. Our team always grew, we just had to decide if we would push past what happened last time or not.
   It is the same way with life. You decide if you will look back at what happened to you and sulk or maybe not even try. You also decide if you will press on, grow, and keep trying no matter what.
   I don't know about you, but I would want to be a victor rather than a victim. But, that means we must be prepared. We need to be in the word and spend time with God. That way, when situations come up, we are ready for victory.
   So, will you choose to look back at what happened to you or will you look ahead to the victories? Will you be prepared for challenges that come your way?

   1 Corinthians 9:24 and Hebrews 12:1