Failure to ‘pass on’ the fundamentals

For me, one of the most exciting things about being a dad is watching my children compete. I’m a competitive person who sometimes allows my individuality to get in the way of simply enjoying the moment. As a dad, I have no control over my son’s competitive level or interest. This is a constant battle for me that I daily have to surrender for a solid ‘peace of mind’.

Last year, my oldest son began playing basketball. I assistant coached him in his first recreation league. It was bittersweet. Our team had the league best record and won the tournament championship; however, my boy struggled. He was extremely frustrated with the complexity of basketball. Quite honestly, I believed he was relieved when the season ended.

Unfortunately for him, his time of sitting around during the summer had ended. In addition to the usual Christian and educational/fun camps, he was going to attend a few basketball camps. He, like most young boys, needed direction and a challenge.

The summer of 2012 was productive for his development. He, his mom, and I were pleased and noticed a difference, physically and socially. Fortunately, he was ready for additional challenges. He was granted the opportunity to play with more developed players last fall. Again, he fought to solidify an identity on a winning team; however, his liking for this sport grew. Also, I struggled watching him struggle. I clearly had to accept responsibility that his lack of basketball knowledge was clearly an indication of my failure to ‘pass on’ the fundamentals.

My disappointment centered on my child’s reflection of me. Athletically competing through college is not a badge I have chosen to wear publicly, but it is something that I am proud of. I believe that my children have the capacity to achieve the same. I had clearly failed to communicate something that is important to me.

Fortunately, God is faithful in providing moments that reflect what you have taught. Throughout all the struggles of my son developing into a player, many faith talks involving scriptures occurred. His battle made God’s Word more relevant and applicable. Also, the essentials of God’s plan were easier translated throughout his individual victories and tribulations. To simply put it, I believe that God has become more real to him.

After his most recent season ended, my wife and I took the time to tell him our individual faith ‘come to Jesus’ stories. The theme of our stories noticeably was repentance… turning away from our sin and towards God’s plan. He was visibly surprised and inquisitive about our past and the direction we WERE headed. I believed this impacted him further. Within weeks following this experience, he walked into our bedroom genuinely expressing sorrow for unconfessed sins prompting his mom to pray with him. The next day, I had a major revelation.

My son has yet to master dribbling, shooting, or defending, but he has successfully demonstrated one of the fundamental requirements to having a good relationship with God - repenting. As a Christian father, that is truly something to be proud. I can quickly think of a handful of Christian parents who dream of their child sorrowfully repenting.

This is what we have been and are working towards – the eternal, not the temporary.

… the training of the body has a limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for present life and also for the life to come. 1 Timothy 4:8 HCSB

Oh, how I love seeing him score, but his relationship with God has and will always be more important. I pray that God will always hold me accountable to this truth.

                                                                                                                                         

If you desire to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, please click on the link below.

http://www.intouch.org/resources/all-things-are-new/content/topic/how_do_i_accept_jesus_as_my_savior_all_things

The Walking Dead

The other night, I searched through Netflix looking for a new series to watch. I love suspense-filled dramas and action, so typically I look in these genres first. I stumbled across a 4.5 star rated television series, The Walking Dead. The show description seemed interesting and worthy of my ‘lying in the bed’ downtime; so I gave it ‘a shot’. Wow! It provided quite the entertainment. By the second episode, I was intensely grabbing my phone with sweaty hands, while kicking my feet and loudly calling the victims ‘fools’ for not doing what I told them.


After my wife had completed her nightly ritual, she jumped in bed, leaned over for a goodnight kiss, and quietly asked if I wanted to pray. Absolutely, it’s the norm. We always start with thanksgiving, and then move to specific requests of needs for us and others. Occasionally, we will pray for a good night’s sleep; as I did this particular night. Well, guess what, I didn’t sleep well at all. For some strange reason, I dreamt of zombies all night. “Come on God, I prayed for rest. Why didn’t you deliver ‘God of Peace’? I had to work all day on 6 hours of interrupted sleep.”

Rhetorical question alert: Why was my prayer for rest not fulfilled?

I was delusional to thought that sleep would be peaceful. My mental state was affected by a bad decision. There’s no way of reaping long-term benefits from polluting your mind, body, spirit, soul, and relationships. Prayer isn’t a guaranteed solution to override bad choices. However, godly living can prevent most, if not all, miserable results.

If you desire health in any area of your life, start with foundational principles which lead to success. Verbally professing a conditional promise of God (scripture) with contradicting actions is pointless. Yes, faith is the substance of things hope for; however, praying for (something) when your lifestyle reflects (nothing) is absurd. For example, overindulging in areas, which God has given us freedom through Jesus Christ to enjoy, can lead to death/disaster. There are so many examples which I could provide from my own past mistakes to current ones. We daily face crossroads were the decision to place God’s foundation first is optional. Not knowing what the bible says about life is a personal problem. In life, ignorance is not bliss. What you don’t know – can hurt you. You may be praying for something, that the bible has already informed is the opposite will of God. Yet, your lack of discipline to get the information you need is holding you back from acting on and receiving God’s promise.

According to Genesis, God breathe his life into man and he became a living creature. God is still breathing through his word (the Bible). If you are not allowing it to change your lifestyle, you could become ‘The Walking Dead’.

Start here for foundation regarding your spiritual health.
http://www.intouch.org/resources/all-things-are-new/content/topic/how_do_i_accept_jesus_as_my_savior_all_things

Charge It 2 da Game

Ever had a time, were you simply didn’t want to get out of bed; when you just wanted to turn off the alarm instead of hitting snooze multiple times? Have you ever wanted to punch (in the face) someone who tailgated you, while obnoxiously honking their horn eventually cutting you to arrive at their destination 15 seconds earlier? You may not have experienced these scenarios, but I’m confident that there have been times throughout your life when your emotions almost got or did get the best of you.

If ‘old me’ could go back in time and talk with ‘young me’, one of the main topics addressed would be not to base my decisions by my emotions. Some of the biggest mistakes in life, I’ve made, were created by how I felt at the moment. Without using discernment and looking at the obvious end results, I began a many failed pursuit. Some people believe that experience is a good teacher; however, looking at the world’s current affairs and society’s repeated offenses; I would strongly argue with this school of thought.In most cases, deciding not to act on your initial emotions leads to a better outcome. Unfortunately, this is slowly becoming a lost art. The discipline and will power needed to forgo an immediate response is becoming extinct. This principle is needed to attain a sustainable quality of life.

One of my biggest struggles as a young adult was spending money (that I didn’t have). In 1998, there was a rap artist by the name of Silkk The Shocker. He released an album entitled ‘Charge It 2 da Game’. This became my slogan when I used my credit card to purchase something that I needed to maintain an image, ‘Charge it to the game!’ Without going into great detail of this end result, anyone who owns a credit card knows how this story can and will conclude. Luckily for me, I had an epiphany and became really good friends with a Dave Ramsey fanatic, who encouraged me to pay off and stay out of debt. Is this emotionally, mentally, or socially easy to do? Absolutely not, but all people in high amounts of debt know, that living debt free truly gives one peace of mind and freedom to thoroughly enjoy life. So why aren’t more people making a decision to stay clear from relationship destroying debt? Consider their emotions.

Bad financial decisions are only one example of the ‘shoot from the hip’ emotional response. Proverbs 29:11 states ‘A fool expresses all his emotions, but a wise person controls them’ (God’s Word Translation). This is such a valuable amount of wisdom wrapped up in one sentence. Take heed. Think about the consequences of your emotional decisions. Even when you thoroughly process and ‘marinate’ on deciding; allow yourself to be challenged. What are the qualifications of your advisers? Do they have a track record of on-going success in the areas that you ponder?  Remember this, God covers it all. Challenge him in your decision making to give you an answer. Instead of picking up the phone, ‘drop to your knees’. Connect with Him through Jesus Christ, so you can petition with boldness as a righteous child of God. 

If you desire to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, please click on the link below.

http://www.intouch.org/resources/all-things-are-new/content/topic/how_do_i_accept_jesus_as_my_savior_all_things

Video Games + Mythical Creatures that 'battle'

Yesterday, I asked my oldest son was there anyone he looked up to? He shrugged his shoulders and said ‘no’. As a dad, I’m not quite sure how to handle that. I try pretty hard to be a good influence and role model for my sons.

My oldest is an early teen. His hobbies are video gaming, ‘battling’ spinning tops, and collecting Japanese action adventure inspired cards. To quickly sum it up, I have no interest in his passions. They are totally foreign and unexciting to me. Although, I do financially support his fix.

Recently, I signed him up for a basketball league. His mom and I were patiently waiting on him to express some interest in sports; however, this never really happened. Our fear of issues attached with not having structured extracurricular activities promoted us to ‘get the ball rolling’.

Luckily, he was placed on the most talented team in this novice league. They ended the season undefeated champions. At the completion of the championship game and award ceremonies, we had a light conversation about the season. I asked several questions to filter his opinion and true emotions. His response fed to one common subject, ‘I’m not sure if I want to continue because it’s hard’.  Although, he verbally and genuinely expressed having fun; the complex game of basketball took its toll. He often looked panicky. The occasional glance for confirmation was demonstrated in every game. His body language consistently shouted ‘am I’m doing the right thing?’ This culture was foreign to him.

What a dilemma?

Most people make decisions based on life experiences. Hopefully, we (all) learn from our mistakes and make better choices. When I was a child, there was a distinct time that my father unknowingly taught a principle.

One cold, snowy winter day in the Midwest, my dad decided that he was going to cut and gather a few truckloads of wood. As usual, I was forced to tag along. After my fingers went numb and my father was content with his work, we headed home. This same day, the varsity basketball team was having mandatory basketball practice. I was tired, and could care less, if I attended practice. As a freshman, my playing time was extremely limited and I was mostly considered a practice dummy. However, my father could sincerely careless of my fatigue and lackluster intents. He did not ask me if I wanted to go or how I felt about going, but instead drove me to practice and sat in the stands as I fumbled my way through the 90 minutes of torture.  I distinctly remember hating every minute of practice and my father, this day. However, by the end of the basketball season, I played a role in helping our team win a major post-season tournament.  Without the discipline my father instilled, this possibly could not have been. Although, I truly never developed a passion for basketball, the requirements towards rising in this sport were rewarding and integral in my adult development.

Am I’m saying that my son will have to play the same sport as I to learn the same lessons? I’m not. I’m conveying that children need direction, discipline, and consistent reinforcement to develop. Although, my son didn’t acknowledge a role model; (I believe) his current role models are electronically manipulating images and mythical creatures. Unfortunately for him, these examples do not have the ability to instill work ethic. You do.

In the Old Testament, there are plenty examples of father’s blessing their children. God set the model by his calling of Israel. He spoke their legacy before it took place. Although, they fought the new way of thinking and living; the willingness to be obedient and submissive to His authority eventually paid off. God, in his fatherly role, knew what was best for his children. He had a vision and purpose in mind and remained consistent until it was fulfilled. His concern for their overall, long term well-being superseded their immediate comfort. The Israelites’ blatant defiance during the process demonstrates their lack of vision and purpose. Unfortunately, they were former slaves lacking a positive role model of how things could be. Their minds were limited to ‘small thinking’.  Taking what was given, instead of taking what they could have (in God’s will).  Our children need visionaries, who have a plan, purpose, and goal for their life and parents/guardians who identify their talents and play an active role in their development.

As I did, you may need to refocus. Ask God for wisdom to help encourage and motivate your child. It may financially, mentally, and emotionally cost you, but in the long run; it will pay off. Whether your child will see the good in your efforts and choose to apply the principles they learned, while with you, is their decision. The peace of God, that you have done your part will be yours.

Be encouraged.

If you desire to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, please click on the link below.

http://www.intouch.org/resources/all-things-are-new/content/topic/how_do_i_accept_jesus_as_my_savior_all_things