1. Gave me great Christian parents.

2. Allowed me to grow up in the stable, albeit sometimes boring state of Nebraska.

3. Good health for my entire life.

4. An awesome, God-loving, cool, smart, cheerful, beautiful wife.

5. A healthy, intelligent, musical,  athletic son who has  heart for God.

6. A healthy, intelligent, musical, artistic daughter who has a heart for God.

7. Great churches wherever I lived.

8. A love of music.

9. Great jobs(most of the time) and the ability to work.

10. A passion for life and all that it has to offer.

When I think about sports, one of the most important aspects is obviously coaching.   No team can effectively operate without someone steering the ship.  If you look at some of the most successful teams of the modern era, one thing that you can always point to is a great coach.  From Tom Landry to Phil Jackson to Bobby Knight(although a somewhat controversial coach), all of those men had something in common – they were great coaches who figured out how to wring every last drop of talent from each of their players.  They were also master motivators who understood the value of each one of their players and focused on them individually, rather than collectively.  If there is one thing I’ve learned, unfortunately very recently, its that everyone on our planet is different, yet are all coachable in some way or another.  Some people are motivated by money.  Others are motivated by praise.  Yet others only respond to the positive response to their own performance.  As a coach or mentor you need to understand what everyone on your “team” is motivated by and then focus on them in a way that brings out the best in that person.  Sometimes motivation can manifest itself with a quick kick in the pants.  Sometimes it comes with a soft arm around someone’s shoulder.   The job of the coach is to then effectively use the appropriate method to get the maximum results.   Coaching is teaching, mentoring and parenting  - it just happens to go on during the course of some type of athletic contest.

The second part of the message was about finding your passion.  This has been a controversial subject for me the past few years as I have tried to figure out what God wants to do with me.  One thing that I have learned very recently is that God wants to use us right where we are.  Do you wait tables at a restaurant?  Then serve your customers well.  Mow lawns?  Then mow with passion.  The point is that we all have immediate circles of influence that we can impact every day.  From our kids, spouse, friends, co-workers, etc.  We all don’t have to be missionaries in Africa to change the world.  We can do it right from our own kitchen tables.

At any rate, Seth has encouraged me to stand up for my convictions, but more importantly try to see them through to the end.  I’ve given up on a lot of really good ideas in the past that might have really turned into something special.  I just didn’t have the courage to fight hard enough for whatever reason.  I’m going to see if I can change that.  (Cue Rocky song).