Happy Thanksgiving

... to all y'all.

If you're like me, there is so much to be thankful to God for, and I'm not just talking about the turkey, home-made macaroni and cheese and, well, pie.

I am thankful you are alive and reading this.

Got to go. My wife isn't letting me do food testing, but I need to keep at it. Stay blessed!

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Wildcat Twitter

If you need further proof that Twitter is not just for people named Stefani Germonatta, Check out the University of Arizona Athletic Director Greg Byrne, who just announced the hiring of their new head football coach Rich Rodriguez via Twitter.

Great stuff. Remember when Twitter was a virtual race track for CNN and Ashton? Now, major programs make major announcements via social networks.

Of course, the cynics out there will argue that the come-and-go brevity of Twitter is perfect for the revolving doors of college football, but I refuse to talk to such naysayers. So there.

From a practical point of view, it is a pretty tidy means of disseminating news. It's basically grassroots broadcast communication. It gets the word out quickly, effectively and almost guarantees further propagation. Of course, you will deal with unsolicited feedback, but nothing comes that easy. But even that can be a potential advantage. You get to see the reaction to your decisions from everyday people. Press conferences don't do that for you.

Corporation and entities are becoming more savvy, and are understanding how powerful (and free) social networking is. And even teens seem to finally be jumping on the bandwagon.

What if... what if MJ (b-baller) had tweeted his comeback (for you youngsters, I mean the first one)? What if we had twitter when the Berlin wall came down? What is Breet Favre announced his retirement... oh, scratch that.

Twitter can be quite useful. Let's end on that.

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Adieu to Fall ball...

So... the Fall Season is officially over. 

And, yes, I already miss it.

It was a tough season, for a number of reasons. We dropped way more games than I would like to in the First Division with my older ladies; my younger ladies did well to gel and pull out an admirable season after an extremely rough start.

Yesterday, one of my favorite kids came and gave me a hug after our parents meetings.

"Coach, you are my favorite coach ever!"

"I am?" I preened. That made my day, even though we both know I am her first and only coach.

Whatever... I am the favorite right now.


My voice will get some rest, and I'll get to spend more time with family. My stress level will go down (even though, as a youth pastor, it seems my youth tend to make up for any deficit over the winter), and my afternoons will not involve pumping balls or washing pinnies.

And I miss it. I miss my players. Yes, I'm pouting.

Every season is a learning experience. I learned one of my kids survived a bout with meningitis. She's only our top scorer and sweetest kid in the world. And I thought I was strong. Ha. One of my other players has dealt with enough emotional pain that I think even the Statue of Liberty would sag under its weight. One broke her wrist during the season. Through all the cookies, cupcakes and candy, I realize that I am so blessed to be an occasional, ever-so-temporary guardian to a phenomenal bunch of almost 30 young ladies.

Every year, we give thanks for a multitude of things. I just want to show gratitude to God for an opportunity to teach -- and learn from -- an incredible bunch of kids. As I have said before, there is no more overwhelming feeling than to be surrounded by a bunch of 12 or 14 yr -old ladies, who are looking up (or, as happens more nowadays with the older group, DOWN) at you with trust and expectation.

I pray God gives me the strength to continually be the right type of guide for them. Love my Mundial and Mundial Select players.

*sigh* Come on, Spring...

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Connections vs separations.

I love cheap tech toys. In truth, I love expensive tech toys too, but I have to hold off on getting that decked-out Maybach. For now, at least.

One of my favorites is my Bluetooth Audio Bridge. It's a BlackBerry-branded device that allows me to turn most computer speakers to wireless output for my EVO. In other words, I can connect the bridge to a pair of speakers, and stream music to it from a short distance. It works well during youth devotions and stuff. Secondarily, you can use it in cars with tape decks.

There is, well, one drawback. It needs a source of electricity, as it is not rechargeable. So, even though I am not tethered to my EVO, I have to add a power cable to the equation.

It's interesting... on the hand, I am able to create a remotely controlled music interface, but on the other, I also created a little bit more clutter, and, arguably, an even greater need for resources.

It occurred to me that some of the "solutions" we pursue in life can be somewhat ambiguous, particularly when we fail to seek God in our decisions. I think this is not only important for church workers, but for believers as a whole.

Even more importantly, I think it is crucial that we don't create more barriers between God and our congregations. This isn't something that we can do with just technology. That new church initiative to go to a dual sermons on Sunday can do the same hing if not implemented correctly. As already noted, seeking God is the first step, because what is "logical" to us is not always God's plan. 


The church that remembers that will do well.

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Class and courage.

From rivals.yahoo.com

Courage is a term bandied around quite frequently when it comes to sports. Not to downplay the work ethic of multi-million dollar athletes, but if I made 5 or 6 (or, to be honest, even 3 at this point) figures a game, I'd hobble on the pitch with three broken limbs.

Seriously, I read about the type of courage that really matters... the courage to win by being  a brother to one's opponent. Two high school rowers, James Konokpa and Nick Mead gave up chances to win medals at a meet to help opponents.

These two boys actually quit racing to help out opponents that had capsized into frigid water. We live in a world where winning at all costs is celebrated. Even churches buy into this philosophy. We want to win so much that we forget that christianity is a collectives race.

In any case, I love seeing true competition germinating from within brotherly love.

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JoePa's last lesson (to the church).

Courtesy of frangrit via Flickr CC.

The Penn State child abuse scandal has everyone reeling. Frankly, it has been painful to even try to watch sports TV shows this past week.

A telling dichotomy emerged. Even as alumni and school officials publicly expressed shame and disgust, the students themselves seemed unanimous in their defense of Coach Paterno.

Like it or not, it seemed clear that contrary to what we might always have thought, college may not be the best place to teach our young adults about the realities of life.

In any case, there are some things that church staffers can get from this grave issue. The good news? Some are really, really obvious.

When it comes to working with children and young people, some non-negotiable accountability rules must be put in place.

Duh. 

The eyewitness account of one of the alleged offenses is excruciatingly horrid. The first question administrators should ask is: where were the controls? How did a coach/camp supervisor end up in a shower with a child?

Are there rules in place? Do the staffers understand them? Most importantly, are the rules actually enforced? A lot of times, the issue isn't with having rules present; the problem is actually adhering to them.

Secrecy generally leads to problems

Some things are meant to never see the light of day... ask Microsoft about the Kin. Staff issues with children? Deal with it, follow the law and put the broom and rug away.

Cooperation with law enforcement is key too.

Time alone does not heal these type of wounds, particularly when the alleged perpetrator is not held accountable. Which brings me to...

Be decisive in response to allegations.

I believe that if you create a transparent environment with protective rules, checks and balances, you won't have any allegations, but if you do, then act swiftly. 

Some folks may not agree with me, but I believe if any unsavory behavior is alleged, the prudent thing to do may be to ask the staffer to step down for a while. Why not? The church 's governing entity can decide upon the status of such a leave, but I do think it is prudent to remove, say, a child worker while any issues are being investigated.

Communicate.

This goes with everything else. Enough said.

I never thought that I'd see Coach Paterno not be at the helm at Penn State. It's a shame that it had to go down the way it did, but it should serve as a warning to the rest of us mere mortals. You can do a lot of good, but all it takes to tarnish a legacy is one major misstep.

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Troy Polamalu is a poser

via pacificpostnews.com

This is so cool that I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner.

Madame Tussauds is a world famous wax museum. Some folks say you know you've arrived when you have your likeness in wax placed there for any amount of time. Now, I truly wonder how some people make it there, but this does give me yet another opportunity to make an irrationally jealous dig at the Biebster, so let's move on.

I have thought that the seeing so many famous people eternally frozen must be disconcerting. Having one come to life, though, would be even creepier.

Now, if you know Troy Polamalu, you know that he is a scary guy. That are not too many people that walk around with his flowing locks in NFL and live to tell about it, but he is THAT good. It's as if the Steelers were named after him. So seeing one of the most feared defensive players in football scaring people is so worth it:

We have been talking about the concept of posing with my youth. Using Lifechurch.tv resources, we have been exploring why it is so hard to be ourselves in a world that does encourage what I call conformed uniqueness. We sometimes fall so in love with a projected image that we forget who we are, or worse, Who we are supposed to project.

We talked about the phenomenon on the social networks, and it sure ain't confined to teens.

Loving ourselves is a crucial component of realizing what God has in store, and appreciating what we bring to any table is part of that.

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No iPhone

I am almost certain that I won' be getting the iPhone. And my reason is fairly benign.

Join the discussion at ChurchMag...

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No tats, Cam.

Cam Newton is a polarizing figure.

I, for one, am fine with him. Why?

1) He sure knows how to smile.

2) He's QB for the Panthers, meaning there is an ever slight chance that I might get free tickets from him someday.

3) I think he is a victim of a college system that is extremely unethical.

You can judge me all you want. I am also a Tim Tebow fan, so bring on the rocks.

Anyhoo, an interesting blurb from the pre-season Cam-wire is that he was asked by his new boss to avoid ink. That's right... Panthers owner Jerry Richardson recently asked his top draft pick to avoid getting tattoos.

I am with you. I know exactly what you're thinking. What on earth was Cam doing when his counterparts at Ohio State were trading jerseys for tattoos? Oh yeah... actually winning a National Championship (zing!). But more importantly, how did Cam make it this far without getting tatted up?

Tattoos have become quite ubiquitous. One can actually walk in public and not be arrested while sporting them. In fact, with as many high school and college athletes that have them, I thought it was a requirement to have them to retain eligibility (don't judge me. Can you make sense of any of the "rules" that currently exist?). My youth recently estimated that 65% of their high schoolmates had tats, some clearly and sadly home-made.

In any case, Mr Richardson's request did seem weird on the surface. But is it overstepping his bounds?

The broader question is: can an employer make this request of an employee? What do you think?

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Love OR marriage, went together...

I was watching Steve Harvey ham it up on Family Feud the other day, and an interesting question caught my eye.

To summarize, Family Feud is a game show that it based around two competing families that try to match answers to the answers of 100 respondents to specific questions. Gems like " name a part of your body in your pants" and "name a word that rhymes with 'creeper'" are regularly used.

Answers are giving percentage points based on the number of people who give that answer in the previously recorded poll. High scores are generally in the 30s, so if a contestant answers a question that matches the top response, they would generally net about 30+ points.

On a recent show, one of the final questions was "name something people think will last forever." The wife and I thought the contestant answered with the best answer when she said "marriage."

Great answer, no?

She scored 18.

The top answer was "love." Interesting food for thought, if we are to assume the Family Feud 100-person polls are a true reflection of society. Love and marriage are not necessarily synonymous anymore. LMaybe love does not beget marriage.

Maybe I am reaching a bit. What do you think?

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Foray into Fitness

Courtesy of  Katja Giersig via Flickr CC

Enough is enough. And you are gonna help me keep it that way.

I can't tell you what has brought me to this point, but I surely got here. It could have been been when I caught myself wheezing after a gentle jog. Or was it when I was swarmed recently by old players, one of whom affectionately punched me in the stomach and told me I was "showing."

It might have been when I discovered my toddler daughter thought my midsection was a combo trampoline and pillow.

In any case, I recently decided that fitness will return to my neck of the woods.

It won't be easy. I like to eat. Ethnic, soul food, Qdoba burritos... I love them all. The thought of leaving the skin of chicken wounds my soul. I am also hearing that my 2 AM snack may have to go away, too. That alarms me.

It's not like I haven't tried before. Months ago, I decided that my fitness regimen would not just consist of Wii-based aerobics. I woke up before the sun, and told my groggy wife that I was off to recapture my youth. She rolled over.

I limped up about 45 minutes later. She glanced at me quizzically, but looked impressed.

"How did your run go?" then she noticed my injury. "What happened?"

"I hurt my hamstring" I dodgily replied.

"How?

"Stretching."

She wouldn't stop. "How far had you run?"

"Run? I never left the house. I pulled the muscle while stretching."

She rolled back over.

If I am gonna be completely honest, I can probably point out when sense of self-preservation overcame my built-in excuses. Over the summer, while escorting my youth group to a camp in West Virginia, I decided to go for a run. It was about time, too. Minus scrimmage time with my soccer teams, I hadn't run in like forever (well maybe not forever... just a decade. Or two). I strapped on my green and grey kicks, and was rocking my matching green shirt and grey shorts. Yes, yes... I was styling out in the mountains! You never know when Adidas might need a dark, svelte frontman. Or a dark frontman.

Had my music, Runkeeper software going, and I set off. I did a good pace, if I may say so myself. I pushed myself harder than I pushed myself physically in a long, long time. I ran till my eyes got blurry and I collapsed on the soccer field in exhaustion.

Mentally, I shocked myself. I instinctively knew I had ran something like a marathon, but I was humble enough to know I wasn't gonna be breaking any world or county records.

When I recovered enough to lift an arm, I checked my time. Without getting too much into it, something was wrong with Runkeeper. It claimed I had run 0.49 miles; I knew I had run at least 49.

You just can't trust this new-fangled technology anyway. Whatever. It was a near-death experience. And then the irritating piece of software asked if I wanted to share the results with my friends on Twitter and Facebook. Seriously? Where were these friends when I was in desperate need of oxygen?

That near-death experience help me decide that I am tired of hearing folks say that I carry my 190 lbs on my 5'9" frame "very well". I don't necessarily want my weight to be a situation, but I wouldn't mind getting some tone like The Situation (but please, please, hold the tan for the love of all that is decent and natural). Franky, I am tired of everyone else getting fit. I see Derek taunting me with Runkeeper stats on Facebook. Like every day, seemingly. I got Cass over there, running marathons, and now deliberately getting on my nerves by doing triathlons. I mean, come on. Pam, Heather, Jen... all y'all infuriate me.

Even my kid brother is all out, running and getting in shape. This truly provokes me, because I suspect he could probably beat my 0.49-mile time.

I am calling myself out. Why? Because I know y'all will call me out,. I know y'all hold me accountable in my quest to preemptively prepare for the inevitable "Fit-Bodied Baptist Church Workers" reality series.

I am gonna need some Bengay.

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Excellence and Summitt

For the past few years of coaching young people, I have almost exclusively coached young ladies. Something that even male coaches ruefully note is the relative lack of female coaches in our sport at the youth level.

It is hardly restricted to youth soccer. You see the same in high school, college and the pros. It seems guys corner the market on coaching and training opportunities. And, while the situation is changing, there is much to be done in the matter of encouraging and retaining female role models in coaching. My organization has actively and tangibly worked to bridge any gender gaps.

I am not trying to talk myself out of a job; I just feel that there is definite value in finding female role models for young ladies to emulate.

When news surfaced recently that the venerable Pat Summitt, championship coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols, is battling a form of early onset Alzheimer's disease, the entire sports world gasped. Scratch that. Everyone gasped.

See, you don't need to be a sports fan to know Coach Summitt. Her scowl is legendary, and her glare strikes fear into friends and foes alike. But beneath that ferocity lies a history of excellence that is hard to ignore. Check how many of her students either have degrees or are working towards one. Here's a hint: if expressing the number as a percentage, you'd have to use three digits.

Ask her players, past and present, about her and they talk about a coach who is not scared to push them to succeed. A coach who would not accept 90%. She does things right, doesn't take shortcuts, and her methods make us all rest soundly in the assurance that good triumphs over evil in the long-run.

I'm saying a prayer for Coach Summitt... for selfish reasons. You see, she isn't just a role model to young ladies; she is a role model to me.

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Fearing the best

I hate to lose.

This weekend, both of my soccer teams had it rough. No goals for, plenty against. A single loss usually does good to put me in a dark mood, but running between two states for most of the weekend to get both teams going (kinda) and getting our teeth kicked in was especially hard to swallow. Tack on the player injuries, tight schedules and forced tan I got, and you can understand my feelings.

In the midst of the losses, there were some bright spots. It exposed our collective need to get better, but also showed how well we can do when we gel. Both sets of ladies never quit.

There was a point, during the last game with my older team, that I had to make a decision. Continue to push and express anger, with injured players all over the place, or be a resource to my players. I reluctantly (I admit) picked the latter option.

I smiled.

My hope was that being relaxed would rub off. And it did. My ladies seemed to open up. Granted, with the way we changed injured keepers and fill-ins, all one could do was smile.

It didn't stop the goals against us; we continued our free fall, but hopefully, the landing was softer than it could have been.

Another lesson learned... don't fear the loss. Deal with your response.

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Starting again

It begins again.

ATTIC is back, and I'll be having three new ladies join the fold... two teams in two new divisions, and a (mostly) new collection of parents.

With Fall comes a renewed sense of purpose. I look on the past year of coaching/ministry, and I think the honest thing is to be grateful for any successes, but be realistic about areas of opportunity.

In everything, it is clear that I must continually refresh myself if I want to be an effective trainer and pastor. I readily admit that sometimes, the sheer breadth of responsibility gives me pause.

The older one gets, the easier it is to see that one's strength isn't necessarily a function of what's within, despite what the cool Nike commercials say. It is more a function of what one attaches oneself to. So, I am making this easy by re-attaching myself to He who strengthens me.

It should be a good season for my youth and soccer teams. Keep us in your prayers.

Image courtesy of Ian Britton via reelworship.com.

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Terrahawks and Ecclesiastes

As a kid, I loved the supermarionation series Terrahawks. We didn't have very much by way of television choice, and when you make a show that has spaceships, aliens and commanders named Tiger Ninestein in the physical manifestation of puppets, we tuned in. Religiously.

Ninestein was a man's man. Not only did he have nine lives (get it?) that allowed one of his clones to replace him in the event of his death, he led a group tasked with protecting earth from Zelda and her minions. He carried a big stick (much like his PGA namesake used to). He was tough, cocky and suave, and at age 12, I was all about being suave.

One of Ninestein's famous quips was "Expect the unexpected." It wasn't a yell, and it wasn't a cry. It was always said with deliberate control... a respect for the inevitability of chaos. It was cool, it was collected, and most importantly: it was incredibly suave.

I had to use it.

I practiced the phrase for hours in the mirror (don't judge me. There wasn't Facebook, cell-phones or an other things that created misaligned kids back then; we had to work to blight our brains back then). I decided that everyone would be blessed with the phrase as my opening point to any conversation. They could expect that. It was the perfect rejoinder, something with which I could show everyone the depth of philosophical thought I had accumulated over my lengthy dozen-or-so years.

And, it worked well. I got blank looks from friends. Most seem more confused and impressed, but hey, plenty of politicians aim to stupefy people in the exact same way today, so I must have been onto something. I kept using my new tool of cool until one fateful evening.

Without getting to deeply into it, when your dad is talking about how badly his day went at work (and we ain't talking about "regular" work; we're talking about stressful work, where colleagues get killed by package bombs) AND how car trouble had left him stranded for hours AND how he had been interrogated by government security forces, you might NOT want to quote Tiger Ninestein at all. That evening, the expected outcome actually did happen.

I think if we focused on how much little control we have in life, it would be crippling. The cliches are mostly true: cherish the seconds, stop and breathe, it could be worse. But for those that need it, getting a true Anchor in God is all we have.

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Church work on the cheap

Here is an article from a writer my wife thinks is gorgeous and extremely smart. The article talks about tools that specifically are used for church work, but could be of help to any business person.

Leave comments here or there...

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Feuding

When it comes to Scrabble, I am The Man. I could try to downplay my awesomeness, or cloak it with false modesty, but sometimes, you just have to underscore the truth. When it comes to this word game, I'm Michael Jackson, and everyone else is Tito. I am William, you're Harry, and I'll look fabulous in ceremonial headgear -- and I ain't abdicating, baby.

One advantage of having a smartphone is the ability to play Scrabble clones against others. While Word With Friends is quite popular, my favorite is Wordfeud. Available on iOS and Android, it allows play between opponents over the air.

Yes...

I played a couple of games with my wife. I love the lady, but I unleashed such a continual can of terror on her that even I started to feel bad. So I had to seek out some new competition. I was getting weary of hiding this word-play genius, and I had to let the world behold it.

I started playing with other friends who had Android devices. The result was generally the same: Me: Awesome, Them: Less so. I reveled in my new found celebrity status (work with me here). I was riding high, beating up on acquaintances and living the life. I beat my brother so badly that I could practically see the welts in his posterior.

Till I played Tee.

Wordfeud is not just any game. As any Scrabble aficionado can tell you, the game transcends just the need to have a wide vocabulary. It entails defense, blocking, letter awareness and strategic placement. Using all your tiles can make or break you, and having a 'Q' can help or hurt.

Everyone has a style of play. KB is a word savant; she uses the most words of any competitor, and she swings for the fences with longer words. Tee is methodical; make one mistake and you're toast. My brother J is annoying; he plays in boxes, grinding the game to a plodding halt while nitpicking words (remote play is necessary with him because you'll wanna choke him at some point. What in the world is "Qi"?).

Tee broke my run. In short order, my streak was gone. Babetta beat me. Karen beat me. Worse yet, my kid brother beat me. The last one hurt, and I had to fight back tears.

And confront my own mortality.

All in all, Wordfeud is addictive way for one to rediscover humility. However, with the roll that I'm on, I am gonna have to postpone that...

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Thought dispersal

I have been blessed with an opportunity to write for a few other web publications, and I am sure it will help with streamlining this blog.

Going forward, I'll be contributing a bit more to Churchm.ag. It will be an opportunity to talk about a concept I hold dear: church and technology.

I'll also be writing some articles for Gone Googling. Obviously, this

will cater to discussing everything Google.

I am quite excited by the opportunities, and I hope that you also visit the blogs listed. They are pretty good, admittedly without my contributions.

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Recast

It's been a busy year so far. With three teams and church work, I felt stretched. Tryout week just ended... looks like I'm gonna have two club teams again.

Truth be told, without some of the best church volunteers and parents on both sides (like my earthbound Angel), I'd never make it.

I'm looking forward to it.

For now, I am so grateful to God for all the opportunities. I am quite happy for the few weeks of respite. End of season brings a multitude of emotions. You say goodbye to players for any number of reasons; it never gets easier.

The longer I coach, the longer I realize that it is an extension of my ministry. That is what makes me keep at it. I love what I do, and even though I may never get rich doing it, I truly feel privileged.

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Nuts of grape.

I dedicate this gem to Cass and Tee. Something tells me that they will truly appreciate it.

No more bacon. No more "nuts of grape." All you...

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