RT @BrianCHouston Leaders goal: Guard each others backs – Sing each others praises – Lift each other up – Believe each others motives!
RT @BrockSawyer “The moment you are too big to minister to a few, you are too small to minister to many.” – Dr. Mark Rutland
Friends, are you feeling guilty about not getting me anything tangible last week? Author Tim Ferriss came up with a brilliant birthday request that I wish I’d though of… Check out “My Unusual $100,000 Birthday Present (Plus: Free Round-Trip Anywhere in the World)” http://ow.ly/2fVEw Take a look and do the right thing!
This just may be it:
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And what an endorsement!
When did Father’s Day begin?p{margin:0}
From USA.gov
<a href="http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=bWFpbGluZ2lkPTg2ODU3MiZtZXNzYWdlaWQ9UFJELUJVTC04Njg1NzImZGF0YWJhc2VpZD0xMDAxJnNlcmlhbD0xMjc2NTYwMTczJmVtYWlsaWQ9ZGpiZWFzbEB2ZXJpem9uLm5ldCZ1c2VyaWQ9ZGpiZWFzbEB2ZXJpem9uLm5ldCZmbD0mZXh0cmE9TXVsdGl2YXJpYXRlSWQ9JiYm&&&100&&&http://answers.usa.gov/cgi-bin/gsa_ict.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=7115” target=”_blank”>When did Father’s Day begin?Thu, 17 Jun 2010 17:49:14 -0500
Sunday, June 20, 2010, is the centennial celebration of Father’s Day. Visit the FAQ at USA.gov for the history of the observance, a link to U.S. Census information on fathers, and more.
What are y’all doing to mark the day?
Even at 99, it saddened me to hear of former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden’s death. You see Coach Wooden once bailed me out of a really tight spot and in the process made me look far better than I deserved.
It was back in the mid-80′s and I was pastoring a small, rural church in the mountains of Kentucky. Kentucky, where basketball is king. To make ends meet I needed a part-time job and someone told me that the local elementary school was looking for someone to coach 6th/7th grade baseball and that their expectations weren’t very high. While still in high school I’d coached and umpired a few years of little league and played/umpired a little slow-pitch along the way. It couldn’t hurt to ask, right? So I interviewed.
And surprise, surprise, I got hired! (This would be a really short, pointless post if I hadn’t, right?) The money was just right for what I needed and, as a pastor, what a great way to plug into the community.
That’s when the principal dropped the bomb that I wasn’t just the baseball coach, I was The Coach.
Fine, I can do softball, too.
Good, but we also have boys’ basketball starting in two weeks.
My heart almost stopped. I’d played C League (as in, “no blood/no foul” basketball for wrestlers and football players) Intramurals in college but that was the end of my basketball experience. I could probably muddle my way through running a practice but I’d never even seen a play diagrammed let alone tried to execute one. Could I handle it?
Two things turned out in my favor:
1. They didn’t ask much. In this four-team league, they had a history of finishing fourth.
2. I was their only candidate.
I was in. Now, what to do…
A friend with connections snuck me into a university library where I checked out four or five books on basketball coaching. One of them was “Practical Modern Basketball” by John Wooden.
I recognized Wooden’s name but I was intimidated by both his reputation and the thickness of the book. I had picked it up more out of desperation than out of any illusion that I’d be able to put it to work at Sparksville Elementary. Was I ever wrong. Turns out there’s a reason for Wooden’s reputation!
Even with his reputation in coaching, I don’t think Wooden ever stopped referring to himself as a teacher, The reason for that came through in his book.
There were much thinner books among the five I picked up that day but none were clearer or more helpful. I had finished the other four before bedtime that evening and didn’t particularly feel smarter for the effort. Out of resignation more than anything, I turned to Wooden.
I should have started there. Coach Wooden taught me how to run a practice and how to run a fast break. He talked about the chemistry to look for in your starting five and how to pick who to keep and who to cut (a problem I didn’t have–you can’t cut anyone when you only have eight players!) When I was finished reading I still didn’t feel qualified but I at least felt ready to face the boys.
The league consisted of three outlying rural elementaries and the central “town” school. Rural kids could go to their local school or choose the bus ride into town every morning. Just before practices started our biggest/strongest/most gifted kid decided his future was in town. Foreshadowing, anyone?
So, four team league with an eight game home and home schedule. Coming into the end-of-season league tournament we were 5-3, a record-setting second place regular season finish! We won our first game in the tournament and faced the “town” team in the final.
Now, this isn’t Hoosiers (although it kind of looked like it–we had the pre-game talk about not letting the size of the gym and the crowd get to you.) We lost. But my boys looked good. And in the end it was much closer than anyone expected (except me–I didn’t know all the history). See, in our county district there was no question about who would finish first–the town school–so the real bragging rights went with second place. Think of it as finishing first in the small school class.
John Wooden had briefly made me a local hero, a genius. Of course, fame is fleeting but that remains a very bright spot in what became a high-adventure period in my life. i owe it to Coach.
In his basketball retirement, Coach Wooden wrote many great books on life and faith and leadership. Like Practical Modern Basketball, the ones I’ve read are worth your time. And along the way, I’ve seen several of Coach Wooden’s former players write that Coach never steered you wrong. It was certainly true for me that year.
Thank you, Coach Wooden.
I’ve been telling y’all about Tom’s death. Here’s a video his wife, Margo, made that was played at his funeral. In it she embodies the warrior spirit that has kept our nation safe. There’s nothing I can add to her example of strength, courage and faith so I’m just going to respectfully step aside and let her speak.
MARGO BELKOFER STORY (for Service) from cedarcreek.tv production on Vimeo.
May God bless and keep you, Belkofer family.
May you experience warmth and grace as His face turns toward you.
May you always experience the tranquil security of being under His unfailing watch and constant care.
TheBeth says Happy Memorial Day and introduces Jay & Sara:
.
.I’ve know Sara since she was seconds old. In fact, I cut her umbilical cord. Jay is my son’s best friend.
Their parents, Frank & Tiff are very good friends to David and me.
I think that every parent out there would agree that the birth of a child is one of the greatest highlights in life. Being there to witness the arrival of such a precious miracle- is a gift itself.
So how did it happen that I was in the delivery room with Tiff- and not Frank? How is it that I saw Sara’s bright, blinking eyes- heard her pissed off cry- before her own father?
Frank is in the United States Air Force. He found out that he was being deployed overseas when Tiff was eight weeks pregnant. He left for a six month tour when she was four months along….
Be sure to read the rest. It’s common to talk about death and injuries but y’all civilians rarely bring up what business folks call “opportunity cost.” The price of missing major family events and just plain watching your kids grow up. After awhile you stop counting the funerals, weddings, anniversaries, holidays, births and birthdays…
We retired from the Navy and discovered that while we’d been following Uncle Sam around the globe, y’all had been building equity in your houses and getting on a cycle that made that second (or third) car fairly easy. Y’all had been building up a nicely stocked household while we’d been having to ditch the iron, the fans, the mixer and such ’cause they’d only work on the local electricity supply we were leaving behind.
I’m extremely grateful that I was there for every one of our kids being born but I’ve got strong memories (and extreme gratitude) of a night when some folks escorted my wife and (then) two daughters into a conference room for a Valentine’s Day videoconference. My wife says the ~20 month old went around for weeks pointing to the TV and wanting to talk to Daddy!
So one more reason to stop that person in uniform and say “thank you.” And cut ‘em some slack if you see them eying that iron at your yard sale! 
No only will we remember them but none ever are forgotten by God.
I learned of this hymn because it shares a tune with The Navy Hymn. I often recite it at the graveside service for funerals and it seems especially appropriate for Memorial Day.
God of the living, in whose eyes
unveiled thy whole creation lies,
all souls are thine; we must not say
that those are dead who pass away,
from this our world of flesh set free;
we know them living unto thee.
Released from earthly toil and strife,
with thee is hidden still their life;
thine are their thoughts, their works, their powers,
all thine, and yet most truly ours;
for well we know, where’er they be,
our dead are living unto thee.
Not spilled like water on the ground,
not wrapped in dreamless sleep profound,
not wandering in unknown despair
beyond thy voice, thine arm, thy care;
not left to lie like fallen tree;
not dead, but living unto thee.
Thy word is true, thy will is just;
to thee we leave them, Lord, in trust;
and bless thee for the love which gave
thy Son to fill a human grave,
that none might fear that world to see
where all are living unto thee.
O Breather into man of breath,
O Holder of the keys of death,
O Giver of the life within,
save us from death, the death of sin;
that body, soul and spirit be
for ever living unto thee.
A great reminder that none of us ever passes from God’s mind. He’s always watching over us no matter what our human perception of the circumstances might be.
Daniel Beasley
