Nobody's Irreplaceable

The tumultuous downpour of changes continues in my life. I found out that this week two of my friends and colleagues are moving on to coach for a team besides the purple and white wildcats I have come to know and love best. I have a deep admiration, love and respect for both of these men and am eternally grateful for the lessons they have taught me about life, coaching, and being a real man of impact. I want to thank them both for that.

Coach Thomsen taught me that my dad and most of the men in my life were men of that rare quality and that I was uniquely blessed to have the foundation of manhood that I had. He also taught me how to dig deeper into manhood and find out what it really means to be a true man of impact. I'm grateful for the chance to begin my coaching journey and living out my childhood dream that he gave me. 

Coach Farrell was the big brother I always needed. Since I was born, I have always struggled with being the oldest of the family and leading the way for my younger brothers and cousins, but he gave me someone to look up to and hang out with like the big brother I never had. He taught me that everyone's job is crucial to the success of a team, and that nobody is irreplaceable. I would not be near as valuable around the football office had I not followed him around like a kid brother, and I will miss him around the office like I am sure we all will. 

The winds of change are also blowing two of my best friends, Chance McCoy and Tyler Shepherd to greener pastures. They graduated tonight, and it sucked that I couldn't be there to watch and take pictures with them afterwards. But I am sure they took plenty without me. Never met two friendlier and more welcoming guys in my life. And I have definitely not met many that know more pretty girls than they do. I'd do anything for either of them and wouldn't change the great and awful times we've had together for the world. Stay classy.

I say all that to say this: Nobody is irreplaceable. And I don't mean that in a negative watch your back way. It's got a happy tone to me now. It is very similar to when I used to think that "God is watching you!" was the most frightening thing in the universe. Nobody is irreplaceable means that change is good. People will come and go and the goners are a blessing for the relationships you've had and the comers are a chance for a fresh start on a new relationship. 

I am excited to see these 4 leave my life and see what they accomplish for themselves and for God. And I have absolutely no idea whether or not I will even be able to come back to ACU next semester and be a GA or what I am going to do. But I know God is in control of it, and He's gonna make it just as awesome as he always has. 

Nobody is irreplaceable. And God is watching. But that is a good thing.

Goodbye to all my friends who are leaving, especially one that isn't leaving because of graduation. You will be sorely missed.

Out of the Ashes

Last couple weeks have been painful, humbling, eye-opening, stressful, powerful, and hard. I've majorly screwed somethings up and will suffer the consequences for those, but I have learned from my mistakes. Sometimes God changes his recipe for humble pie, to humble death hammer. And I really appreciate when he does that. I am drowning in grace and mercy and don't want to be saved.

Lessons learned:

• Don't be stupid. Knowing the difference between right and wrong is not hard. Do what is right. Micah 6:8
• Speak the truth. Always. No matter how embarrassing or disappointing it may be. John 8:32
• Accept responsibility and the consequences. Always. Good and bad. Luke 6:43-45
• There is nothing Satan can do to separate me from my Father in Heaven. And there is nothing I can do to make him stop loving me, even if it is tough love sometimes. Romans 8:37-39

No man becomes a great warrior without being tested in battle. And there is no greater battle experience than really getting your ass kicked because you haven't been preparing for battle like you should. A phoenix always comes back from the ashes. Here goes nothing. 

Pain

Nothing makes your night quite like finding out your great-grandfather who is your greatest hero just went home to heaven. Topped off with the girl you've loved since you were a kid running into you then telling you she had a boyfriend. Tonight rules.

Stay Frosty

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Robert Frost (1922)

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep.

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Blame Me.

I'm not normally much of a hip-hop guy, but for some reason my heart has a soft spot for the NWA guys from Compton. There is a blaming problem with America today and Ice Cube hits the nail on the head with his pyroclastic flow.

After using the first verse to vulgarly provide his qualifications for discussing social issues, he hits the chorus with the line "ain't nuthin' to it, gangsta rap made me do it" mockingly pointing the finger at himself and his fellow artists for the reason there is bad in the world today. Everything from language to violence to global warming is gangsta rap's fault. What a pathetic scapegoat.

While I question his methods and vocabulary, his message is clear and I agree with it. Get the plank out of your own eye before you start looking for specks in mine. Teachers and parents and ministers are so quick to blame the problems of the world today on media, music, and technology. But the problems today are no different than the ones 3000 years ago. I think what he's trying to say is to stop lying to yourself and blaming what you do on outside circumstances, and take responsibility for yourself and your actions.

The man may be vulgar and profane, but he's honest. Gangsta rap can't make you do anything, but feel free to blame it all on him. But it sure does make a convenient excuse.

Outliers

Outlier

Malcolm Gladwell tells a story of success that delves deeper than the typical success, leadership, etc. self-help book. He cleverly paints his argument through stories and logic and I really liked the way he presented it. My mathematical upbringing always taught me to disregard outliers because they did not fit a pattern, but the author cleverly gives outliers their own pattern. So cleverly in fact that he convinced me to purchase his other books.

Things I learned

• Success is a combination of hard work, talent, opportunity, taking advantage of that opportunity, and luck. (By luck I mean the hand of God)
• 10,000 hours of practice is required if I ever want to be a master of anything. 
• Matthew 25:29 is true. And more clear to me now than it has ever been. 
• Opportunity and legacy are interconnected. 
• IQ a measure of potential, not the measure of potential. 
• It is much easier to get your point across through stories than inspirational jargon. 
• Reading books is the best way to increase knowledge. 

Peace Child

I just finished a book assigned by my graduate class entitled Peace Child. Incredibly story of deceit, redemption, hate, love, and the insurmountable grace of God. Go check out Isaiah 52:7, then read this book and see how great the Father's power reigns and how rapidly His Eternal Kingdom can grow.

Isaiah 52:7
Peace Child book on Amazon.com

It was a typical Friday evening...

And all the players had just left for the Friday Golden Corral Feast. Wanting to wash the weight of the day off my shoulders (and the stink of the day off my armpits), I decide to take a shower. I cleverly put my fresh clothes in the dryer so I can have a similar satisfaction to first bite of a newly baked cookie when I put on my pants, and I take my towel and head for the locker room to bathe.

Meanwhile, in the mysterious hallways of the Teague Center, the door to the equipment room closes, cutting off any supply of clothes, undergarments, mobile devices, or various other modes for communication with the outside world. I was up the proverbial creek without a paddle. Or pants. Or anything really except a towel.

Luckily God provides another way out for my absent-mindedness (as He does about once a week), and one of the offices is open. With a clever combination of facebook stalking and cell phone dialing, I find a solution. 6 phone calls and 3 voicemails later, Coach Farrell saves the day with the keys and a "I can't believe you did something like this again" face.

Absent-mindedness and genius are both symptoms of manicism. But not all symptoms show up in all cases.

Hello World.

If I ever think of something interesting, I'll write a book. But until then my contribution to the expansion of the Internet can be found here. It's a little less genre focused than my other blog, but we'll see how it goes.