Tuesday, December 31, 2019

A Difficult Yet Beautiful 2019

I finished 2019 pretty beat down and tired......

If you look, my last blog post was July 7 of this year. Not too long after that I caught my last bass of the year. And right after the 4th of July break, my life got as busy and complicated as any in my professional career.

It began actually this time last year when I began the process of hiring a new football coach to replace a 29 year Hall of Fame coach.... that was just a part of my 2019. I have had the crazy privilege of having TWO daughters get married (Feb and July), hired a new coach, participated in building a new program including new weight room, new meeting rooms, new storage spaces, new schedules... coaching varsity football again where we lost the first two games, 6 starters over the course of the season, and still ended up 12-2.

At some point, the grind started wearing on me and I went from swimming against the current to scrambling to keep from drowning. The domination of expectations and demands put a strain on all of my important relationships and took a toll on me physically.

The root word for ‘athlete’ means “to strain or agonize” . Paul uses athletics as an analogy in I Corinthians 9:25- Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

The only reason I coach is that I truly believe in the process that rigor and hard things are beneficial, over time, when applied by the sovereign hand of God (Romans 8:28). The relationships that are built when teams struggle together are very special and last beyond playing days. The lessons learned in both victory and defeat are part of the training that young people need to navigate a world of difficulty and opportunity.

But endless straining can create a negative momentum  and somewhere along the way for me, it became the law of diminishing returns.

So I need to do better in 2020..... 

And I don't have a great game plan yet- been praying... and have some thoughts... but nothing solid.

Gravity is always pulling and my task is to keep fighting.

There is a certain satisfaction of getting up again....

I don't know if I will blog in 2020. I have a meeting this Friday to look at podcasting.... still thinking.

This blog has always been my way of documenting my life and world view.... mainly to my daughters.

If the medium holds, my girls may read these things years from now and it soothes or encourages them to keep walking in the light... even as darkness grows.

Part of God's grace is new beginnings.... today is a new day... and tomorrow is a new year.

So pray for me as I lean on God's Word to show His way.