Tuesday, March 31, 2009

The Right Thing To Do

Last Friday, they backed out of the driveway at 1:46 PM. I know because I purposely looked at my watch as the moment happened. As Tonya shifted the car into drive and they headed down the street headed toward a 2:15 PM doctor appointment, Parker looked up, smiled and waved. He was headed to the doctor for a check-up (I remained at home to stay with Turner during his nap). This was not just any check-up, this was the check-up where a child receives multiple shots so he can attend kindergarten. And while we had discussed what to expect with Parker, I couldn't help but wonder, as he smiled and headed down the street, "Does he really understand what's about to happen?" Does he know what lies ahead?".

As the next couple of hours passed, I divided my time between wishing I could be there to support Parker while at the same time being thankful that I didn't have to go. Time was spent alternately between praying for Parker (and Tonya) and trying not to think about or "dwell" on what was happening.

If you are a parent, you try to protect your child from painful situations. But sometimes, as in this case, it was for Parker's good. It was the right thing to do. For Parker's health, for his education, for his future, though temporarily painful, it was the right thing to do.

Here's The Point: Many times in life, we try to avoid painful situations. We don't want to go through tough times. But sometimes, rather than running, we just need to tough it out, to live through it, to deal with our situation. Because it's probably temporary. And because it's the right thing to do.

By the way, at exactly 4:30 PM on Friday, Tonya and Parker arrived back home. Wearing three really cool Charlie Brown/Snoopy bandages, holding a gift we had promised him for after he got his shots and with a promise of a chocolate shake that night, Parker was in great shape. He'd made it through the tough times (he'll proudly tell you he teared up but didn't cry); he'd been immunized against disease; and he was prepared to begin his elementary education. It was the right thing to do.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Fun on Friday- Favorite Commercials

Some of my favorite TV commercials right now:

McDonalds' ad with the old Big Mouth Billy Bass singing "give me back that filet of fish, give me that fish" and "what if it were you hanging up on this wall". I laugh every time I see this one. This one may become an all-time favorite.

The ATT spots where the Mom won't let her family waste their rollover minutes. Haven't we all had a parent wave their finger in our face to correct us?

The Liberty Mutual series of ads where an individual sees someone do a kind deed for a stranger. This begins a string of events of people helping people helping people. A great reminder of how to live each day.

The AXE anti-perspirant ad with the guy with the gushing underarm sweat. Reminds me of some really bad days when I was younger.

Not really a favorite but hard to explain to my five year old on so many levels:
The Taco Bell commercial with the "pregnant man" who has the display case of nachos under his shirt that he tries to sneak into a stadium.

Have any favorite current commercials? I'd love to hear about them.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Accepting Defeat with Class

I'm not really a big fan of women's basketball. I'll watch some of a Lady Vols game from time to time if it's on TV (but only if there's not much else on). I've not been to a Lady Vols game in several years.

However, this year, like every year, I did tune in as the NCAA women's tournament began. Since the Lady Vols are the "two-time defending National Champions", I was interested to see how they would fare this year, with what is, in effect, a totally new team. As it turns out, a first-round loss to Ball State was a crushing defeat but not entirely surprising based on the UT team's inconsistency this season.

What impressed me most, however, was how Pat Summitt, the Lady Vols legendary coach, handled the defeat. As the game drew to a close at the final buzzer, after what she later called "one of the most disappointing losses I've ever been associated with", Coach Summitt stood patiently on the sideline as the Ball State coaches shared briefly in the victory celebration, she then congratulated the winner and immediately went over to the ESPN announcers desk for a prearranged post-game interview (in what ESPN most assuredly thought would be a Lady Vols victory). She expressed her disappointment and frustration and congratulated Ball State on a great game.

Following an historic loss (no defending National Champion has ever lost in the first round the following year; the Lady Vols have never missed the Sweet 16 since the tournament format was expanded; the Lady Vols previous first round games have all been victories of 23+ points), it would have been easy to decline to honor her post-game interview commitment, to attempt to avoid the media altogether or to make a scene at a post-game press conference. However, even in a moment of extreme disappointment and frustration, Coach Summitt represented herself, her program and the University of Tennessee with class and dignity.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

A Man of Integrity

"A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches"- Proverbs 22:1

James Self is the treasurer at my church. You likely have never met him. Mr. Self (sometimes I call him James because he told me I could) recently celebrated his 85th birthday. That, in itself, is impressive enough. But you also should know that James has served as the church's treasurer for 55 years!

Over the past 55 years, with no flash and without much attention given to him, Mr. Self has faithfully given his time to meet the needs of his church. He is known as a man of utmost integrity; one in whom the church has complete trust.

When I think of someone serving in such an important position for so long, I'm reminded that Mr. Self has lived out his integrity for many years. He has proven himself trustworthy many times over. I also think of a man who, back in 1954 at the relatively young age of 30, had already proven himself in such a manner that the church chose to trust him with the stewardship of its finances.

One more thing. Mr. Self's wife passed away in the fall of 2003. He still wears his wedding band. A man of integrity and commitment. Thank you, James, for the example you set.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

God's Plan

A blog post by Tonya Williams:

Six years ago, things weren’t going as planned (that is, according to Greg and Tonya’s plans). The plan was, that after being married a couple of years, we would hopefully start a family. However, after a couple of years (we were enjoying making memories as a couple- traveling, free time, etc.), we revised our plan to wait one more year, then we would start.

That 3rd year was up in June 2002, so we prepared to start our family. Since I was a teacher, the ideal delivery time for a baby would be in the summer, so September was the ideal time to begin trying for our bundle of joy. Months passed with no “positive” news. We visited the doctor. Thankfully, our doctor was very proactive and was able to quickly diagnose what was going on medically. Unfortunately, our ideal window of opportunity for our plan had passed as we were on to see a specialist for further testing. It was at this point we finally realized that we were not in control and that we would be okay as "just Greg and Tonya" and without children if that were His plan for us. Ultimately, as many of you know, God’s plan graciously involved children for us, but not in the time frame that we devised. It was in His divine plan and His divine timing that we became parents almost a year and half after we began trying to have a baby.

Fast forward over five years. This week in the mail we received further fulfillment of His plan. I received my renewed Tennessee professional teaching license in the mail. I can now teach through 2019 (that seems so far away!!). How do these relate? If I had had our first child in the summer of 2003 as we had planned, I would not have received that valuable document in the mail this week. You see, when I finished teaching in 2004, I had just completed my 5th year in my current teaching license. Unbeknownst to us, that was the exact number of years needed to teach to be able to renew a teaching license without having to complete additional course work. As it turns out, our plan would have required me to take additional classes to reacquire my license. God’s plan required that I simply complete a form and mail it in to the Tennessee Department of Education.

Here's The Point: We may get frustrated, mad, disappointed, discouraged or any other emotion when our plan doesn’t work out. But when you place your faith and trust in Jesus, He has a plan and He is working it out in your life whether you know it or not. Ironically, our oldest son’s verse for his Wednesday night class this week was: “I trust You, oh Lord!.” Psalm 31:14. Ask yourself, Do I trust You, oh Lord?

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Using Your Time Wisely

With March Madness and the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament tipping off this week, I recently read an article in Sporting News with Billy Donovan, the head coach of the University of Florida men's basketball team. In trying to help one of his players understand the importance of his role, he shared the following conversation:

"After a game, I said to one of our freshmen, 'You played 18 minutes tonight. How much of that time do you think you had the ball in your hands?' He looked at me and said, 'About three minutes?' I said, 'Try 45 seconds. That means there were more than 17 minutes you were in the game and didn't have the ball. The key to your contribution is what you do with that time. Do you play defense? Do you screen on offense? Do you find a way to get open? Do you get a rebound or a loose ball?' That's how games are won and lost".

Every week, you and I have times when we "have the ball", when we are "on", when we are focused on a task or project. The real test of how valuable we are to the team (at home or at work) is what we do when the focus isn't on us. That's the "key to your contribution".

Use your time wisely.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Meeting Truett Cathy

Last week, I had the privilege to briefly meet Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A, following a talk he gave at a conference in the Atlanta area. I thanked him for his courtesy in taking a couple of moments with me and he responded in classic Chick-fil-A fashion, "my pleasure". You would be hard pressed to know that the gracious man is worth a reported $1.2 billion dollars.

At almost 88 years of age (he turns 88 on Saturday), Mr. Cathy has been teaching Sunday School to 13 year old boys for almost 55 years and continues even today. He teaches 13 year olds because "that is the last year when you can really impact young men....before peer pressure really takes hold".

Here are some notes and quotes from his talk:
"Why not be our very best at all times? Why not?"

"Everyone who is breathing needs encouragement".

"I've never seen any conflict between biblical principles and business practices".

"How good a father you were is determined by the conduct of your grandchildren".

The three main decisions in life: master, mission, mate

Three areas in life to monitor:
Instruction- what you say
Importance- what you do
Image- what you are

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Notes from HD Conference

I had hoped to blog last week during the HD Conference at FBC Woodstock but was unable to get a wireless connection at the event and our group's hotel had connectivity issues as well (also hot water issues but that is another story). I regret the delay in posting some thoughts from the conference. Following are some notes and quotes from the event that caught my attention:

Johnny Hunt, Pastor of First Baptist Woodstock, challenged those in attendance to not let their passion for ministry dwindle by allowing "something precious to become familiar". He encouraged the group to "stay teachable".

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue: "People are looking for authenticity in politics and pulpits".

Allan Taylor, an Associate Pastor at FBCW, referring to growing a ministry: "To grow, you must stay small". The idea is that individual people matter not the size of the group.

There were also some breakout sessions based on age divisions. I attended the young adult sessions and here are some thoughts that came out of those sessions:
If there is no childcare, young adults will not show up;
3 main issues for young adults: commitment, childcare, cash/credit;
Leaders must choose the best not just the good;
Young adult ministry and children's ministry must work in concert.

Another session on "Tools Every Teacher Needs" was led by Jeff Young, an Associate Pastor at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. Some notes from that session:
Incite people don't just excite them;
Teach as if something were at stake;
A disciple is one with a long obedience in the same direction.

Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A, also spoke at the conference. I will post some notes and quotes from his talk in a later blog.

Monday, March 9, 2009

A Good Decision

I was out of town for a couple of days at the end of last week. I had some tentative plans to meet with a few people to work on a project on Saturday afternoon. By Thursday evening, our group's plans were still unfinalized as we were each trying to rearrange our schedules to be able to work on the project.

While I was sitting in my out-of-town meetings last week, I realized that instead of working on another project, I needed to spend Saturday with my family. I owed it to them. Just the four of us. No work. No projects. The project could wait. I texted the guys involved (the rescheduling also worked well for them) and we decided to try to get together sometime this week. It was a good decision.

Here's The Point: Maybe, like me, you need to reschedule something so that you can spend more time with your husband or your wife or your children. Our relationships are so much more important than our projects.

By the way, last Saturday, our family packed a picnic lunch, went to a small train museum in Townsend and then on a short nature walk in the mountains. It was a good decision.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Life is Better Together

When people connect with one another in the context of a spiritual learning environment like a bible fellowship class or a small group, something wonderful happens. The power of a shared experience is an amazing thing. Lifelong friendships are born and then are encouraged to develop. You find friends with whom you will share times of great joy and fun memories. These are people who will walk with you, even carry you if necessary, through difficult times in life.

And yet, some people choose to avoid these environments. Every week many people (hundreds in my church) don't attend a bible fellowship class or a small group. They simply go to "big church" and watch the "show", attending only the worship service, and then they go home. Without interacting with people. With limited contact with anyone.

Here's The Point: Life is better together. Jesus spent time with His disciples. He could have accomplished His ministry without them. I mean, He was God, only in human flesh. And yet, He chose to live His life with and among people.

I hope you desire to be with others on a consistent, regular basis in a spiritual learning environment like a bible fellowship class or a small group. It's an opportunity to connect with people who will enrich your life.

This week, I'll be attending a conference that encourages people to get involved in bible fellowship (or small groups) with others. I hope to post some of what is shared there.

Monday, March 2, 2009

The Early Days

When you do alot of work with young married, newlywed and engaged couples, one of your responsibilities is to lead couples through pre-marital counseling. Beginning later this month, our church will switch to conducting pre-marital counseling in a class format. I'll post more about that at another time.

One of my favorite parts of pre-marital counseling and getting to know a couple is when I ask them about how they met, what attracted them to one another and how they fell in love. Without fail, the couples' faces brighten as they share about their care and love for one another. If a couple cannot express joy in one another at this early point in their relationship, I'd have major concerns for the long-term health of their marriage.

Here's The Point: Think back to the early days of your relationship with your spouse. Remember how you met, what attracted you to one another and how you fell in love. If those memories don't still bring you joy, you've may have some work to do in your marriage.