Life, Leadership, and Football

It's been way too long since my last post. Here's to a more consistent blog in 2015! It's New Year's Eve, and I just couldn't let the year pass without putting together one more post. I haven't written (well, finished might be a better word) anything since August. If you're wondering why it's been so long, you might have missed the part in earlier posts where I spoke about being a football coach. Nonetheless, I'm back, and I think you're going to like this one (or you might actually hate it). Winning and Standardized Tests Most people would never put those two things together. I never would have before last week either. Just the mention of Standardized testing can (and usually does) spark an impassioned debate. I am not here to promote testing or to speak against it. In fact, my opinion, your opinion, or anybody else's opinion on the subject really doesn't have anything to do with what I'm going to talk about. Follow along wi...

Drew is fired up because he just finished putting that "big boy" puzzle together "all by himself" (almost). I am still pretty new at being a parent. Drew is my oldest child, and he just turned three a couple months ago. The last three years have been a crash course in parenthood. Every day I learn something new, and every day I realize more and more just how important his mother and I are to his overall development. That responsibility weighs heavily on me. I love my son, and I want him to experience the absolute best things that life has to offer. Just like every other parent out there, I want him to be successful at everything he does, and as I sat at the kitchen table with him tonight while he worked on his puzzle, I wrestled with a very tough thought: No matter how much I want him to succeed, there is no way I can guarantee his lifelong success or happiness. How'd we go from the simple, joyful task of putting together a puzzle to dwelling on such a...

"Daddy, why do we watch fireworks?".... "Daddy! Why do we watch fireworks?!" With that, my son managed to snap me out of my iPhone-induced trance, and without knowing it, he inspired this blog.  We had been sitting on the tailgate of a truck for at least an hour, waiting for the fireworks show to start in a small Southwest Oklahoma town about eight miles from where I grew up. While we were waiting, I knew I had some time on my hands, so I began sifting through the list of ideas that I have for future blog posts (we've got some good ones coming!). I was trying to figure out what I was going to write about today. I bounced back and forth between a few ideas. In fact, I started writing two different posts while we sat there. It's amazing what you can do with your phone these days. Then he hit me with that question. I had not anticipated it. That was a mistake on my part. It only makes sense.  He's three years old, and he has just started the ...

I read an article once that featured Richard Robinson, the CEO of Scholastic Books. In the article Robinson tells about a time when he was visiting their distribution center in Jefferson City, Missouri. As he was touring the facility, he started talking to a man driving a forklift, and during that conversation, he asked him, "What is your job? What are you doing here?" I'll never forget what the forklift driver said. "My job is to help children love to read."   What a statement! If Robinson was asking us the same question in our own workplaces, how many of us would have responded with such a statement? Most of us would respond with something along the lines of "I'm a teacher," "I'm a coach," "I'm a forklift driver," or "I'm an insurance salesman." All too often we allow our job titles to define us. It's easy to do because most of us take great pride in our job titles. I know I am proud of...

                    For many people out there, the thought of going to the dentist conjures up images such as the one above (or MUCH worse). Honestly, I've never been one to dread going to the dentist's office.  Maybe I have just been fortunate throughout my life. I never had a bad dental experience as a child, and I love the dentist that my wife and I use here in Tulsa.  He's awesome! Now, lets get something straight. I'm not saying that I start doing cartwheels when it's time to go to the dentist, but I am saying that it doesn't really bother me. On that note, I'd like to share a story with you. It will lay out some concepts that you can start applying to your life the moment that you are done reading. I promise. My Teeth Apparently brushing every day doesn't necessarily overcome the amount of sugar that can be found in my Venti White Mocha from Starbucks (who knew?). As a result of my affinity for sugary coffee (and m...

First of all, I want to say THANK YOU for all of the encouraging feedback that I have received for my first post, " Live Like A Champion. "  I couldn't believe how many people read it, and I was humbled when I saw complete strangers retweeting the link. Thank you so much! I hope I can produce more posts that folks can relate to and learn from in the future. Now lets get down to business. Raise your hand if you've ever sent a text, read a text, checked an email, or looked at any of your social media accounts on your phone while driving you car? If you didn't raise you hand, that means one of three things: 1) You do not have a license. 2) You're not human. 3) You're guilty, but you think it's stupid to raise your hand while sitting by yourself, reading some guy's blog. Next question: How many of you, upon committing this abhorrent deed, thought the following (or something similar) to yourself? "What a jerk! I am so inconsiderate of t...

"'Am' always follows 'do' in American culture." - Alex Himaya, Senior Pastor, theCHURCH.at I was sitting in church a couple weeks ago, and when our pastor said this, I knew I had to include it in this post.  I don't think it's a profound statement, but I do think it points out a troubling truth. Our culture tends to define us by our accomplishments.  We see it all the time.  Let's use Dan Marino as a quick, easy example. Dan Marino is arguably one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game, but every time the debate comes up, the first argument against Marino is the fact that he never won a Super Bowl.  The critics ask, "How can he be the greatest if he never won a Super Bowl?"  Really?!  Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl, and if I had to pick between the two, I'd take Marino every time (no offense, Trent). "If you ain't first, you're last." - Ricky Bobby The problem, as Pastor Alex went on to point...