Doing the squeeze bunt before you have to.

Yesterday I was coaching Will's (My stepson) 7th-8th grade baseball team We were batting and up by 9. Josh, the player in our on deck circle asks me if he can do a suicide squeeze play if Alex, the player in front of him, gets a triple. We are all riding the adrenaline of getting off to such a good start in our first game together and I'm looking to connect with the kids in positive ways so I say sure...of course thinking that the odds of Alex getting a triple were not that good. Well, Alex didn't get the triple, but he did get a single and with all the throwing errors he ends up on 3rd base. In all the excitement of getting Alex around to 3rd I had completely forgotten about my promise to Josh, who when I turned to encourage him at his at bat was smiling from ear to ear. Oh man, I thought to myself I've got to follow thru on this. So I told the runner on third and gave Josh the squeeze sign. Josh got the bunt down and the elation of our team grew to a fever pitch.

How it was received by the opposing coach was an entirely different matter. He was not happy with me, but was classy and didn't yell anything across the field. I had mixed emotions. After we went through the high five line and I apologized to the coaches I had to two take-a-ways / reminders.

1) It is good to work on something before you really need it so you know you can do it if you ever do need to execute it. Honestly, that is what I was thinking, besides wanting to have a positive experience with our team on our first day. I'd much rather have a player (Who was asking for the opportunity) try to execute something when the pressure isn't on so he'll have the confidence to know he can do it when so much more is on the line later in the season. I view my quiet time and other acts of obedience the same way. I know if I start my day with the Lord I'm more apt to confidently call on Him when I'm in a difficult situation or praise situation later in the day. If I say yes to the little opportunities I'll feel more comfortable when bigger opportunities are thrust upon me without me asking for them, and you know those will be there. Then, there's the second take-a-way...

2) Even when you are working on your own good stuff you need to keep in mind how it will be received by others. It wasn't my intention to rub it in to the other coaches but I could understand why it could be perceived that way so I apologized to them, told them where my head was, and addressed it with our team afterwards.

"A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing."
~ Proverbs 20:4

It's a Jeep Thing !

IT'S A JEEP THING...

I've got the top down on my Jeep today, getting ready to take a 2 hour drive to southern Indiana to pray over the area where our church staff will be on retreat next week. I'm looking forward to getting to the camp and seeing what The Lord has in mind, but to be honest I'm almost as excited just to be driving my jeep in the country on a beautiful day. I love my job =) So before I head down to the camp I thought I'd tell you about something that I found out about jeep owners after I bought mine...
I never really noticed it until I got my jeep, and even then it took a few times before I started catching on....
I'd be driving down the street or on the interstate and someone I didn't know coming at me from the opposite direction or stopping at an intersection, with out prompting, simply waves at me. The first couple of times I thought...
that person sure is friendly. But then it started happening more frequently and I got it. It's an unwritten code among owners of Jeeps to wave and acknowledge one another when they run across each other...whether they know each other or not. How cool is that?! I've also since realized that there is a similar code amongst Harley Motorcycle owners. Every once in a while someone will still wave at me and I won't see them until it's too late to wave back, and I feel like a JeepNation loser. Like I've failed the code. Not really that bad, but I do feel bad that I didn't see them coming but they were looking for me, uh, I mean my jeep. =)

What if ..... We took a lesson from JeepNation and people everywhere, regardless of what kind of vehicle you own, or even if you aren't in a vehicle, started looking for each other, just to say Hi.
I know this thought is by no means original, but I like how it feels when a stranger or a friend thinks I am worth a greeting, and I'll bet most of you do too. What do you say we take this JeepNation thing to a personal level and started looking for others to acknowledge. Up for the challenge? I know that ladies probably need to be more careful than us guys because their wave to a guy might be interpreted by a guy the wrong way, but that's another subject for another day.

A long time ago I attended seminary for about 6 months in the state of Tennessee and I know from first hand experience what it means and how it feels to have every person that walks by you on campus, in the parking lot, or at the gas station say "Hey." One of my best memories about being there. They are friendly people we could take some lessons from.

I like what Jesus had to say about the subject...

"But if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others?
Do not even pagans do that?" Matthew 5:47