Pratice for Fun!

There is something about golf that I believe is different than any other sport. It's kind of a love hate relationship. So yesterday I talked my 13 year old son into hitting balls. He had two options since football is over, either go back to Karate or play golf. Knowing that he doesn't have any interest in Karate anymore, I knew he would say golf, but with much animosity because he decided earlier it wasn’t cool to play the game. But I knew something about golf that he doesn’t know. Once you have been bitten by the “golf bug”, it’s very difficult to get over. I think I understand what an addict goes through!

Two years ago he had went through a few months of loving it and wanting different clubs and some of the cool apparel we all seem to enjoy. I know once I was bitten by this mysterious bug, I was hooked and haven’t even entertained the thought of quitting. But as 13 year old boys do, they constantly have different passions and go through changes.

Yesterday was an awakening for my boy. You see, he is a perfectionist. If he hits a few bad balls, he gets frustrated and wants to quit. So I had him start off hitting short 40 yard shots to a particular area to get his confidence going and by the time he began hitting his longer irons, he was hitting the ball well, so well I could tell he was enjoying his swing. You may have been there, just enjoying the feel of a good balanced swing and the ball going in the spot intended.

He is a sporadic golfer. By that I mean, he will play or hit balls maybe every four months or so or maybe longer. So for him to hit balls well yesterday was a plus, not only for him, but for me. You see, he doesn’t like me telling him how to swing, grip or anything, especially when he is not hitting well. So I began encouraging him to hit those short shots, not as a start but to see if he could hit the squirrel in this one spot. I tried to make it fun.

After he had hit about 40 or so balls, I asked him, “OK Bryce, you ready to go home?”

He looked at me with a confused look as I smiled at him as he said, “But…I don’t want to go, this is awesome”.

So I began my little talk with him. I said, “Bryce there is nothing like a great feeling shot is there?”

He smiled and said, “No dad, you’re right, this is the best…I think I want to practice so I can get good.”

Most of us understand what I am talking about. There is nothing like a great swing followed by a great shot. I have learned that is what gets us coming back. I am hoping that it will keep my son coming back. He has huge potential, but lacks work ethic.

But one thing is for certain, when you are driven by a feeling or more importantly an experience that is the catalyst that ignites the fire that will drive you to succeed. Success on the course is driven by your desire on the range. If I can get my son to enjoy the practice sessions, the rest will take care of itself. I remember Tiger saying on an interview with the Golf Channel that his favorite thing to do is his practice time.

So our tip for the day; Practice brings enjoyment to the game. I know a lot of golfers that hate practice. Every once in a while you will meet a person that can play well without practicing. But for most of us, practice is the only way to get better. So, the key to practice is to learn to enjoy it. Make up games on the range to have fun. If you have a friend that will practice with you, that’s even better. Play games against each other, so it doesn’t get boring. So next time you practice, enjoy the things you don’t usually think of, change things up and watch your scores drop.

“Add value to others” John Maxwell

Last Wednesday my boy’s middle school football team had their awards banquet. With all 93 players on hand for some grub, some social time with their buddies and of course the awards. After the awards were handed out and the program came to an end, my wife and I began socializing with the parents and the players were having a good time talking with the cheerleaders.

After only a few minutes of socializing my boy came to me with a hurt and disgusted look on his face, and said, “can we go now”, I knew something had upset him, so I asked him what was the problem, but he wouldn’t say, so I said, “hang out with your friends, your mom and I are talking with some of the parents”. We had become friends with many of them over the years of youth football. But he persisted with what looked like tears that he was holding back. After a few more minutes we began walking out to our cars as we congratulated some of the boys who received the awards. The boy who received the MVP award was one of my boy’s friends since youth baseball where his father and I coached together.

My boy did not want to ride with me home, so he hopped in is mothers car without saying goodbye to me. I asked him why, but he wouldn’t have anything to do with me. So, I walked to my car wondering what was going on, what did I do to hurt my boy? I thought maybe he was a little jealous of me giving the other boys their accolades. So as we all arrived to our home he walked over to me and buried his head in my chest with a big hug. I asked him what was going on at the event and he stood back and looked at me with tears in his eyes and holding back is apparent broken heart.

I asked him to tell me what was going on. He looked at me and said, “I didn’t achieve anything, I didn’t get an award”.

I said, “did you expect to get one”?

My boy, “Of course, I’m better than so and so”

So, I began the talk. I mentioned to him the boys that received their award were constantly working hard in practice as well as the games. They were always in a play whether it was defense or offense, they worked very hard and they were noticed by their peers and the boys voted for them. So my boy felt a little betrayed that they didn’t vote him in for one of the awards.

Have you ever been passed over for some kind of recognition? Remember what that may have felt like at 13 years old? Sometimes we want the recognition without the extra effort that rewards are followed by. Like my boy, he wanted the reward without the effort. He is a good player, but doesn’t give the effort that warrants the kudos that comes with the work ethic. He played this year with the talent he had last season thinking that was enough. Unfortunately, he had to learn the hard way. In football, your position is always up for grabs. Other players that work hard can take your spot even when you are a better athlete.

It happened with my high school daughter this season during water polo. There are a few players that were better than her talent wise, but she worked hard and took their spot on the team as a starter. This is just one example of what people can and will do when they work hard. We see it in business as well as sports.

In the book of Mathew chapter 25 verse 14-26, we find Jesus in another discussion about a description of Heaven. This story is told many times to listeners of our times about our talents and how we are given gifts to serve others and most importantly, our master. But the disturbing part of the story is found in verse 26 where Jesus says, “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant!” Now, I can understand lazy, but Jesus calls the man who did nothing wicked! I don’t know about you, but it sounds harsh and wicked is a very strong word and the meaning is that you are active in evil acts. Wow! This meaning is not only disturbing but downright scary. But I realized it’s the truth and we need to understand this verse and do something about it.

 So what do we do to change that mindset? How do we motivate someone to move away from procrastination or fear of failing or another emotion that keeps us from moving our future forward? I believe for most of us it is finding something that brings life to us, something we love so much that we ignore all of the negative emotions that keep us from moving forward. You love it so much that no matter the roadblocks you continue on your quest.

So if you are in that familiar area of not moving forward in your career, relationship or spiritual growth it’s time to renew your thinking. It’s time to rethink your future until you find what makes you feel alive! Find your future, learn from your past and begin your journey that you were meant to live. Get with someone you can trust and begin the process of change and progress. All it can do is make you better and you will add value to others!

Prepare...

“The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital” Joe Paterno

Can you believe Tiger missed that three footer to win the tournament, I could’ve made that” “Did you see Tony Romo miss that pass, I could’ve made that pass” How many of us have been in front of our sets on Sunday yelling at it then saying, “how could you screw that up, I could have done that”. With all of the pressure to perform on Sunday, even the best professionals make mistakes that cost them or their team. As I watched some of these athletes perform this weekend, I realized something that I have been trying to get my little guy to understand. Preparation is “The key” component to success in any area of life, whether it’s golf, football or any sport for that matter along with careers and the most important, relationships.

About twelve years ago, I was bombarded with messages and signs about preparing. Every time I would turn on any talk radio, I would hear some radio personality or coach talk about preparation. No matter whether it was a sport or a career or a relationship message, it was on preparation. I heard it so much, at first it got a little creepy. I began to think that something was going to happen to someone in my family and all of the weird thoughts that come along with input from outside voices.

So I went to my friend who is a pastor. I didn’t want people to think I was a freak, So, I didn’t tell anyone. I didn’t want to scare my wife, so I kept it on the Q.T. until I could figure out this unknown. I told him what I thought was going on and he had a little different take on it. He knew me very well, since we were golfing buddies and had been on many mission trips together, he knew me better than just about any other person. I trusted his counsel. Since he knew me well, he also knew my weaknesses and my strengths.

As I told him about the experience, he thought about it for a few minutes, and told me that I should head back to school to get some kind of degree in ministry. I told him how much I hated school and that I was too old and all the other excuses that I could muster up. Twelve years later, I am very happy I went to seminary. I learned more than I thought I already knew, which wasn’t very much. I learned that the more I learned, the more I learned that I was far, far short of knowing very much or anything at all!

But what it did for me was cause me to become a constant learner. In fact, I am always reading some kind of book or curriculum to educate me further on spiritual formation and other facts in theological doctrine, and of course the golf swing! Learning has become my new challenge in life. But more importantly, it has set me up for my next task in my ministry career.

With all of my past experience in sales, business owner, retail, youth ministry and ministry to men, it has prepared me for what I am beginning now. I never thought of it until the last job interview I went on a few months ago. As I was preparing to go on the interview, I told the guys on our leadership team at church what I was getting ready to do and they all said, “Wow Greg, that’s the perfect job for you”. Even the pastors and other people that I was connected with in the community told me the same thing. I imagine you have heard that expression towards others or hopefully yourself.

As this conversation started of us thinking that we could, “complete a particular pass”, or a “putt to win a tournament”, we need to think of something that some of us forget to realize, we couldn’t do it. If you think about these athletes, they are first of all, separated from most of us by their extraordinary ability and second and most significantly important, they are prepared. They have been preparing for that moment of greatness since they were little. They have spent countless hours practicing and training for that one moment that seems to separate them from us!


I didn’t realize twelve years ago that I would be preparing myself to step into a role that will help create a new culture that will effect generations of families and ultimately our communities. Many of us wonder why we are not the “person” that God is using. It is almost always because we are not prepared for the task. Could you imagine getting off your lazy boy and putting on Peyton Manning’s uniform and stepping on to the field trying to direct traffic like Peyton? You would be peeing in your pants! You couldn’t do it. Now if you put in the years and preparation that Peyton has put in, maybe, but you’re not Peyton and you are not probably made to be a quarterback.

But, you are made to do something and you are called to prepare and do the best with whatever task you are made to do. As I begin my new journey in ministry, I was concerned that I could lose focus and not continue the learning that has prepared me for this season of life. But, I have an edge on it. I have been at it for so long that it has become a habit that I just can’t seem to turn off. So I am challenged to raise my level of learning and continue on my quest to change our culture of men. Big challenge I know, but I have been walking this road for a long time and beginning to see a little flicker of light toward the end of the tunnel.

I would like to leave you with a piece of wisdom that I have learned from that helped me prepare for this journey. It is found in 2 Peter 3:15 “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect”