The Tuck Rule

 

The Tuck Rule

Rules are rules and sometimes they are a pain to know how to enforce. This is from May 18, 2011.
I passed Patrick as I left school this afternoon and he told me goodbye for the day. Patrick is a junior and new to WCS this year. He's also very bright and personable and has a wonderful sister named Princess who happens to be in his same section of my Gospels class. Patrick also has a problem; his uniform shirt does not want to stay tucked into his uniform khaki pants. Our policy is that shirts must be tucked and I have seen detentions issued for non-compliance. I don't think I have ever given a detention for the offense. Most students- and the rule includes girls- do a good job with the rule. I have Patrick right after lunch and he habitually would come in untucked. I would remind (warn) him and he would immediately and apologetically get back into dress code. I understand that sometimes shirts come out accidentally and sometimes it is a deliberate act. Patrick fell into the accidental, or at least careless, category.

One day, I shifted gears with Patrick. In front of the class, I told him I would give the entire class a percentage point on their next test if he could go one week without my reminding him about his shirt. He accepted the challenge but more importantly, the class became invested in Patrick's wardrobe. His attention to the details of his grooming could alter the outcome of their grade and ultimately, their GPA. (I harp on the fractional difference in being in or out of the top 10% in their class which is a huge deal in Texas college admission.) Suddenly, the classmates were reminding Patrick and  making sure his uniform met the handbook guidelines. Guess what? He made it. All of my reminders and low-key threats had little impact on Patrick.  But, the encouragement of the young men and women whose scores would benefit by his
obedience changed his perspective and it changed their test marks. It was a pretty good lesson for me. One size doesn't fit all in school or among believers. The scriptures remind us that we have different talents and abilities which means we have different motivations. The first lesson I learned the first day  I coached girls was....... they aren't boys. Now, they still have to keep their shirts tucked in but they will respond uniquely. So did Patrick (who approved this blog) and so do all of us. The  compassionate involvement of Christian brothers and sisters in lifting up the fallen and broken carries more weight than the condemnations which are often the staple of churches. Most of us are well aware of when we sin. We thrive when we are discovered and acknowledged to be on the right path. And we know from the teaching of the Savior that can be one narrow pathway. Patrick is heading in the right direction.

Applicable quote of the day:
"Rules are not necessarily sacred; principles are."
Franklin D. Roosevelt

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

I K(Need) Thee Every Hour

 

I K(Need) Thee Every Hour

This is a story of a great hymn! It is from August 16, 2017.
Annie Sherwood Hawks, who died in 1918, wrote four hundred hymns in her life, of which only one is remembered on a wide scale. I Need Thee Every Hour was one of my favorite church songs as a kid and remains so today although we don't sing it as much as we used to. According to Dr. C. Michael Hawn, Hawks penned the timeless hymn at age thirty-seven. One day while doing housework, she was struck by her need for the presence of the Savior, a need she felt every hour. Hawn makes the point that if all five verses are sung along with the refrain, the phrase I need thee is repeated twenty times! I tell my students the more something is repeated in the Bible, the more important it likely is. The same can be said for Annie Hawks' sentiments.

If you are a regular reader, you might recall I had an issue with my left knee several weeks before my annual mission to Vietnam. I woke up on the morning of Tuesday, June 13 with a twinge but by the end of the day, my knee was the size and shape of a volleyball. I kept thinking it would get better but it didn't. I made it through several more days of basketball camp but it was difficult. By the following Monday, I was greatly concerned that my trip was in peril. I was blessed to get into a well-known orthopedic doctor who was covered by our school insurance. The next morning, my left knee was drained of 34 cc's of bloody fluid and injected with a steroid shot. The x-rays showed no particular problems and the doctor told me I would feel better almost immediately, which I did. He started me on a thirty day prescription of an anti-inflammatory and gave me these instructions: stay off it, ice constantly, wear a compression sleeve, and faithfully do the two stretching exercises diagrammed for me. I did and in the fifteen days before my plane left for Asia, I was back to normal. I wore the sleeve on the flight as the doctor recommended and I kept taking my prescription. I got some ice in my hotel room but since I was feeling better, I never used it. During the first part of the twenty-nine day excursion, I religiously did the exercises but as the pain and swelling disappeared, I almost completely stopped doing what I was told. 

Since I've been back in Houston, two weeks ago today, I've only stretched three or four times. I was sore after swimming and working out the first time in two months but that was temporary. But here's the thing. Both the doctor and our former trainer who examined me told me the same thing; doing these exercises would help prevent the situation from happening again.... and I believe them! And yet, once the crisis had passed, I quit doing what had helped heal me and what promised to keep me much freer from pain. Let me tell you, I was in agony before I had the knee procedure and I NEVER want to be limited like that again. But I'm doing nothing to prevent its recurrence. That's what hits me about Annie Hawk's wonderful hymn. She confesses her complete and utter reliance on Jesus all the time. Not just when she's sick or scared or lonely or needy. Her third verse begins with,
I need thee every hour
In joy or pain
Sometimes I/we treat prayer and communing with the Godhead as an emergency measure, like breaking the glass to the fire extinguisher. When our calamity is under control, we return the safety equipment back to its storage space in case we need it again. Prayer should be a consistent theme in our life, not a fall back position for when we are out of options. I really dislike the statement when all else fails, pray as prayer should be the first thing we do in every vignette of life. And yet, that's how I often act. I'll stretch again when my knee hurts again. I tend to pray more when my heart hurts again. If I prayed every hour as Annie Hawks suggested, maybe my heart would not ache as much. That's why I need thee every hour.

To listen to I Need Thee Every Hour, click or copy/paste the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOT4mKE4GFI

Applicable quote of the day:
“Songs and hymns refresh the body. Hymns invoke the spirit to rise to its maker for strength. When we live in a day without a hymn or a song, we disregard the essence of the day” 
 Ernest Mangy Yeboah

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

Surf City/Westbury Christian

 

Surf City/Westbury Christian

The things you find out when you give an inservice devotional! This is from August 15, 2017.
I'm giving our inservice devotional tomorrow, the last one before school starts on Thursday. I'm not sure when it started but it's become a tradition that I do the last one. In the past, I've asked to be last because it takes me a long time to put it together- I do a Power Point presentation about my mission to Vietnam and I always have a great deal to process with pictures and emotions. Plus, I'm not good with technology!

As I have done for a number of years in a row, I will be giving away stuff from my mission; ties, t-shirts, fans, coin purses, and key chains. In the past, I've asked trivia questions but I've found there is an unfair advantage for long-time employees PLUS it takes too long. Tomorrow, I'm simply going to pull names out of a hat with the proviso that we start right on time and if you aren't present when you name is called, you lose out. To make it fair, I requested an employee list from our administrative assistant, Janice Pearson, which she graciously sent. I wrote all the names of our faculty/staff on slips of paper, putting males in one bag and females in another. And as I progressed, I made a startling discovery: we have over twice as many women working at WCS as men! The exact count is 63 ladies, 30 gentlemen. If you remember the old Jan and Dean # 1 hit song, Surf City, the hook line was, "Two girls for every boy!" That's our school- with apologies to our women for referring to them as girls. Two women for every man.

I was shocked at what I learned but when I mentioned this news to my female colleagues, none of them were surprised- they already knew and seemed shocked I didn't know. I guess I'm just not very aware. In the high school and middle school arena where I spend my time, it's pretty even. And our coaching staff is 90% male which skewed my perception. But I guess I'm just not very observant. Our pre-school, kindergarten, and elementary faculty is overwhelmingly female in nature as is their office staff. I know that but I just never put two and two together. Sometimes our eyes have to be opened. Joseph's brothers were not aware they were standing before him when they came to buy food in Egypt. The men on the road to Emmaus were not aware Jesus was in their midst as they walked down the road. Adam and Eve were not aware they were naked but that's because they were innocent. I wish I could claim the same. It's not a big thing that I was clueless about the gender composition of our school. But it is significant when I am blind to the needs of others; when I overlook the pain in my neighbors' lives; when I retreat into my own little orbit. I put in eye drops the first thing each morning when I wake up so I can see clearly. Maybe I need to reapply as the day wears on. After all, there's a pretty big difference between two and one.

Applicable quote of the day:
“There must be a happy medium somewhere between being totally informed and blissfully unaware.”
Doug Larson

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

The Posture Of Prayer

 

The Posture Of Prayer

In the summer of 2010, I spent 25 days in a Christian orphanage in rural China. This is about the kids talked to the Father there. It  is from August 15, 2010.

I have mentioned that the children in the orphanage had two times of prayer, one at 6:00 AM and one at 8:30 in the evening. One difference in their method of worship is that the boys and girls sit on mats, on opposite sides of the room. Also, they kneel when praying, something rarely seen in Western churches. Below is my favorite prayer song which I was reminded of during my trip. These words display our total reliance upon God and His mercy. The words are by Thomas Pollack and the tune it was set to in my childhood hymnal was by John Gower.

Father, hear Thy children’s call;
Humbly at Thy feet we fall,
Prodigals, confessing all:
We beseech Thee, hear us.

Christ, beneath Thy cross we blame
All our life of sin and shame,
Penitent, we breathe Thy Name:
We beseech Thee, hear us.

Holy Spirit, grieved and tried,
Oft forgotten and defied,
Now we mourn our stubborn pride:
We beseech Thee, hear us.

Love that caused us first to be,
Love that bled upon the tree,
Love that draws us lovingly:
We beseech Thee, hear us.

We Thy call have disobeyed,
Into paths of sin have strayed,
And repentance have delayed:
We beseech Thee, hear us.

Sick, we come to Thee for cure,
Guilty, seek Thy mercy sure,
Evil, long to be made pure:
We beseech Thee, hear us.

Blind, we pray that we may see,
Bound, we pray to be made free,
Stained, we pray for sanctity:
We beseech Thee, hear us.

Thou Who hears each contrite sigh,
Bidding sinful souls draw nigh,
Willing not that one should die,
We beseech Thee, hear us.

By the love that bids Thee spare,
By the Heav’n Thou dost prepare,
By Thy promises to prayer,
We beseech Thee, hear us.

God bless,

Steve
Luke 18:1

Final Chapter

 

Final Chapter

I've coached some terrific kids here over the years! This entry from February 6, 2007 is about another end of the season.

We were the Picture of the Day on the school website this afternoon. By we, I mean my Westbury Christian School junior high girls' basketball team. This morning, we presented a trophy in middle school chapel to Greg Glenn, our WCS Athletic Director. Last month, the Lady Wildcats claimed the runner-up trophy at the St. Francis Episcopal Tournament, bringing home the second place hardware which we handed over for display. The girls were proud of themselves and they should be. Due to various circumstances, we concluded our season two weeks ago with only seven players, down from the fourteen listed on the roster. Academics played havoc with our chances but I think we learned from the journey. A number of girls who played little early on were starters as the season wound down, gaining invaluable experience. The young ladies who struggled in the classroom and were required to sit, either by the school standards or their folks' criteria, hopefully also gleaned some insight from their enforced idleness. Since we have a practice period built into our schedule, we are already preparing for next year. The sixth graders are now seventh graders in my eyes and the seventh have been elevated to eighth. The next time the eighth graders play in a game, they will be in high school and in another world. You rebuild every year in middle school. I like it that way.

This was a special group, starting with parents. For the last game, one mother made large signs for the gym wall. The Friday after our last contest, some of the team moms provided a wonderful breakfast for us, complete with decorations. The kids were a joy as well. The eighth graders had to ride to the away games in my Toyota with me so Ayramis, Deandra, Jeannett, and Tynae spent hours with their favorite coach in transportation mode. They sang, they laughed, they whispered, they were silly....and I loved it. Tynae was the only returning player who had ever stepped foot on the floor for us before this season and that for only fifteen minutes of game time. On the court, there were highlights and not so lofty moments. In one game, we held our opponents to two points in the last two-plus quarters...and lost. Right before Christmas, we beat a team that had trounced us by thirty points only weeks before. But the best times come in the practices, when it was just us. That's when the memories are made. I have four more months with this bunch of kids, before I round up the practice gear and take the eighth graders to our traditional end of the year lunch at Chili's. I pray for each of these kids every morning before school. The attachment a coach can have with a group of kids is amazing. Paul told the brothers and sisters in Colosse that, "We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you." (Colossians 1:3) Although every coach has a frustration level, and I certainly have mine, it is an honor when a child addresses you as Coach. The title sticks with you as do the remembrances. My lasting memory of Tynae, who made it through three years of my whistle blowing, came in the last quarter of her last game. We were down by more than ten points with scarcely a minute on the clock. A girl on the other team stole the ball and was headed for an uncontested layup. By all rights, the outcome of the game was long decided. It didn't matter. Tynae, who played practically every minute of every game, chased the girl down from thirty feet behind and knocked the ball out of her hands, saving two points. It was one of the greatest plays I have seen but not many people really understood the importance of what she did. Paul, in 2 Timothy 4:7, described it this way:"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." That's what Tynae did in her final act as a Lady Wildcat- she overcame exhaustion and prevented two points, honoring her teammates and me with her effort until the very end. Most kids would have emotionally cashed it in by that point. Some, like Tynae, never quit. That's why we coach. That's why there's next year.

Applicable quote of the day:
"The best thing about sports is the sense of community and shared emotions it can create."
Bob Costas

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

No Holds: Barred!

 

No Holds: Barred!

Several years ago, as a safety precaution against swine flu, high school activities were curtailed in several states, including Texas. The following devotional entry is about a similar reaction on a much smaller scale in Minnesota several years ago. It is from February 1, 2007.

Weather has wreaked havoc on our Westbury Christian School soccer teams. Continual rain the past weeks have rendered practices and games practically obsolete. As our boys' and girls' squads wind down their regular seasons, makeup days are difficult to find. State tournament dates are mandated by the governing athletic association so matches must be completed quickly. That's one thing I don't miss about coaching high school baseball; factoring weather forecasts into every decision concerning my team. Indoor sports are much less likely to be cancelled due to atmospheric conditions. As a player, I can't remember having a high school basketball game postponed and there was only one such instance in my college career. Not all athletic postponements are weather-related. Minnesota is facing a crisis in its high school wrestling programs from an unlikely, at least to the non-fan, source. In the past two months, an outbreak of herpes among grapplers in the Land Of 10,000 Lakes has prompted the Minnesota State High School League to impose a moratorium on all matches and contact practices. Hopefully, the quarantine will put a halt to the spread of herpes in time to provide a healthy environment for the state meet, which kicks off in the last week of February. What a shame if an athlete lost the chance to compete on an elite level due to an infection picked up from a stranger at a tournament. The coaches seem in favor of the ban. This strain of herpes can remain in the system for an undetermined time and potentially cause blindness in the infected party. I've seen my share of athletes knocked out of competitions before but wrestling-transmitted herpes is a new one on me. Let's hope they can isolate the incidents and allow those kids the chance to pursue their ultimate high school dream, to have the gold medal as the best wrestler in their weight class draped around their necks. Unlike professionals, high school athletes can't come out of retirement.

In my tenth grade Bible classes today, we discussed the very short parable Jesus told in Luke 13:20-21. In this one sentence story lesson, Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to yeast that a woman mixed into dough. Most of the kids don't know anything about cooking but they are aware that just a tiny amount of yeast spreads through the whole batch of dough. Although I am no medical specialist, I asked how many wrestlers were responsible for the Minnesota herpes epidemic. My students' answer was one. High school wrestling is organized around tournaments where a number of schools gather for matches. One wrestler infects another who then wrestles the next week at a different tournament with a number of other schools, By doing just a little math, it's easy to see a quickly it could spread. I asked my sophomores how many other students a so-called bad kid (using their term) could infect in a school setting. The consensus was twenty, easily. I asked if their parents forbade them from being around certain other youngsters and invariably they answered in the affirmative. I flipped the question, asking if a good kid could possibly infect others with their goodness and they agreed with that as well. The self-evaluation can be boiled down to this: which influence camp is my tent pitched in? These teens know the truth of Jesus' teaching first-hand, that influence, like yeast, is infectious. Unfortunately, so is herpes.

Applicable quote of the day:
"A disease in one country is a threat to another, ... the best chance to eradicate or contain a new infectious disease is when it emerges."
Henk Bekedam

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1

First Day Of School

 

First Day Of School

 I saw these tow pictured above three days ago- they are all grown up! This is from August 4, 2015.

It's been an interesting past two days in the Facebook world. So many parents are posting pictures of their kids on the first day of school and many of the parents  are former students of mine. I remember the folks at roughly the same age and look for resemblances and see many! My parents never took pctures on the first day of school and rarely at any other time. In the age before Facebook and digital cameras and phones which make anyone a photographer, we lived a more private life. I'm not knocking life on the Internet. Technology leads to revamping of culture. My students are shocked when I tell them some of my friends who lived out in the country in Nebraska were on party lines. To them, that is one step removed from smoke signals and the Pony Express. I'm anxious to see our students at WCS next week, young and old alike. I am blessed to interact with most of the little ones down to kindergarten through our projects to build Christian orphanages in Honduras and Haiti. You might forget their names but believe me, they remember yours!

I'm excited when parents are excited about their kids. You probably know that I have never been married and have no children of my own. People often tell me I have hundreds and now thousands of kids from my teaching and coaching career and while I know what they mean and know they mean well, there is a difference. The past five years, I have been able to watch the same group of kids grow up in Vietnam on my mission trips and for the first time, it's made me wish I had some with my last name. I don't dwell on it and it doesn't make me sad but there is something about having a little one who can't wait to see you or hold your hand. The past two years, I have grown close to sisters Ngan, age nine, and Thuy, age eleven. They come and live in the church building during the summers with many of their cousins. I admit it- they have me wrapped around their little fingers. Do you know why I love them? Because they loved me first. Ngan wept when I left last year; she had tears last week but is getting more control of her emotions. Thuy in the card she is holding above apologized for losing the earrings I gave her last summer and hoped I wouldn't be mad at her. How could I be with that face? Even though I speak no Vietnamese, I can tell when they fight with each other which, not surprisingly for sisters of their ages, they do. But it doesn't last and they get along amazingly well.

You know, I have never met their parents. They were supposed to pick them up a week before I came home but there was an intervention and they let them stay until my departure. I haven't met mom and dad but I know this much- they must be doing something right to have kids that are smart and kind and giving and loyal and obedient and creative. Psalm 127:3 tells us that,
Children are a gift from the Lord;
they are a reward from Him.
Our God was very generous to Ngan's and Thuy's mom and dad. I pray all of you with kids are enjoying your gift- they deserve it!

Applicable quote of the day:
''As the father of two young girls, I have come to the realization that they are just as messy as boys but the dirt that they create around the house is comprised of at least 50% glitter.'' 
Andrew K. Keller

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1