Came home from Yosemite to this reminder that I’m not BIG TIME, but our Middle School Pastor Christina is 🙂
If you wanna be BIG TIME.. then come join us at the NYWC this fall.
Archives for August 2010
WHY I COACH SOCCER
August 13, 2010 by Leave a Comment
I have a wife, 5 kids, a full time job, still take one seminary class a quarter in pursuit of my ever elusive MDIV, and like everyone I know, also have an endless list of other things to do. Yet, despite these facts, every summer/fall I add 6 or 7 hours a week of soccer practice for 2 separate teams and coach 2 games every Saturday between Labor Day and Thanksgiving too.
This week marked the beginning of the coaching season for me again. So people ask:
What is wrong with you Brian? Are you nuts?
You might think so if you watch me whip out of the office twice a week to go coach soccer. On thursdays, I leave the office at 3:30pm and then coach soccer till 7pm and then from Mid September through the end of the season, I’ll go to class from 7:15 to 10pm too. Come on, that’s nuts.
Well, here’s why I dive willingly into the deep end of the soccer commitment pool:
- I LOVE SOCCER: so, coaching it is fun. I love teaching and sharing this piece of my passion with kids and watching them “get it” and enjoy the game is good times. I love putting my foot on the ball, even if it’s just coaching a new move.
- IT’S QUALITY, NEVER-GONNA-BE-ABLE-TO-DO-AGAIN, TIME WITH MY KIDS: I’ve coached TJ since he was 8 and this is his last year with me cuz next year, I’ll coach Tyler and Jake. I’m going to miss coaching him because coaching my kids has been some of my best parenting moments. We’ve laughed and cried. We’ve talked about talent, comparison, conflict, endurance, the value of winning, lessons from losing, how to improve, and so much more. I could have had those conversations lots of ways, but not with near the ease or near the teachable moments.
- I’VE HAD SOME BAD COACHING EXPERIENCES: Without sharing details, there are some people I don’t want coaching my kids and since AYSO can place my kid with whoever they want and is limited in resources to whoever volunteers to help, sometimes the coaching experience was less than desirable for my kids. Most coaches are great, but rather than complain about those who aren’t, I decided to shut up and help and try and be a solution to my own problem.
- IT GETS ME OUT OF MY CHURCH: My world can be consumed by people that act like me or act a certain way around me or whatever because of my role as a pastor. This gets me out of the “christian world” and into the “real world” and lets me interact with people where their is nothing they presume about me. I just get to coach soccer, help their kid, and try and bless their family. I just try and be a great coach and encourage them with every opportunity I get. That’s refreshing and in the end, a great testimony to the gospel and the way of Jesus anyway.
- IT SAVES ME TIME AND HEADACHES: Yep, believe it or not, it saves me time. We have 5 kids in soccer and that means 5 practice times. You KNOW that someone will need to be on one end of town when someone else needs to be across town at the same time if we just left it to chance. And, as a dual coach, I get to pick when and where we practice around my schedule and our games on Saturdays for at least 2 of the kids are guaranteed to not conflict. Also, our kids are young enough that we don’t just drop them off and leave. We have to stay and watch. So, if I have to be there, I might as well be coaching. So, in the end, coaching the teams saves our family time and gives us the easiest way to manage our season.
So, there ya have it. That’s why.
KEEPING PARENTS IN THE LOOP
August 10, 2010 by 5 Comments
A few years ago, we started holding an annual, 45 minute, school year orientation meeting for parents of students in our youth ministry.
Honestly, I have no idea why I waited so long to start doing something like this… I think I did one my first couple of years in ministry and then stopped when parents became familiar with my ministry and the demand/fears subsided. But I really never should have stopped. I honestly think it’s one of the very best things we do for parents all year.
Anyway, we did it again this last Sunday after our weekend services with parents of middle school & high school age kids. It was advertised on our ministry blogs and pushed it in the main church service as an important piece for all families with teens in our program. It’s still not got a great attendance (or at least what I wished it had), I think because most still think it’s old info or just for families with new 6th graders or freshmen… but hopefully in the years ahead we’ll be able to change the tide and see more families there.
Here’s why we do it:
- It reminds the new and old of why we do what we do cuz we talk philosophy and vision for a few minutes.
- It gives parents a chance to hear from our staff and for us to express our desire to team with them.
- Because we give them a big picture of all our major events and their estimated costs for the school year, it gives families a chance to budget their time and money if they want their student(s) involved in our program. This alone seems to me to worth it’s weight in gold as a parent who wants to see my student actively engaged in our ministry and plan our weekends and family life accordingly.
- It gives us a chance to share what volunteer needs we have and communicate ways to serve in alongside of us in both big and small ways.
In case you’re a parent of one of our students and missed this meeting or if you’re just curious what we pass out… here’s a pdf handout you can download with all the details.
LAUGHTER AND MOURNING
August 10, 2010 by 1 Comment
I subscribe to a few channels on youtube and as a result, I get periodic e-mails telling me when there’s something new for me to enjoy. Â Well, due to a crazy summer, the last 5 or so sat in my inbox and tonight, in an effort to clean it out, I watched several of the updates I missed.
In the process I laughed and cried.
These two are just funny:
This one made my heart hurt:
Husband. Dad to 5. Student Ministry Pastor. Follower of Jesus. Yatta yatta.
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