It's Football Season!!!

On a wall in my office hangs a print of a small, blond haired boy in blue jeans and a long sleeve, red and white striped shirt looking out over the ocean. Below the photo, the word PRIORITIES leaps off the page in all caps. And then at the bottom you find these words:

"A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove...but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child."

As I read that, I'm reminded of Steven Covey's Habit #3 that says, "Put First Things First." As he develops that point, he makes a great statement: "The things that matter most must never come at the mercy of things that matter least." It would appear that many people have forsaken what matters most in their lives in order to obtain things that really don't matter much at all. 

Priorities are the things we place in the center of our lives. It's what we revolve around from day to day. For some it's their job; for others, it's their stuff; and still for others it's personal success. But as I eluded to in the beginning, once they get to where they are going, there's a good chance they'll have no one to share it with because they neglected the people closest to them along the way. Not to mention that they may have never considered the One who helped their plans succeed in the first place.

Proverbs 16:3 "Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed."

Bobby Bentley was someone who was chasing a dream of being a successful football coach. Success as a high school coach at nationally ranked Byrnes High School led to an opportunity to coach a college football team at Presbyterian College. Then it all changed. Here's his story...

Back to School!!!

School is about to begin. Time for bookbags, notebooks, pencils and more. But as we kick off another 180 days of learning, I want to suggest that the most valuable component of a successful year might be something other than the typical items. It's something that varies among students, teachers and administrators. What is it? It's our perspective.

For some, the next 180 days are necessary evils. For others, they are opportunities to make a difference in themselves and others. It's like the old African adage that says...

Every morning, in Africa, the gazalle wakes up
Knowing if it runs slower than the fastest lion, it will be eaten.

Every morning, in Africa, the lion awakes,
Knowing if it runs slower than the fastest gazelle, it will starve.

Every morning when the sun comes up,
It doest't matter if your a lion or a gazelle,
You'd better be running.

Whether you are an educator or parent, we all play a part in helping our kids be successful in their education. I'm convinced that the parent's role in their child's learning is the most critical factor of their success. Don't neglect this responsibility.

Education is not simply reading, writing and arithmetic. It's becoming more about learning how to learn and how to make good choices. It's about getting up every morning knowing that you need to be moving forward. This video might help...Have a GREAT year and make it count!

eXtreme Kids Camp Wrap-Up Video

I'm working on a "Back to School" post. But before I get that up, I thought you'd like to see an overview of our week at camp. Thanks to "P-Diddy Pastor Doug" for allowing me to tag along and to "Super Ken" Mayfield for his work on the video each night and for this finale. Enjoy!

(* Note: If you happen to catch a guy in between two girls and they are all covered in "yuck," that's me and my girls...)

OMC = Organized Mass Chaos

It's Wednesday at the Extreme Kids Camp. We're learning what it means to be a "Worship Machine." This is a first-class event for children!

The purpose of this post is simply to share a quick video of faces from the morning event. It's called "OMC" and it lives up to its name. I'll save details for later (if you need to know more, let me know.) In the mean time, here is a video (without sound) of the typical end result: