I always try to read a book or two during holidays.
I picked up the book "Quiet Strength" by coach Tony Dungy.
(Check it out, coachdungy.com)
This book was great, but I'll use it as a string board for something else.
I was late in catching football fever.
I was torn in childhood. On one side I grew up in the shadow of the Steel Curtain and the Terrible Towel- Steelers country. Everyone was a fan.
But I had a mother who not-so-subtlety discouraged my brother and I from playing football.
"It will ruin your body!" she always said.
So I picked up really safe activities like skiing, snowboarding, skateboarding and rock climbing- nobody has ever hurt themselves in those sports!
It wasn't until I moved away from Pennsylvania that I became a football fan. Much to my surprise it became a way of keeping me rooted to my past. And I've genuinely come to appreciate the sport.
But here's my thought, or my regret:
Now, as an adult, I wish I had the experience of playing for a great coach on a great team.
I was either so poisoned by a culture that said "do your own thing," or just genuinely had bad coaches, that I really don't know what great coaching and teamwork looks like. At least from the inside out. I can't even remember the name of any coach I had in my childhood.
And that is a great loss in my life.
Alas, I can't turn back the clock.
But I can encourage my kids to find a sport, and find a team, and find a coach that truly means something to them.
And in the mean time, as I try to build this church and build our leadership and ministry teams, I can learn from books like "Quiet Strength."
I can learn from just watching and enjoying football.
And I can learn by continuing to coach my kids soccer teams.
Yes, I coach soccer- talk about the blind leading the blind!
Trust me, I'm no coach Dungy, but I'm growing.
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