A New Role

Sometime in August I will be taking on a new role.

This happens in life.  As we mature and grow through life stages we are forced to take on new roles.  I went from being a high school student who lived at home with my mom and brother in a structured setting, to being a college student who was independent, living in a dormitory with 299 other freshmen boys.  I went from being a carefree college student, where I was basically responsible for myself, to being a teacher and a coach, where I was suddenly responsible for the learning and performance of high school kids.  I went from being a boyfriend, to being a husband. I was a son and son-in-law. I was a brother and a brother-in-law.

              

I took on the role of being a college chaplain and a college coach. I went from being a husband, to being a father. I played the role of a staff member at a large church and then being the Lead Pastor of other churches. 

              

Sometimes I took one role, but ended up playing others. I coached teams, but I also became a mentor and sometimes a surrogate parent. I was a father to my own kids, but also a trusted advisor and mentor to their friends. I was a spectator at my kids games and also a confidant and counselor to other parents. 

              

I have had to play some roles for which I was completely unprepared. Our middle child, Jesse, was a soccer player and one year we were late in getting him signed up for a team.  When coaches found out that Jesse was available to be on a team, they all wanted him, but the league officials said he could only be on a team if I was one of the coaches. A coach called me and asked me to be an assistant coach.  I told him I knew nothing about soccer. He said I didn’t have to do anything but show up, what he really wanted was Jesse on his team!

              

That is the way life goes. God puts us in places and asks us to play roles. Sometimes we are ready and eager, and we are embracing long-awaited opportunities. In other situations we are caught off guard.  We feel totally inadequate and we need to simply fall to our knees and be completely dependent on God for wisdom, insight and strength. 

              

In my new role, I will be embracing a long-awaited opportunity for which I couldn’t be more grateful.  At the same time, it is a role I have never played before, which means I will be totally dependent on God.

              

My children, Jesse and Marta, are making me a Grandpa!  

Continued Influence

When I played football at Hope College we played at Riverview Park, a city owned facility North of campus with a perfect view of a swamp!  It was quaint.  The stands on the North side were covered!  Hope students filled the stands on the South side that were about five yards behind the visitor’s bench.  It led to some interesting exchanges!

              

The city built a brand new Municipal Stadium adjacent to Hope’s campus in the late 70’s which has been the home of Hope College football ever since.  The field was also shared with local high school teams and was made available for other events for the city of Holland.  Each year, as the football season wore on, the field deteriorated from overuse.  If it was a rainy fall the games looked like they were being played in a mud bowl.  It was at the best embarrassing, and at the worst possibly dangerous.

              

This year Hope College bought the stadium from the city.  This was much to the city’s relief in that they could no longer afford to maintain the facility or make necessary improvements.  Hope immediately installed artificial turf and made necessary upgrades to other aspects of the facility.  It is beautiful.

              

Last week Hope announced that the stadium would be named the Ray and Sue Smith Stadium in honor of Ray Smith’s 25 years of service as Hope’s football coach.  Ray holds Hope College, MIAA, and national Division III coaching records.  It is a well-deserved honor.

              

Through God’s providence Ray Smith came to Hope College as football coach my sophomore year. He had an immediate impact on the football program, but more importantly on my life personally.  Ray was more than a coach.  He was a role model and a mentor for me of what it meant for a man to be a fully-devoted disciple of Jesus Christ.  He talked the talk and walked the walk.  God used Ray Smith to shape me into the person I am today.  Ray Smith challenged me to take my faith more seriously and he demonstrated God’s belief in me and my gifts with his own belief in me and my gifts. 

              

When I was wrestling with the decision of leaving teaching and coaching and entering ministry, Becky and I met with Ray and Sue to get their opinion. They started to cry.  My first thought was that the thought of me in ministry was so painful that it brought them to tears.  Ray and Sue told us that they had been praying that I would go into ministry for two years!

              

Ray asked me to join his coaching staff when I returned to Holland for seminary after one year of teaching.  He believed that I could coach at the college level and coach people that had been my teammates two years earlier.  He and Sue have constantly encouraged me in my ministry.  We remain good friends and play golf together several times a year.  I remember the influence Ray had on my life and try to influence others similarly in my own ministry.

              

God puts people in our lives at certain times when we need them the most.  He did that for us with Ray and Sue Smith and I thank God for their influence every day.  I encourage you to remember the people God has used to influence your life and to let them know how much you appreciate that influence.

Next time you get to Holland, visit Ray and Sue Smith Stadium!

Lessons From Lincoln

Between Christmas and the beginning of the New Year we saw the movie Lincoln.  The movie is based on the book Team of Rivals, by Doris Kearns Goodwin, an historian.  Steven Spielberg’s movie is historical fiction.  That means that he had to spice it up a little bit to make it more exciting than just history. 

We loved the movie.

It was a movie of dialogue.  It didn’t try to keep your interest with action, or relational suspense. 

Without getting tripped up on what was historical and what was fiction, here are some observations from the movie.

 1.     Personal convictions clash with public policy, but we need to hang in there with our personal convictions.  Lincoln was convinced that slavery was wrong, inhumane and ran against God’s desires.  “All men are created equal”…all men, regardless of race, color or creed.  This was Lincoln’s conviction and he fought for it in spite of unpopularity, threats and attempts at political blackmail.

2.     It is possible to disagree without being disagreeable; to be divided, but not divisive.  This would be a lesson we could keep in mind today.  We are displaying less and less ability to disagree with one another without it being divisive.  Certainly there were different sides to the slavery debate.  Some felt strongly about the issue on both sides.  It was divisive.  But there were people on both sides of the issue that could disagree without being disagreeable.  Slavery didn’t have to be divisive.  They could see things differently and still be friends, get along, support one another. This is the model of Jesus.  It is important for Christ followers to be able to disagree with one another, but not see each other as the enemy. 

3.     When we are passionate about something it requires energy, effort, multiple conversations, listening and sometimes compromise.  Any married couple knows this.  Lincoln was tireless in his efforts to get the 13^th amendment passed. 

4.     Leaders have personal lives that weigh on them as well as their public lives.  The movie portrayed Lincoln and his wife raising a young son in the White House and a young adult son who was wrestling with his future. Mrs. Lincoln had some “mental health issues” that made life difficult for the President.  We sometimes forget that the job of leaders place demands on them 24/7, and they also have husbands, or wives and children that demand their attention and their emotional energy.

5.     The nation was able to function without computers, the internet, email, Facebook, Twitter, or 24/7 news coverage.   Can you imagine?

Movies can give you lots of food for thought.

Simple

So, what was your favorite Christmas present?

It’s probably an unfair question.

If you answer, “My new iPhone, or computer, or coat, or car, or socks”, it sounds a bit materialistic.  But if you answer “My time with my family,” it sounds a bit like an answer you are supposed to give in Sunday School.

I got some nice material presents…a sweater, socks, and a clock to keep track of how much time I spend watching NCAA basketball in the basement! 

But we did enjoy our time with our families were the best presents we received.  We celebrated Christmas with just our children on Sunday night.  Our oldest son from Ohio couldn’t join us, but our daughter was in from Traverse City and we gathered at our son and daughter-in-law’s house in Glenview.  It was beautiful in its simplicity.  We baked pizza, shared gifts and caught up with one another.  Everyone appreciated the gifts they were given, but more importantly we enjoyed being with one another.  Because of the distance we don’t all get together very often and when we do it often seems rushed.  This was simple.

We took a 24-hour break from one another on Christmas Eve.  After our worship services, Becky and I shared a simple dinner with our daughter in the quiet of our townhouse.

On Christmas Day we gathered with Becky’s family at her mom’s for our traditional Christmas gathering.  There were 23 of us!  Nieces and nephews who were once little kids are now married and some are parents themselves.  We don’t buy everyone presents.  We do a sock exchange; simple.

 

Our unintentional theme was “new”…a new baby for a nephew and his wife, a new first time teaching job for a niece, a new experience as a college freshman for another nephew, a new start for a niece who is home from South Africa where she was doing mission work, new plans for others, as well as some hopes and dreams.  It was simple.

We capped off our Christmas celebration by seeing the movie Lincoln with Becky’s mom and our son and daughter-in-law.  Great movie.  Going to see it together was simple, but meaningful.

In a day and age when bigger seems to be better, where material possessions seem to connote human value, and where we being entertained is more important than just being together, sometimes simple can touch us in the deepest places.

              

God’s gift to us at Christmas came through simple people, in a humble setting, with little acknowledgement.  That simple gift changed the history of the world!

              

I wonder what our simple moments can do?