Great Email

I received this email and I absolutely love it. I especially like the last line of the email. I hope you enjoy it:

Billy Graham is now 86 years old with Parkinson's disease. In January 2000, leaders in Charlotte, North Carolina, invited their favorite son, Billy Graham, to a luncheon in his honor.

Billy initially hesitated to accept the invitation because he struggles with Parkinson's disease. But the Charlotte leaders said, "We don't expect a major address. Just come and let us honor you." So he agreed.

After wonderful things were said about him, Dr.Graham stepped to the rostrum, looked at the crowd, and said, "I'm reminded today of Albert Einstein, the great physicist who this month has been honored by Time magazine as the Man of the Century. Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of every passenger. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He couldn't find his ticket, so he reached in his trouser pockets. It wasn't there, so he looked in his briefcase but couldn't find it. Then he looked in the seat beside him. He still couldn't find it. The conductor said, "Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. I'm sure you bought a ticket. Don't worry about it." Einstein nodded appreciatively. The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car, he turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket. The conductor rushed back and said, "Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don't worry, I know who you are. No problem. You don't need a ticket. I'm sure you bought one." Einstein looked at him and said, "Young man, I too, know who I am. What I don't know is where I'm going.'"

Having said that Billy Graham continued, "See the suit I'm wearing? It's a brand new suit. My wife, my children, and my grandchildren are telling me I've gotten a little slovenly in my old age. I used to be a bit more fastidious. So I went out and bought a new suit for this luncheon and one more occasion. You know what that occasion is? This is the suit in which I'll be buried. But when you hear I'm dead, I don't want you to immediately remember the suit I'm wearing.

I want you to remember this:
I not only know who I am .. I also know where I'm going."

Football!!!!!!!!!

Now I coach for a living, however I dont coach football. But that doesnt mean I dont love football. The season has started for college and high school and the NFL starts this week and I am excited. I love football season. High school is my favorite and I went and watched the Southside/Greenwood game Friday night. It was a great game and I loved the atmosphere. It was a packed house. Then on Saturday, my cousin Jordan and I, went to the Razorback game. I am not a die hard Hogs fan, but I do enjoy watching them. It was a great time.

My favorite team is the Northside Grizzlies and they opened the season with a win versus Pine Bluff. I didnt drive to PB for the game, but they won and I am excited. They play this Friday at home and I will totally be there.

FOOTBALL IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great Start to the School Year

School is off to a great start this year. I am really enjoying my classes, the students, and school in general. I struggled my first year enjoying myself because the students were wanting to be active in pe. So far this year students are involved and really participating in pe. This makes the day more enjoyable and makes my life alot easier.

Hope everyone is having a great day!

New Church Service

Tomorrow morning my church, Grand Family, is launching a new church service. We will have our traditional service at 8:30, small group Bible Study at 9:45, and the new Ignite service at 11. The Ignite service is designed to be contemporary and geared towards young people and young couples. It is going to be a band based music for worship and Pastor Jeff will deliver the same message he did in the first service. This is an exciting time for our church as we hope this well help reach people for Christ. I think it can be very effective because in today's generation you have to make people feel comfortable when they come to church. They need to feel that they can come just as they are.

Even though I am young, my personal preference is the first service but I will attend both for a few weeks as we help get the service off its feet. Both times will be an incredible time of worship.
I hope our church can wrap its arms around this new service and help it blossom. The main way to do that is to pray and let God work. If we have open hearts and open minds, Jesus Christ can work wonders.

New School Year

Well school starts August 20 and I went back to work on the 8th. Of course we have had volleyball and basketball camps over the summer so I have been involved with my school teams alot during the summer. But as I start back officially, I have started viewing this year as a critical year in my career. Although its only my 2nd year, I realize the kind of impact I can have with young adults and even the other teachers. My first year, I was just trying to keep my head above water. Now that I have that experience, I can focus on some of the other joys of my job.

I really hope this year I can start building better relationships with my students and athletes. I talked to one of my lifetime heroes this morning, Coach Mason, who coaches at Northside. This past year, he won his first ever State Championship in Basketball and he still is the same man he was when I was in high school. This man is all about being a positive influence in students lives and investing in them. He not about wins and losses or state championships, he is about making students and athletes into productive citizens and great young men. I just hope that I can be half the coach he is. If I can accomplish this, then I feel like I have done a good job.

As my walk with the Lord strenghtens everyday, I hope that I can be a positive influence in these kids lives. I want to be able to share my faith everyday in the simple things I do. I dont have to preach to people, I just have to live my life with a Christ like attitude and be ready for when the Lord opens doors to share my faith. I pray everyday that I have enough strength from the Lord to be ready for these occasions that will happen in my life!

Heres to another great school year!

The End of Baseball and the Summer

We finished up our baseball season Monday night in the State Tournament at Hot Springs. We lost to the eventual Champion, Hot Springs Lakeside, who is coached by one of my buddies from college, Ryan White. So congratulations to them for winning.

The baseball season was the most fun I have ever had coaching or being a part of a team. The guys are just incredible. They had amazing talent, great personalities, hard work ethic, and just great team chemistry with each other. I think of the relationships I was able to form with guys like Cole Sisemore and John Wohlford and it made the summer worth while. Plus I was able to strengthen previous relationships with Ryan Ashcraft and Cameron Young plus others. All of the guys were just creat competitors and young men.

Also the two other coaches I worked with. Our head coach was Mark Kincannon. Coach K is a Connections Minister at Community Bible Church in Fort Smith and he is one of the finest Christian man I know. The way he carries himself on and off the field is one thing I really learned from him. Also Brian Fry. Coach Fry is the Athletic Director and Head Baseball Coach at Union Christian Academy here in Fort Smith. He has a great knowledge of baseball and how to deal with young people. I learned alot from spending the summer with these two guys. I can go on and on about them.

With baseball ending- so does summer. I started volleyball practice at Northside today so the season is officially under way. We will practice for about 3 weeks and then our first game is August 21. The second day of school. I also go on contract here pretty soon so I will be back up at school a few weeks before school starts getting ready to get going. Some things have changed for me at school with some addition of some new responsibilities and I look forward to what is ahead.

Hope everyone had a great July and an even better August.

Baseball

Well the internet has been slow at the hotel so that is why I havent updated. Here is what has happen in Hot Springs at the Baseball State Tournament.

Thursday- W vs Morrilton
Friday- L vs Jonesboro
Saturday- W vs Greenwood
Sunday- W vs Paragould

So we are set to play Hot Springs Lakeside tomorrow (Monday) at 5:30. If we win, we play in the State Championship game against Paragould at 8:30 Monday night. I will update this most likely sometime Tuesday. Hopefully we can get the job done.