March 24 Email Update

A lot has happened since the last update we sent. I have been given greater responsibility and trust on the coaching staff, and my relationship with the players is growing as well. I'll use a list form to give you a few details:

• I'm still only going to after-school workouts, but now I take a group of athletes and train them on my own after our weight workout
• We are going to start taking guys out to eat on Fridays after they work out...This Friday will be the first time we go, and I'm anxious to see if Golden Corral is going to allow us to come back next week!
• I always give guys rides home from practice, and it's a great time for conversation
• Kristin made her first big sale yesterday, and we're hoping that her business will grow as our network of relationships grows.
• She also has just recovered from foot surgery, and expects to begin volunteering some at the high school next week.

That's the positive news. On the more sobering end of things, we've had three shootings in the last week. This isn't abnormal, as violence increases with temperature in our area. One of the shootings was at an intersection I pass by twice each day--a sobering reminder that our earthly lives are temporal, and we ought to be about what truly matters. I tell you this to ask you to pray that this trend doesn't continue. One of the victims was one of our seniors who had signed with the University of Illinois to play football. We think he'll have surgery and recover enough to play, but this is just such a picture of what these kids face every day--and the "matter-of-factness" with which they talk about these incidents is even more indicative of the obstacles they face in East St. Louis. Please pray with us that this does not continue to be the norm.

You call that community development?!

This past Friday Kristin and I completed what I would argue was our first community development work. As you know, we've been trying to get some new equipment for our weight room, but we don't have the money with which to buy anything. What happens when necessity and lack of resources meet? Creativity flourishes!


Instead of buying much needed training plates for our athletes (I won't bore you with what those are), which would have cost over $250, Kristin and I made them out of plywood for only $30! Coach Sunkett was really excited when I showed him what we'd done. God gave us the creative spirit we needed to meet a need at our high school, which is giving us in-roads into the East St. Louis community!

Big Baby Steps…and many tired players!

I realize the above title is somewhat of a paradox—but let me explain! The past two days have been a lot different in the weight room. Partly due to simply being more comfortable there, to feeling more accepted, and to getting more leeway from coaches, I’ve been able to really get after the players! I’ve yelled some (healthy yelling, I promise!), I’ve challenged them, I’ve picked on them, and I’ve made them work until they gasped for air. Now, some of you may be thinking of withdrawing your support and calling Social Services to report abuse, but, I’m telling you, this is BIG! I have been entrusted with more responsibility by the coaches and the players themselves have demanded more of me. Several of them have asked me to stay after the workout and help with them speed and conditioning drills. In fact, one even mentioned that he’d love to do something on Saturdays, and so maybe we’ll generate enough interest to pull that off!

To those of you who weren’t athletes, I don’t know what comparison I can give you to help you understand how this is truly helping to foster and grow my relationship with the players. There is a certain bond between players and a coach that really pursues them both athletically and personally, and I can really sense a start of that bond. Now, we have a LONG way to go, and I’m only interacting with about 20-25 different players, but I think it’s a great start. Just the fact that I have two freshmen who look to me for a ride home every day is a sign that we’re making great relational progress, and that we haven’t taken minimal baby steps, but “Big Baby Steps”!

Daily, Routine, and Revolutionary

One of my good friends works in the wealth management business, so you can imagine the chaotic state his life has been in for the past 8 months! In the past several the fear and uncertainty that threaten his joy have become the first topic of conversation anywhere, no matter where a person works—or, these days, doesn’t work. Our economic climate has not missed Kristin and me, but it has not affected us as much as many others. Sure, our support is lower than we’d like, and she’s not selling earrings as much. But that’s not nearly as significant as many losses others have incurred. The crazy thing is that much of the same emotions and stress that the economy causes in so many people, we feel every day—and it has nothing to do with the economy!

Every day at 2 o’clock I start readying myself for afternoon workouts at the high school. I head over there each afternoon knowing that this day won’t be like a previous day. Maybe there will be a few new guys there. Maybe there will be a coach I haven’t met yet. Either way, I am faced again with the same mistrust and suspicion that everyone gives me. Friday I went, and there were only two players who stayed around to lift—so we cancelled it. Yesterday none of us could find the coaches. It’s surprising how stressful the uncertainty can be! I gave a freshman a ride home Friday. My head is spinning: “Do I force conversation? He’s obviously young, and so it will be tough…How many questions are too many? What’s too personal?” These things might seem small, but when you’re trying to earn rapport in a community like East St. Louis, they are big!

It’s also hard for me, a person who is really driven, to realize that in three weeks, I’ve spent probably about 5 hours around teenagers. 5 hours, that’s all! But, I think God is using this to teach me the same things that he’s teaching those affected so heavily by the economy. We are called to “walk in the Spirit”. This isn’t done through some thunderbolt and lightning revelation, but through the daily, routine things that we are called to do. Each day I make it a point to study the Bible. I pray. I try my best to ensure Kristin is doing well. I try to check out of everything to keep my sanity. I trust God to lead my by His Spirit as I surrender myself through these actions. And, most of all, I remember why we are here, and that “He who called is faithful”, and it is God’s responsibility to guide, shepherd, and sanctify me. May you embrace this truth wherever you are and whatever you are facing, and may you pursue the daily, routine things that--by His grace--produce revolutionary results!

Earning my Stripes

The phrase to "earn one's stripes" is defined as "to gain a position through hard work and accumulated-experience". There have been quite a few times in my life when I've recognized the truth of this phrase, and I was faced with the reality of it again today. I have finally been cleared to volunteer coach with the football team, and this afternoon was my first interaction with many coaches and players. I was very sobered in my thinking--it's going to take a long time to earn the trust of not only these players, but also the coaches.

After I left I talked to my college defensive coordinator, which was most helpful. "You know how much you know. I know what you know. They don't know anything about you or what you know," he said. This is so true. No one up here knows anything about us. They don't know my football background. They don't know how long we have been planning to move here, or how our hearts bleed for the city. But one of the suggestions my coach gave me was to take some of the coaches to lunch. I can do that. I also think I'll be able to give some players rides home after workouts. Hopefully soon I'll be able to be in the weight room during school hours. These things I can and will do...and hopefully, eventually, I'll "earn my stripes", opening the door to many gospel conversations.