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 As I sat down to write today after eating a really yummy breakfast with my wonderful wife.  I was finishing up my third cup of coffee (shhh, don't tell my doctor) and talking to my wife about all the things we are blessed by and with.  We talked about our family, our daughters, in-laws and all the people that bless and pray for us daily.  So I decided to veer off of my typical posting today to write about these wonderful blessings.   I looked up the definition of blessing and it is to have Gods favor and protection in your life.  That hit home for me because without that we can wander through life, fighting things, having troubles and not knowing why those things happen to us.  As my wonderful mother used to say to me as a child "son, count your blessings" everyday.  I take that serious and do my best to count them so I stay grounded and never forget where I came from and most importantly, where I want to go.  I will not get there without the list below and Gods gra

 I had a vision lastnight about the end of times. Before I went to bed I asked my spirit guides and God to give me a sign of things to come. As I went to sleep I was thinking about how things are going in the world right now and all the troubles we are facing as mankind. I went to sleep and my prayer was answered and I got a clear vision of several huge storms and a war that included the world. It starts with Russia/Ukraine and spreads to China/America and is all about balance of power and movement into other countries that American political fugures have huge amounts of $$ interest in. I saw cities torn to pieces by clans of people hell bent on destroying towns. They broke into stores, burned down houses and stole whatever they wanted all in the name of an ideaology. I saw floods, dry rivers, and other biblical predicted things happening. I saw a dry river and four massive demon angels moving to the four corners of the earth and creating hysteria, plagues and ammassing arm

 Scrolling Facebook this morning and I see a post about your first car. The picture in the post is actually my first car. It was called “The Bean”. Only difference was I had mag wheels on mine. Before I got it it looked like this. My friends and I made some good memories in that little car. I believe I drove it to the Prince Purple Rain concert with a few folks that are friends on here. The motor died in it near Yadkinville on the way back to App State one winter Sunday and dad got rid of it for me.I remember wanting a fancier car and my parents taught me a valuable lesson I still remember to this day. I had seen a really nice looking truck down the road for sale and as my birthday came closer I kept telling them what I wanted. My birthday arrives and my mom comes in my room early and says get up and go outside your truck is in the driveway. I jumped up and ran as fast as I could and sitting in the driveway was a truck (beautiful shiny brand new out of the package hot wheel truck). The

Today I am talking to myself and many others that just do not know when to stop working and go home.  As a career teacher and coach I have worked so many extra hours all these years and seem to always find a reason to stay a little longer to do things on my list.  As I got older I realized that I had to find better balance in my work and home life.  I got home late so many nights and suddenly it hit me that things could wait for tomorrow.  I began to make adjustments and started delegating responsibility to my team and coaches and it made a world of difference for me at home.  Being a driven person that wants to be successful, work hard and win at sports and life I would tend to be one of the first to arrive on campus and the last to leave.  I coached football in the fall, wrestling in the winter and softball in the spring.  Yes, I spent nine months a year actively coaching a sport, but lets be real it was a 12 month job when you add in summer workouts, camps, clinics, fund raisers and

We all are given 86,400 seconds, 1440 minutes or a total of 24 hours per day. Every second, minute and hour is a true blessing we receive from God. We are given this time here on Earth as an opportunity to spend it how we choose to. God made us in his image and has high expectations of our conduct, behavior and actions. We choose how to use that time, spend that time and the impact we will have on our family, friends, co-workers and community. We can choose to be kind, compassionate, caring, loving, supportive, engaging, friendly, helpful, honorable in our actions, behaviors, thoughts and conduct. We also have the option to be rude, selfish, mean, unsupportive, unloving, cowardly, bad, ill, sorry, lazy and all the other words that are negative in our lives. God gave us the option of choice and that is where we fall short so often. Human nature tends to lead us to react to, behave and treat others the way we are feeling at the time. Those choices have consequences either good o

Today I am back on my series of alphabet words that describe  great  leaders, coaches, motivators and people we all are attracted too for being  great .   Good  leaders can be  great  leaders if they work really hard at building their management skills and  grow  their employees, athletes and team members with  guidance  and direction. These coaches and leaders are often  gleeful  people that  gain  the attention and can make people  giddy  with excitement when it comes to accomplishing  goals .  These bosses, coaches, business owners are  gems  in the rough and often shine as they sometimes have to  grin  and bear the brunt of organizational missteps, setbacks and failures. They  give  their all to the team, staff and organization in an attempt to  gain  buy-in from everyone so they will  generously   give  of their time, energy and commitment to make things happen.   Great  leaders  greet  people and show them they care and have  genuine  concern for their well being.  I have worked

Growing up my dad and brothers loved to go fishing. We would gather up a bunch of worms, get a few cans of corn, load up a bunch of fishing poles and go to a creek, a pond, the beach or anywhere we could wet a hook. We did it for sport and rarely ever had to keep anything we caught, we used the proper equipment to be able to catch and release. Just as many of my friends hunted with their dads, we instead choose to fish. We fished in the fall and spring mostly when the weather was good and it wasn't so hot or cold. One main life lesson I learned from my good old dad was patience. I remember going to a pond and my dad would bait his hook, cast the line in and just sit and wait. Sometimes for hours until something bit the line, took off and bent that pole. He might reel it in on occasion to check the bait and make sure it was still good since the little "bait stealers" which are small fish that just nip at the bait until it falls off would eventually leave you with an

This past Valentines Day I was still recovering from Covid and not being able to drive around town very much due to a lack of energy, cold weather affecting my breathing and not wanting my wife to see what I was trying to do I used an online flower service to get her some (what I thought would be very nice roses). I also ordered a card and some candy and man I was pumped. I was excited that I had gotten her a nice thoughtful gift and she would be so happy with it. Well lets just say that sometimes the best laid plans fall apart for one reason or another. I knew the delivery was arriving on 2/13 and was expecting a delivery person to knock on the door and hand her the gift. She would be excited, cry and all that mushy stuff and I would hit a homerun. Team Hubby 1, Team Wife 0. Well unfortunately the flowers arrived in a box, had no water and were almost completely dead. The candy sucked but the card was nice and had my special message on it. Lets just say the dead roses didn'

Today I am writing about your bookbag, your purse, your wallet, your gym bag of whatever it is you carry around with you day to day.  This bag is filled with all the stuff you need for the day to function like a phone charger, some snacks, bottle of water, clothes, laptop and all the other things we carry daily to live our best life.  But, this is not the baggage I am talking about.  I am talking about the baggage we carry that cannot be seen, it is not physical or a solid thing.  It is emotional and is the result of hurt, pain, bad relationships, physical abuse, mental abuse and anger.  As a teacher I worry more about the baggage my students bring to school and how I can look for signs to get them help.   Adults also have baggage and plenty of it.  I see grown people in their 30's, 40's 50's and older carrying around baggage from emotional scars that always seem to surface when things get tough.  They have not dealt with it and have tucked it away inside deep and it is a r

Today I am writing a brief post about one of the hardest times in my life.  I was coaching at a local high school and halfway through the season our head coach and my good friend passed away suddenly and unexpected.  This was a huge loss for his family, students, athletes and the community as a whole.  I am going to go into all the details of what happened, but instead will talk about the loss of a dear friend and coach and how the coaching staff and team responded to that loss.  Losing important people in out lives is never easy and brings a rush of emotion that we deal with for sometimes months or even years.  I was the offensive coordinator at the time so when my friend passed I was asked to continue the season as the interim head coach.  I remember the conversation with the principal when he asked me to take things and finish the season.   I gladly took the responsibility not because it was a chance to take the program over.  It was the right thing to do in honor of my friend, play

Playing some form of organized sports is like a right of passage for many of us.  I grew up in a large family where every boy played football.  All of my brothers, and boy cousins played football at some point in their life.  Most of my girl cousins played basketball and softball in school, but they also played football on Sunday afternoons at my Grandma's house.  These games were brutal with heavy hitting, tackling, blocking and running.  We all got cuts, bumps, bruises, stitches and a few broken bones at some point in our childhood and teenage life.  Through these injuries and tough hits, we learned things about life that later propelled us to become productive adults, parents and friends. Learning life skills is an important part of the process of growing up and as a coach and teacher one of main focus points is to teach my kids the valuable life skills that can help them lead a good life.  A life that allows them to work, live, play and do what they want to do.  A life that is

Today we are talking about how being a goal driven person can help you become very successful in life, work and play.  The poster above tells us that we must set goals and work hard to accomplish them.  As a coach, teacher, husband, father and mentor setting goals for the team, family and my own life have always been an integral part of the process.  I cannot imagine tackling any task without a plan, end goals and dreams.  Every season I coach the team and I sit down and we talk about everyone's individual goals, team goals and how we accomplish them.  Everyone has different goals in life based on their age, living situation, finances and career goals.   When setting goals you must start with short term attainable goals that steadily clip off time to reach the end long term goal.  I teach financial math to my 11th grade students and we cover goals at the very beginning of the class.  If they do not know where they are and where they want to go then I am teaching them to fail later

Today I was reading and the focus of todays message is living an abundant life. Lets look at what abundance means and the best definition I liked is to live a life that is exceedingly high, beyond measure, and to attain more than typical results. The bible tells us that abundance is something God wants us to have in our life here on earth and in heaven.  Jesus said,  “I have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly”  (John 10:10).  I believe that this message is stating that he wants you to fulfill your God-given purpose and walk with him as you go through life.  Many people confuse this abundance as having things and living a lifestyle with fancy cars, big houses, dream vacations and having lots of money in the bank.  Those "things" are an abundance that many people have on earth.  However, the bible tells us that prioritizing these things (1st Corinthians 1:26-29) are not Gods priority.   Our abundance is the love, grace, mercy and forgiveness of Jesus in

Today in my mini series of successful words that describe great coaches, leaders and people in general I am using the letter "B".  The other day I posted words on the letter "A" if you would like to go back and read that posting.  There are all kinds of words that start with B that help describe or define a person that is dynamic and a super leader of people.  A person does not have to be a coach, teacher, business owner or leader of an organization to possess these traits.  However, I am focusing this series on coaching, leading, mentoring, guiding and helping people become better than they are and how they are built up by these leaders. I have worked with all kinds of people and most would get many of these B words as a descriptive to define their personality, behavior, actions and results.  While a few, well lets just say would be defined with other B words that are not so nice.  I choose personally to set a standard of being defined by positive words through my

Today I am discussing the importance of standing strong to you values, morals and belief system during times of trouble, struggle and strife.  Unfortunately, we are living in a time of moral, political, faith based and other belief systems that have led to a division among friends, family and co-workers.  I have friends that have different values in all of these areas and still remain friends with them despite the differences of opinion.  We all grow up in different households, build different values and form our own opinions about faith, politics, life and all those other things we see and hear daily.  I have had some very interesting conversations lately with friends over the phone, online and other ways and it amazes me how some people think, have formed an opinion and just are dead set on that being the only way. I have been told I am hard headed at times and I definitely have a certain opinion about things.  If you read my blog or follow me you may have figured out by now that I a

Today I am writing about the four main parts of my life that equal up to 100% of good spiritual, mental and physical fitness.  This is my list and may vary from what you think are your top four.  For me all of these are necessary for me to live my life with vigor, intent and pursue my dreams.  These four areas are Faith, Family, Friends and Fitness.  I will explain each and how it applies to my overall well being, goals and inner self.  We all have things that drive us, traits, behaviors, beliefs and actions that define us to our family, friends and community.  These four are my main definers and are equal parts to the overall well being of my spirit, mental and physical condition.   I have not always been focused on all of these and they probably were not equal parts.  My faith defines me and drives my interactions, behaviors and thought process with people.  My family is a priority and taking care of them, being a good father, husband, brother, cousin and all those other roles is ver

Today I am writing about one of the biggest problems, issues, conflicts or whatever you call it we have as adults. Balancing work and everyday life is a daily challenge, chore and task that at times can get the best of us. I have been working as an adult now for well over 35+ years and have already transitioned through the various cycles we see in our life cycle as adults, parents, working people and all the other stages we enter and leave in our life. During all of these stages of life one monster was always in the way and that was finding a way to balance home life, work and play. First lets define how I see balance in the parts of your daily life. Work-life balance is basically the concept or way that you prioritize your time, energy and commitment to work, family and fun activity. It is a way to encourage you to divide your time in a way that is best for you and the family. The benefits of prioritizing work-life balance include increased productivity, higher work engagement,

Today we are talking about ten essential job and life skills that are a must in todays world of work to remain competitive, grow and drive your life and career to meet your financial goals.  Most of these come with time, energy, experience and just putting in the hours on the job learning.  As a high school teacher trying to prepare students for how they want to work, live and play after graduation I always spend time teaching these ten principles, having them complete job skill assessments, personal inventories, learning style inventories and identifying their strengths and areas of opportunity.  We all have specific areas of strength that guide our daily work ethic and help to deliver results needed to be successful on the job and in the career. We all have areas of growth or opportunity areas that we must also attack and work to grow as these may be holding us back in life, on the job and in relationships.  Taking an active role in understanding your current skill set, being open an

Today I am writing about my top five destinations to travel and see once I retire in a few years from now. The plan is to jump in the car and take off out West and visit the sites, see nature at its best and experience the thrill of traveling, spending time with my wife and family along the way. I have a bucket list of foreign destinations as well but those will have to wait for now. The list below is built upon my specific interest in mountains, beautiful scenery, waterfalls, nature and river systems. 1- Grand Canyon- I know it is a prime location for nature lovers and very common. But the allure of such nature God has carved out by his hands is too much to pass up on this future trip. 2- Yellowstone National Park- Scenery, wildlife, nature, and just clean fresh air is a definite stop on my first swing out west. 3- Glacier National Forest- 700 lakes, rivers, hiking, animals and nature at irs finest await my family. Great pictures to be taken and memories to be made along this pa

I am borrowing todays blog post idea from a friend that posted a picture online today about men and pocket knives.  Looking back I think about my first pocket knife my dad gave me when I was just a wee little fella back in the 1970's.  It was one of his older model "Old Timers" and a pocket knife I still have in my collection of hundreds today.  It is worn, tattered and rough looking, but it is sharp and will lay your skin open really quickly if mishandled.  My brothers and I have knives that belonged to our granddads, dad and uncles and we cherish those finely crafted pieces of wood and steel.  They are priceless to us and we wouldn't take anything for them.   You see a pocket knife is a right of passage for young boys and merging young men.  To be given a pocket knife is a like a ticket to responsibility, one that has to be taken very seriously and with caution.  I have had my fair share of cuts from whittling on wood, carving my name into a tree or just simply doin