Why I do what I do...

Lives changed.  Including my own. 


All too often, I have doubts.  Doubts of "am I doing the right thing" or "if I am doing the right thing, and I doing it the right way".  The biggest?  "Is what I am doing even making a difference?"

In these first days of starting into missions, I am full of these types of questions.  Yet, God has been so good to me in these moments of doubt.  While I don't deserve it, he shows me his grace and mercy, especially in times when I need it the most.

Two stories bring this to heart.  This summer, after I had retired from coaching at CAK to venture into sports ministry, I was feeling a lot of these doubts.  I was listening to a CD that talked about "encouragement".  It talked about people calling individuals who made a spiritual influence in their lives and thanking them for it.  I sat and thought "I wonder if any of my players will one day do this".  I had just pulled into my garage, and my phone rang.  It was one of my players.  Calling from AFRICA, in the middle of the jungle, in the middle of the night, to thank me for what I had done for him!  Not TWO MINUTES after I had mentioned my request!  I was floored.

Fast forward to this week.  We have had a lot of set backs this past month.  Things we thought were going to come through, didn't, and some of the people we thought were going to help us weren't going to be able.  And again, I thought "did I hear God right?"  "Is what I am doing making a difference?"  And that morning, I received the following message from a former player:


"Just thought I should let you know this. I was thinking about life a couple of days ago and how I make my decisions and how I deal with situations and what my thought process is. I was thinking about how my parents have shaped me and made me who i am and knew this was true but not the entire answer. Then it dawned on me. Soccer. I base so many of me decisions and choices on what I learned being on the soccer team.
I always remembered you saying how you were trying to teach and raise more than just soccer players but young men. Well it never really dawned on me until right now what that meant I never fully realized what you were trying to do until now.
So long story short: well done. You have truly done something in my life well beyond where soccer ends. I will take what you taught me on the soccer field into life. So I owe you a thanks.
You are the best"

Again, this letter came out of the blue.  Yet, God prompted this young man at the very right moment, to write these words of encouragement to me when I needed it most.  God has been great in sending me His own messages through people in my life.  I thank the Lord for this, and for those people.

So... why do I do what I do?  Because I know that God changes lives.  I have seen it, I have lived it.  Thank you Lord for these messages of encouragement.  I could not do this without You.