Character Coach / Sports Chaplain Blog

How can one’s spouse contribute to his or her ministry with sportspeople? Where are the opportunities for a spouse to enhance the ministry in a significant way? Across my twenty-three years of such service, my service has been greatly enhanced by my wife in several ways. Let’s consider some of the possibilities. ·         A spouse can be a tremendous complement to one’s service, in serving sportspeople in the home. In my case, my wife is tremendously gifted in hospitality. She is an excellent and creative cook, thus part of our service of sportspeople includes having them in our home for breakfast, dinner, dessert, or just snacks. As we host meetings or individuals in our home, the hospitality provided by my wife really sets the stage for my service. Her service makes mine better. If she was not willing to have people “invade our space” it would be much more difficult to serve and the setting for some of our most effective service would be lost. ...

What about your service as a sports chaplain, character coach, or sports mentor will matter in ten years, in twenty, in one hundred years? What do you do, how do you impact lives, whose lives are affected strongly enough that your service of them will have long lasting benefits? Let’s think about this challenging set of questions. What about your service as a sports chaplain will matter in ten years ? What you taught and modeled for them about success in life can have this sort of effect. When people see your approach to work, how you engage with people, your study habits, and other life skills, they can be significantly influenced for a good period of time. What about your service as a sports chaplain will matter in twenty years ? I would assert that what you taught and modeled for them about God honoring relationships have a strong effect for at least this long. As they observe your loving interaction with your spouse and children, they will be directly affected in a great wa...

When is it time to withdraw? How does one know when it’s the right time to resign his or her role in serving sportspeople? This is likely the most painful part of our tenure of service because of the tearing it does at the fabric of our hearts. When we serve relationally, the loss of relationship hurts, and we feel the loss very personally. A USA colleague of mine was recently released from his role with a prominent university and it was very painful to him. He is seeking his next station of service, and I am certain he will land on his feet, but neither his, my, your, nor my opportunities last forever. Below are some thoughts about factors that may make it time to withdraw from your service as a sports chaplain, character coach, or sports mentor. ·         When your opportunity evaporates. Whether due to coaching changes, management or administration decisions, or other factors, it’s pretty common that one’s opportunity to serve a team or club...

Restore. According to the dictionary, to restore is: re·store – to bring back (a previous right, practice, custom, or situation); reinstate. To return (someone or something) to a former condition, place, or position. What is there about you that needs to be restored? What about you is broken and needs to be returned to a former condition, place, or position? Across twenty-three years of serving in this role, I have been occasionally broken in various ways. I am often in need of restoration. Relationships get strained and need to be restored, more often than we would like. At sixty-one years of age, I need some occasional physical restoration. I find that my attitude is often a little sideways and needs restoration. How I think about particular issues, people, or groups often needs to be restored. Regardless of the nature or the degree of your brokenness, find a way to be restored. There are certainly a number of ways to be restored, and I have listed s...