Bestsellers and Singing

It's been a while since the last name I wrote, which hopefully doesn't become a trend. I'm sitting at Bestsellers right now, a coffee shop / bookstore in Mason. It's one of my favorite places in the quaint little town of Mason. I think I love this place because 1. it's the only coffee place in Mason; 2. I love coffee; and 3. it's full of opposites. It's not that I love opposites or anything, but it's interesting to me. It's full of old people and young people, well lit and dimly lit places, areas of great reception and dead zones. People here are either in a big hurry, or content with taking all the time in the world. It's small and consistent, just like the town it serves. Here's a picture of it (by the way, I took this with my phone, then sent it to my computer via Bluetooth...gotta love technology!)

Our freshman team had a game last night, and we won! It was awesome to share in the joy of victory with those guys. Our JV lost a tough one afterwards, but they absolutely played their hearts out. There's something inspiring and cool about watching people give their best. To try as hard as they can. To leave everything out there. It's always expected, and so rarely accomplished. It leaves us vulnerable, but it's beautiful. I hope those young men can build on that experience.

But anyways, I've been thinking about singing lately. I do a lot of driving, and much of that is driving by myself. It's not as bad as it sounds...it gives me time to think, reflect, pray, and sing as loud as I want to, without inducing cringes and laughter from others. I'm such a poor singer; I have no concept of pitch, tone, or key. I don't even know what those terms mean. But I sound great when I'm singing along with someone. At church, I sound great. When I sing along to PW, I sound great. Now obviously, I'm still the same schmuck who can't sing a lick, but singing along with someone who can makes all the difference.

I'm not good at singing, but I think there are other things that I'm good at that others aren't as good at. I think that God gives us each skill sets and passions that are unique to us. Mine doesn't include singing, but it does include other stuff. But whether it's singing, painting, cooking, or teaching, we're always better off when we do those things with other people. Regardless of whether or not we're any good, it brings out the best in us and it brings out the best in others.

Spend some time thinking about what you're good at and what you're passionate about. Then spend some time thinking about how you can invite others to join you in that. It'll be fun.

Past my prime?

For those of you that don't know, I'm helping out with the freshman basketball team at Mason High School. It's only been a few weeks, and I absolutely love it. The guys on my team are really fun, and being able to teach and encourage these 14 young men has been both challenging and life-giving. We've got our first game tomorrow night...unfortunately I have to miss it, but there'll be plenty more!

Anyways, I decided to condition with them tonight. I've been thinking of doing this for a while now, but tonight was the first time I did everything conditioning-wise that they did. I'm hoping that joining them will inspire them to work harder and take on my attitude as well, which is (hopefully) one that works hard and encourages others.

Obviously, part of having said attitude is being in shape, of which I am dreadfully not in. We only did about 7 down and backs plus a man-maker (perhaps a more PC term for a suicide), but I was huffing and puffing by the end of it all. I'm not sure if I would have been able to finish another set of those. Sad, but true. I just can't run and jump and move like I used to. I'm not strong anymore either. Now, I'm sure not many share the same desire to possess these qualities as I do, but they're important to me for better or worse. At least kind of important.

As I took off my shoes and got ready to depart after practice with the rest of the team, I was joking around with a couple of them. As I joked with them to not let the "old guy" beat them in sprints (I know I'm not really old, but I feel old for 21 going on 22), one guy responded "but you should be in your prime!"

He said it in such a way that he was certain that, at this stage of life I'm in, I should in fact be in my "prime." I calmly and confidently responded that my prime was ages 17 and 18, and it's been downhill since. As we laughed our way out of the gym, I couldn't help but think: I'm just scratching the 20s and I'm already over the hill, athletically speaking. That sucks.

Am I really past my prime, athletically speaking? Maybe if I put in the time and energy, I can get back to the level of fitness and athleticism I enjoyed in high school. But I don't see that happening anytime soon, for a lot of reasons. Many of these probably aren't good reasons, but still.

I'll probably have much more to say about this basketball coaching experience. It's really quite cool.