Dear Friend
I was on the baseball field watching my grandson play,
when I picked up the phone and I heard the words, “Heh coach, it’s me, Mike.
Guess what? We just won the national high school basketball championship.”
The voice on the other end of the line was one of my
assistant basketball coaches during the years I was the school’s basketball
coach at Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale FL. Mike was just
coming back from Tampa FL where Calvary Christian Academy had just won the
national basketball title, and he wanted me to be one of the first to hear the
news. The Eagles had defeated a team from the state of Washington to claim the
national title, and he could hardly contain his excitement.
Mike wanted to thank me for the small part I played in the
success of the basketball program. You see it was back in 2000 when I was 59
years old, that I was hired as the chaplain/ athletic director and basketball
coach for Calvary Chapel’s Calvary Christian Academy. The church was starting a
school from the ground up, and I had the privilege of being a member of that
first faculty team that began the school in 2000.
The school has grown significantly over the last 22 years
and is now one of the largest Christian schools in the country. It is exciting
to see the success the school has achieved, not only on the athletic field
where they have won a number of state championships in basketball, baseball and
track and field, but more importantly in the classroom where young men and
women are being well trained academically, spiritually and socially.
Attracting quality young people with character and
personal faith, the school has grown in many ways beyond just athletics. and
its growth has largely been the result of the solid spiritual foundation on
which the school was established.
After talking with Mike on the phone, my mind wandered
back to those early years when we played our first basketball games on an
outdoor court while we were waiting for our first gym to be built. And while we
did enjoy some degree of success on the basketball court, I don’t think anyone
could have imagined that one day, from such humble beginnings, Calvary
Christian Academy would be crowned the best high school basketball team in the
country.
It was not a fluke, as this year’s team had four Division
One basketball prospects, but more important than that was the fact that the
team is comprised of young men who have deep spiritual roots and possess
character qualities that set them apart from many other high school teams.
It was always the school’s goal to attract quality young
people, and how happy I was to learn that this has still been its ongoing goal
since its inception in 2000.
I thought of the quote, “Every big castle was once started
with a single block. “How true it is that no one should ever despise small
beginnings.
Mike’s thanks and appreciation for the small part I played
in the winning of that championship was only heightened a few hours later by a
message on my computer screen from the administrator who hired me and whose
vision played an integral part in the school’s beginning. His kind words of
thanks and appreciation for the part I played during those early years brought
joy to my heart. During those early years, we diligently sought to build
athletic success, while ensuring that we never compromised the spiritual and
character development of our students.
Thanks Mike and Mark for taking the time to remember me,
and for Your kind words of appreciation for the small contributions I made to
the success you are now enjoying, academically, spiritually and athletically.
Henry James has said that the
deepest craving of human nature is to be appreciated, and my cup of
appreciation is overflowing.
Someone said, “Kind words are like jewels that live in the
heart and soul as blessed memories long after they have been spoken.”
So, thanks Mike, and Mark and yes, thanks to a whole host of
faculty and friends whom I will never forget who helped make my 8 years at
Calvary Chapel such a memorable and enriching experience.
Paul was right when he penned the following the words, “I
planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow; so neither he who
plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things
grow.” 1 Corinthians 3:6-7.
So, friend, start cultivating, or sowing seeds, or
watering, for you never know what God might produce through your small and
humble efforts. It may be far more important than a national basketball title;
it may be a heart won for Jesus for all eternity, and that might be the
greatest accomplishment of your life.
Yours in faith and friendship,
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