Where have I been...?

Wow, it's been over a month since I posted on this blog...!

Let me catch you up on my life the past forty days or so...

One Word.... CRAZY...!

Other than that it's been good.

I do want to start spending a little more time here in this blog venue in the near future. My problem of course has been time management. I can't seem to get a handle on managing my time better. Lately I have been feeling the burden of spending any precious spare moments either engaged in God's Word, or with my precious family.

Speaking of God, He's really up to something right now in my life. Read today's Prayer Journal for more details.

Today is a full day for me as I have lots of lessons and I am also preparing for a big tournament this weekend. I'll post a full report sometime Sunday...

Bye for now...! -Sam

Home School Fun Day

Yesterday a local home school sports group came to Columbia Lakes for an activity day. The weather was beautiful and everything went very well. There were over forty kids present to sample tennis and golf.

Good Chance of Rain Today...

Well, here we go again. Another good chance of rain today! There's an 80% chance or more of rain this afternoon. Sigh... My poor Bay City program is going to be washed out again. Oh well. The weather is something I simply can not control.

All this rain now probably means a hot, dusty summer! Speaking of summer, I need to get started planning my summer programs. Ahh, today will be a busy day for me!

A Beautiful Day...

Yay...! We finally have a beautiful day on our hands today! The weather has not been very good this whole year. It's about time we had a pretty day.

I've got a busy full day as usual...! But I'm hoping that today I make some progress on my back log of work... I'm optimistic... At least the day is starting off promising...!

More later...

Sam

How To Get Caught UP...?

That is a good question. I've been thinking about it for some time... I am desperately behind schedule on some projects. I am in dire need of a personal assistant. It can't be my wife....

I'm going to be in prayer about this. Serious prayer. The next business decision I make has absolutely got to be God inspired and God endorsed...! I just need to go slow and wait on His Perfect Timing....

Relaxing....

I'm taking the advice of my two kitties Gabriel and Hobbes. I'm relaxing a bit this evening. Monica, Connor, and Elijah are at church this evening. I'm teaching lessons on Wednesday evening for the next eleven weeks. Tonight I had a lite schedule.

It seems really strange to be sitting here in a quiet house. I've got my lap top on my lap and I've got an episode of Star Trek Enterprise running in the background. I don't know if I'll be able to acheive the relaxed state that Gabriel and Hobbes but I'm working on it.

I've got a busy next few days ahead of me. Tomorrow I go to Dallas for a Tennis conference. Then I fly back Friday evening. Saturday I have a full day of lessons, and I've also got a tennis social scheduled for this Sunday afternoon. I'm pretty busy all next week, too.

Actually, now that I think about it, tonight might be my only chance to relax for the next ten days or more...

Oh well, that's the crazy life of Coach Sam...!

New Week....

OK... The super bowl has come and gone... I really wasn't in to it this year. Actually, I haven't been into it since I was in 6th grade...

This will be an interesting week. As usual I've got way too much stuff to do and not enough time to do it in...

I was just thinking this morning that my life has no slow down in sight. No sanity on the near horizon.

I've got to come up with a plan to get caught up and stay there. I don't know exactly what that looks like but I'll figure it out.

At first it's got to just be taking things one minute, one circumstance at a time. Little by little it will all work itself out.

I suppose the 'simple' plan is to just complete some projects I already have on the table before I take on any more new projects... And when I get these current projects completed then I need to be extra careful to not take on more than I can handle.

It's crucial that I get a handle on this immediately because I don't Elijah and Connor to be deprived of a dad because he's always too busy and stressed out.

OK... That's pretty much it. The order of the day is to teach lessons this morning from 8:30 to 10 AM, then come home and help Monica with Elijah until she has to go to her art class. Connor takes over with Elijah around 3:30 PM and I head to Bay City for lessons this evening.

There's not really going to be time for anything else today. But that's ok becaue I'm looking forward to an extended day with the Boo Boo...!

Ephesians 5:1-2.... Be Imitators of Christ, Walk in Love

Dr Charles Stanley's devotional this morning warned us against 'bad' relationships. He said that Christians need to be very careful with whom they intertwine their lives. He supported this statement by saying that because unbelievers lack an understanding of God's ways, their opinions and priorities can often lead us astray. He noted that this line of thinking applies especially to matters of marriage, choices of business partners and choices of organizations we join.

This devotional really hit home today as I inventory my experience with the consequences of bad 'life' choices on more than one occasion. I like what Ephesians 5:2 says regarding the matter...

Oh if only I could walk in love more often. There's no way I can do that on my own. And I really struggle with loving everyone. -There's a lot of people out there who are pretty unlovable, in my opinion... But when I run into those situations where I have trouble loving, that's where I really need to pray for the Holy Spirit to intervene.

I can't do it on my own...

Dear Heavenly Father,

It seems that every day now You are consistently showing me that I can't operate under my own power. Lord I want to be an imitator of You. Please Lord, help me to see things from Your perspective and enable me to walk in love like You. This is about leaning to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Father God, You seem to be showing me the same life lesson over and over again. I apologize that I am so hard headed. But Lord one day I will be just as hard headed for the cause of the Kingdom. It's a 'heart' thing, Lord. Help my heart.

Lord how can I say that I love You when I don't love others? I can't. I'm deceiving myself.

So Dear Jesus I've come to an impasse, and I don't want to continue in this condition. I'm pleading with You this morning to fill my heart with love and compassion. Going forward, I want my life to look different than it looks now. Lord, make it so. And let it be to Your Glory, Honor,and Praise.

I pray these things in Jesus' name, Amen.

Catching Up with Coach Sam

Yea... It's not raining today! Unfortunately, January has been a very wet month... I'm surprised that I didn't have more time to blog this past week but I did have to get a Gran Prix administered.

I'm way behind on a bunch of projects right now. At some point I'm going to have to bite the bullet and stay up really late to get caught up. That's do-able but the real key is that once I get caught up then I need to stay caught up!

It's a New Day, It's a New Year!

Hello Friends,

I found this photo on the accuweather website... Isn't it spectacular...? Just gazing upon something like that just puts you in a good mood, doesn't it....?

I've got lots of new projects going on in 2008. They are just getting off the ground, much like the sun rising in the photo above...

I'm very optimistic about the new year. More details coming soon. Please check back in next week!

Coach Sam

Home Schooling Elijah...

Elijah likes to look at books. He is keenly interested in learning to read. In this photo he has scattered the bottom row of books from the book shelf and sitting in the middle of a pile of books. It appears as if he's prepared to spend the rest of the afternoon reading.

Although we haven't started a formal teaching routine with Elijah yet, we are always engaging him in learning activities. He seems very bright for his age, but what parent doesn't think that about their own children...?

I really enjoy my 'daddy time' with Elijah. We read together, watch TV together, play tennis, golf, and go fishing just about every day...! I love spending time with him. I hate it when I come home from work in the evening and Elijah has already fallen asleep...!

I am greatly blessed with a career that enables me to have flexible schedule allowing for quality time with Elijah.

Elijah's First Movie

We took a family trip after church yesterday to the mall for Elijah to attend his first movie...! We went to see Veggie Tales: The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything... It was a fantastic time for Everyone. I have a few more pictures posted on Elijah's Blog. He was so excited...!

So, this is my first blog entry of 2008. I simply can't keep up my blogging routine like I used to. There's simply not enough time... Here are my priorities for 2008:

1...More quality time in bible study: Completely read the bible in one year...!

2...Spend more time with my family.

3...Play more tennis and get in shape.

4...Retire from my position with HPTA and narrow my focus to my own local community.

Of course, the top three priorities are normally on my list every year. But this year it will really stick. I've never been more focused and determined to accomplish these goals than here in 2008.

The transition out of HPTA is a big decision, but it's the correct one. I'm sure of that.

So there it is... I press on...

By the way, I will try to carve out a little more time to keep this blog updated. It may just be a chronicle of events and photos for the time being... Don't anticipate any deep thoughts for awhile... If you want deeper thoughts then please check out my prayer journal...

Lotsof Blogging Still Left To Do...

One of my Favorite 2007 Christmas Photos: Boy in the Box...

While there were many great photos taken of out family Christmas this year, this is one of the cutest.... After we had opened all the presents Elijah crawled into on of the boxes and I was able to capture this priceless memory of 'The Boy In The Box'.

Today is the last day of 2007. Wow, what a Year....! I haven;t posted in a couple of weeks and this morning there is not enough time to completely catch up and adequately wrap up the year. I have a tennis camp this morning from 10 AM to 3 PM today and then I'll be kicking back this evening, ringing in the New Year with Monica, Connor, and Elijah...!

More later... I plan to blog on into the New Year...!

Behind My Blogging Schedule

Oh... I realize that I'm behind schedule for this blog... Sorry... If I got paid for blogging things would be different. I've been spending more and more time in my prayer journal each day and the other blogs are being neglected at the moment.

I'm afraid that I may have to relegate this blog even further down the blog hierarchy and only update it about once or twice a month.

So, to catch you up on things happening since Thanksgiving...

We have stepped up our home improvement projects: finishing out the garage for Monica's workshop, and giving our kitchen a 'make-over'...

I have a really good person coming to help me at the tennis center for the Christmas break and beyond... I'm very excited about that...

We have been really busy at church helping with the Christmas program and in the nursery.

I am considering a major career shift... More on that soon...

I've bar b qued some excellent meals lately. -Have I ever mentioned how much I love to prepare bar b que...?

That's the highlights from the past two weeks...

Until next time.... Bye for now...

Turkey Day and Beyond

This is the final product of the art project my wife organized for my recent Activity Camp that included tennis, golf, fishing, and art. We held the camp the day before Thanksgiving and had sixteen participants. It was a very successful day, all in all...!

Our Thanksgiving was good. I smoked Turkey and it came out fantastic. All Monica's side dishes were excellent, too. It was a feast that we will long remember...!

The weather turned cold for Thanksgiving to give us more of a holiday atmosphere. I didn't as I normally have on previous holidays. I spent time hanging out with Elijah and Connor. We watched some movies and generally just had a good time. We also spent some time on a couple of home improvement projects we've been working on for awhile.

I've cut back on this blog to one a week or every couple of weeks right now because I have so much other stuff going on. I am trying to be faithful to my prayer journal and Elijah's photo blog, trying to update those daily.

Today Monica and Elijah are sleeping in because Elijah was up most of the night last night. he house is normally not this quiet at 8:30 AM and I'm enjoying some uninterrupted writing time.

I'm going to work on marketing upcoming programs all morning and then spend the afternoon with Elijah so Monica can work on her projects later today before we have church tonight...!

That's it. My mother and father in law are coming to visit next month for Christmas and I'm very much looking forward to that...! YEA!

I'll post more as soon as I can...!

-Coach Sam

WHO is on your Christmas List this Year?

Oops... I was supposed to post this on my prayer journal blog... Oh well, we are getting pretty close to the holiday season. It probably won't hurt to leave it here...

In all my years (42) I've never really thought of 'Giving God a Gift' at Christmas. I have always thought about God and used his birthday as my reasoning for giving gifts to others.

Have you ever heard the phrase question: What do you get the person who has everything...?

Well, Cere answers that very question in his current series: Wise Men Still Bring HIM gifts.

Cere spoke two weeks ago about the number one gift we could and should try to bring God this season is His favorite thing: Souls. Wouldn't it be nice to bring someone to salvation this Christmas?

But what else could we bring HIM...? Well, Jesus is pure and he loves gifts of Purity!

Where is Your heart? What do you dwell on...? What are your fantasies? Are they impure, ungodly, and self, or Purity, Godly, and Kingdom minded?

It's our warfare to cast down imaginations and abstract things that stand against our knowledge of God and to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ... 2 Cor 10:5

Those are two things I'd like to give God this Christmas: a pure heart and mind! But I'd like to really go all out on gifts to Jesus this season so this discussion is not over. (although I'm out of time this morning...)

More tomorrow.

Haven't posted in a while...

I'm a mess again. I'm barely keeping things together these days. I'd love to blog more but I can't prioritize an hour of blog time above more pressing matters. It's all I can do to keep up with my prayer journal right now. Beginning today, this blog is going to have to be reduced to a single weekly posting over each weekend. I'll pick it up again as the Lord blesses me with more time.

My major news at the moment is that I've been facing severe heal issues lately. It's never been more physically difficult to go out there and earn a living on the tennis court like it is right now. At the end of many days I can hardly walk. Off the court I'm constantly icing and elevating my feet.

I've seriously been contemplating a career change, or at least a 'sabbatical' in order to allow my body to recover from a life time of physical punishment on the hard tennis court.

Now I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me or anything like that. I'm just reporting the facts.

I know everything will work together for Good. (see today's prayer journal entry for more detail on that...)

In spite of all the seemingly insurmountable obstacles I'm facing, I'm still optimistic. I serve a God who is capable of anything. -He's a God of miracles. And I face a future as bright as the God I serve...!

That's Coach Sam's Life Today... Check in again for another update by Sunday, November 18.

My Favorite Cool, Refreshing Beverage These Days...

This is my favorite drink now. I do add a little organic sugar, but only enough to sweeten it a little. I think back to when I used to consume all sorts of bad drinks. I've given up all sodas and any alcoholic drinks. I'm really limiting the amounts and types of sports drinks I consume, too. I'm getting rid of all the excess sugars in my diet.

Oh, I'll have an occasional dessert here and there, but for the most part I'm watching my caloric intake very closely these days. It's very important that I lose weight, I haven't been under 200 pounds in over seven or eight years!

My family deserves a thinner and more healthy daddy and husband... -And I owe it to myself, too! Hopefully switching to mainly water and an occasional herbal tea for my fluid consumption will make a difference....

That's it for now... More tomorrow...

-Chadwell Out-

More Zoo Photos

We were fascinated by the under water views at the Houston Zoo... I hope we can go visit the zoo again soon...! The weather is so nice now...!

Busy Week...

I haven't posted here for a few days... It's just been too crazy. I had a tournament here last weekend and it took every ounce of the days preceding the event to make it a success.

I have a little breathing room right now and I'm trying desperately to get caught up and then scale back my activity... -Is that possible...? The bible says with man some things are impossible, but with God All things are possible. That's an encouraging statement...!

I need to claim that promise and live in it...! Fear, doubt, and anxiety do not produce winning situations and circumstances. Oh, did I mention that I was fearful, doubtful, or anxious...?

I'm not, really. But I am weary of walking in the mud for so long. I've been bogged down with 'busyness' for way too long now. It's time to step up onto solid ground. It's time to take a leap of faith...!

But how...? And what is faith, anyway...? Heavy Questions, I know...

I'm going to try to answer those questions in the next few days. Please check back...!

Who's my inspiration today...? My inspiration today is Dr Earl Brown. He has always been a positive influence in my life. I remember he would hit with me when I was a junior player and not really at his level of expertise. He would always have a kind word of encouragement for me.

Today, over twenty years later he is still a positive influence and presence in my life, attending my tennis programs and still offering words of encouragement and advice. He is one of the smartest men I know and he is not afraid to share his faith. Thanks for the Witness, Doc...!