Derek Down
Jun19

When failure becomes our best hope…

by Dan Rabun on June 19, 2013 at 06:40
Posted In: BlackTees Blog, Recovery, Sticking it out

There are times in our lives when failure becomes our best hope…

Derek Redmond was Britain’s best hope for a medal in the 400 meters in the 1992 Olympics. Jim Redmond, his proud father, sat in the stands as Derek took his place at the starting line. Derek had trained all his life for this event but at this level, dedication is not enough. Derek also had talent in droves.  According to Wikipedia his talent and dedication paid off. Derek won gold medals in the 4×400 meters relay at the World Championships, European Championships and Commonwealth Games. He also held the British record for the 400 meters sprint. While this might seem like a charmed life, the wins do not come easily to anyone; not even the super talented.

Derek and FatherDerek had faced major adversity in his quest for his ultimate prize…Olympic glory. Numerous injuries and surgeries had delayed the quest for his goal. Throughout the years, his father, Jim Redmond had coached him, supported him, encouraged him and, through a father’s accountability, had instilled in Derek a sense of self-discipline and determination. Derek shared his dad’s desire to be the best that he could possibly be.

Proverbs 3:11-12
My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.

Derek knew that he would only have to run a race he was capable of running and he would be in line for a medal and all the distinction that comes with it. A gold medal could ensure that he would be set for life. Speaking engagements, endorsements and royal treatment. In the preliminaries he had fared well. One final heat stood between him and a shot at his ultimate prize.

The race began with Derek positioning himself well. After the first turn with the runners headed down the back straight away, Derek was near the front of the pack. He knew that his greatest asset was his strong finishing kick. As he began his final push for the remaining 200 meters of the race, he heard and felt a pop as if someone had shot him in the back of his leg. His hamstring had been so taxed that it snapped and shredded, rendering him unable to finish and barely able to walk. His dreams were snatched from him in split second. All he had worked towards for years vanished.

One of the things his father had instilled in him was that no matter how far behind you get, you do not quit. Redmond refused to come off the track, determined to cross the finish line. With the agony of physical pain and the pain of loss painted on his face, Derek struggled to pull his injured body to the finish line. As a solitary figure staggered around the track, another solitary figure fought his way past spectators and security down to Derek’s side. It was Derek’s father. Jim Redmond bolstered up his son and together they crossed the finish line.

Although he had officially been disqualified from the race, the story of the father and son touched the hearts of millions of viewers across the world.Ask anyone in England who Derek Redmond is and they all know. However, the name of the runner who actually won the race has faded from memory.

Because of his story, endorsement offers poured in. Derek became a sought after speaker as well as a sports commentator, trainer and advisor to the Olympic Committee. In his loss, Derek Redmond has achieved more than he would have had he won.

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

In our own lives our plans may often get derailed. You may have given your life completely to a goal only to have it ripped out from under you. It doesn’t mean that God is no longer with you or that he doesn’t care about your dreams or desires. Our heavenly father walks up beside us just like Jim Redmond came up beside his son and helped him across the finish line. When our own plans get off track, maybe it is God’s design…maybe it is just life. But if you lean on your Father during those times and do not give up, the result may be different from what you imagined, yet better than you had ever hoped for.

Dan Rabun

Images from Derek Redmonds Facebook page…Let Derek know that his story touched you by liking his page here.

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79085342
Jun18

Control…you

by Jim Crumbley on June 18, 2013 at 06:01
Posted In: Faith, Family, Sticking it out

“Groceries, you need to learn how to select your thoughts just the same way you select what clothes you’re gonna wear every day. This is a power you can cultivate. If you want to control things in your life so bad, work on the mind. That’s the only thing you should be trying to control. Drop everything else but that. Because if you can’t learn to master your thinking, you’re in deep trouble forever.”

Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love

This is your life. Yours…not someone else’s. It’s not your dad’s or your mom’s. Your life does not belong to your boss, your spouse or the people you work with. Your life belongs to you. So, if your life is yours then why do you make more effort controlling others than you do controlling yourself? Don’t think you control? Then ask yourself these questions; do you pray and think more about what others do or what you do? Do you confront others (either directly or passively) more often than you confront yourself?

Sure, it is easier to say “if only they would” than it is to say “I should.” But the “should” of you and not the “would” of them is the only thing you can control. Pushing blame off to others takes away all responsibility for ourselves. Any attempt to control what others do or say is simply another form of being a victim.

“If you can't control your peanut butter, you can't expect to control your life.” ? Bill Watterson, The Authoritative Calvin And Hobbes

“If you can’t control your peanut butter, you can’t expect to control your life.”
Bill Watterson, The Authoritative Calvin And Hobbes

That is not to say that others are always right and you are wrong. They are not and you are not.

That is also not meant to say that you should sit back and be verbally beat upon without standing up for yourself. Stand in strength but don’t stand in control…other than of yourself.

The slightly twisted wisdom of Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes summed it up best. If you can’t control peanut butter, how can you expect to control much else? The responsibility for you rests with you. What you think, do and how you respond to others is about you. It is not about them.

God has a plan for your life. His plan is to prosper you, help you, guide you, grow you and lead you. If your focus is on controlling others, how can you expect to hear and follow God’s lead?

Sure, things hurt. Absolutely, life is not always fair. Jesus got that. Didn’t He say to “turn the other cheek” and “offer your coat?”

Discipleship is not for the faint of heart.  It takes fortitude and denial to walk out God’s plan for our lives. We all have challenges in our walk with/to God. We all have the proverbial “thorn” in our side. For some it is health, for others finances and for others relational.

Cool…we all have our thorn. So what? Paul did not write that he pulled the thorn out of his side but that he leaned on Jesus to get through the temporal pain of what he faced.

Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. 2 Corinthians 12:8-9

Paul did what Paul could do…he controlled Paul.

Put your control where it should be and that is on you. Control of your thoughts, control of your actions and control of your faith. Then, see the pain of your “thorn” subside with the hope that only Jesus can bring.

JimC

 

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Jun17

Our God is there…

by Jim Crumbley on June 17, 2013 at 06:13
Posted In: Faith, Family

But you, Sovereign Lord,
    help me for your name’s sake;
    out of the goodness of your love, deliver me.
For I am poor and needy,
    and my heart is wounded within me.
I fade away like an evening shadow;
    I am shaken off like a locust.
My knees give way from fasting;
    my body is thin and gaunt.
I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
    when they see me, they shake their heads. Psalm 109:21-25

Our God is a delivering God. He cares when we hurt. He loves us even when we feel unloved. He covers the deepest sin when we simply repent.  Out of the goodness of His love and for His name’s sake, our God is there.

  • When memories of disappointment confront us in our dreams, OUR GOD IS THERE. 
  • When the hope of what might happen becomes the loss of what never did,  OUR GOD IS THERE.
  • When fear grips us to retreat to old habits, OUR GOD IS THERE.
  • When others misunderstand our intent, OUR GOD IS THERE.
  • When we are falsely accused and the truth is twisted against us, OUR GOD IS THERE.
  • When the loss of a loved one weighs on our world, OUR GOD IS THERE.
  • When the answer escapes us, OUR GOD IS THERE.
  • When wrong seems to triumph for a season over right, OUR GOD IS THERE.
  • When we struggle to know, OUR GOD IS THERE.
  • When forgiveness seems a daunting task, OUR GOD IS THERE.
  • When trust has been broken, OUR GOD IS THERE.

I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. Genesis 28:15

God will never abandon us. In that promise, we can go with boldness. Not the bold that comes from excitement but the bold that is sourced through God as our strength.

Today is your day. Take what you feel…take what you are going through…take the memory of what went wrong and hand it to God. He is there.

JimC

 

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Father's Knows Best (?)
Jun14

My Three Sons…

by Jim Crumbley on June 14, 2013 at 07:08
Posted In: Family, Grace, Leadership

I am watching the lives of my son’s manhood unfold before my eyes and I am in awe. All three are so strong in so many ways….strong to the point of occasional stubbornness, loyal to the ideals of a family but still willing to stand for themselves, hard working and persevering, honest in their world and with themselves.

I am very proud .

514px-Father_Knows_Best_cast_photo_1962As I see them live their lives, I see more and more that dads are necessary. Not the fathers of B/W sitcoms who “knew best” or the father who bailed the Beaver out of whatever trouble he found himself. No, what we need are dads.

Dads…

Those ordinary guys who have pushed through the lack of a dad in their childhood…those guys who pushed through multiple failures and mistakes…those guys who have faced and are facing their own giants…those guys who, in raw honesty, can stand bear before their sons and daughters and show with their lives; “this is what I learned.”

The responsibility of fatherhood is so immense that many men, not knowing how to do it, back away at the first signs of failure and trouble.  We don’t always know best. We don’t always have the answers. We are often too tired, too worn out and too afraid to be the father of our ideals. Feeling a failure, we retreat to what we knew…the standard we were shown by our birth father.

Manhood…

Stepping up and doing what is uncomfortable, unselfish and unsafe because if you don’t do it, it won’t be done. 

Once I quit trying to be a father, which I didn’t know how to do, and focused on becoming a man, I became the dad that my sons needed. And, the fruit of my manhood is now seen in the lives of my sons.

This didn’t happen because I am a great guy. I am not. This didn’t happen because I suddenly found all the right answers. I did not. This didn’t happen because I now have all the right reactions. I do not. This happened because I realized that if I didn’t do it, it wouldn’t get done.

I know now that you never truly “get over” being raised without a dad but you learn to push beyond that lack. That limp does not define who you are but tells the story of where you’ve come. That story…your story…is what your kids need to hear. The telling and hearing provides healing for you both.

It worked in my life. It will work in yours. My sons’ willingness to forgive me of my many failures in their lives helped me to see the way to forgive myself. For that, i am forever grateful.

Happy Father’s Day boys…I love you all more than I can say.

JimC (Dad)

 

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Jun13

A Father says…”You Can”

by Jim Crumbley on June 13, 2013 at 06:19
Posted In: Boldness, Faith

There is hardly a more important lesson that a father can teach than “you can.”

What lessons?

  • Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get back in the batter’s box…
  • Get back on the horse that threw you…
  • When you can’t, we can…
  • What you learn in failure can drive you to success…
  • Back to the drawing board…
  • No one said it would be easy…
  • It’s alright, keep swinging…
  • If it first you don’t succeed; try, try again…
  • Try submitting, for a change…

These lessons are important and only happen when we face the disappointment of loss. It is then that a a father says…

  • You have the tools.
  • You have the abilities.
  • You can dream because it is in your dreams and the efforts to achieve your dreams that vision is realized.
  • It is not your failures that define your life but your efforts to learn from what failed and build to what succeeds that defines who you are.
  • Overcoming little things builds momentum for overcoming big things.
  • Failing in one endeavor can lead to success in another.
  • One idea that fails often leads to another idea that succeeds.

Maybe you didn’t have a Dad at home. Maybe you had a Dad but never heard growing up that “you can.” That’s okay. You have a Father now. You have that encouragement now.

  • Your Father says that you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength.
  • Your Father says to forget what is behind and go forward to what lies ahead.
  • Your Father says to think positive and when you struggle with your thinking, then listen positive.
  • Your Father says that he has sufficient grace to cover many sins…many mistakes…many failures.
  • Your Father says that you have been adopted into the family of God with all the rights of the first born.
  • Your Father says that your hope rests in Him.
  • Your Father says that He has plans for you and that these plans are good.
  • Your Father says that He will supply all of your needs through Jesus.

Life is not about what you don’t have but making the best of what you do have. Your Father has taught you that. The implementation of His lesson is up to you.

Edgar A. Guest

Edgar A. Guest

You are the handicap you must face,
You are the one who must choose your place,
You must say where you want to go,
How much you will study the truth to know.
God has equipped you for life, but He
Lets you decide what you want to be.

Courage must come from the soul within,
The man must furnish the will to win.
So figure it out for yourself, my lad.
You were born with all that the great have had,
With your equipment they all began,
Get hold of yourself and say: “I can.”  Edgar A. Guest

My Father says “I can” and He tells you the same thing.

JimC

 

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