Wow. So I’m coaching a peewee football team (ok, so it’s Monticello Junior League football), but they still look pretty small to me. It’s 3rd and 4th grade, and Sam is on the team. It’s been a real blast to coach them – though I never played. Something about my mom saying my asthma would act up, I’d turn blue in the face, and due shortly thereafter probably convinced me not to. In hindsight, however, I kinda wished I’d played.

We’ve got a great group of folks helping me coach, from dads to other friends, so we’re covered. The amazing thing has been watching these kids learn the basics, work hard in practice (though we’ve had to run them a lot to work off PFS – Playstation Fat Syndrome), and then bring it all together in the Saturday a.m. games. We’re 1-1 so far. Won the first game vs. Maxwell’s Green Machine 6-0, and dropped last week’s game vs. Griffin Heat 0-6. We match up against the unbeaten Ryburn Mustangs this weekend. Their coach is a member of our church, and the momentum has been building up to this weekend’s titanic matchup…. (Yes, I know it’s peewee football, and “titanic” may be going overboard, but hey, we live in Monticello where there’s only a Wal-Mart, so I stand by the description).

One thing I’ve learned so far about coaching these great kids… you can’t ever get too involved in your community.

I’ve met folks doing this that I never would have otherwise, and it’s been a great way to nudge me out of my cocoon. I think we all do it. We make our homes our private castles and entertainment capitals, so that we don’t have to actually relate with our neighbors or get involved in our communities.

That’s definitely not the way that the God I worship encourages us to live from His Word. He describes His people as a “city on a hill” and “light” and “salt.” All three images evoke influence on your surroundings. So why do we cocoon ourselves into our homes with 3 TVs and 1.8 DVD players? And why do we repeat the withdrawal from society by creating churches that serve only their members?

Go figure. Me, I hope what I’m learning right now by being involved (and yes, it’s a sacrifice of time, energy, and commitment) will continue to propel me into the lives of my neighbors. We could all use some touch up work in our commitment to our communities. Me, I’m focusing on “touchdown” work! :0

On this day...

• Review: The Election (rated 3 stars) - 2008
• Our Story, a week in October - 2007
• Welcome back... 2 - 2006