Practice, Practice, Practice

It’s weird. I’ve been very introspective lately. There are times when I get this way and it must look like my eyes glaze over. But it’s one of those things where every situation causes me sit back and wonder.

For instance, I watched praise and worship at church last night. Liza warned me it might be a struggle, but I thought she was being facetious. But she was right. It seemed like the group could not get together. Everyone was trying hard, everyone appeared like they wanted to do well. It just wasn’t working out. I could tell Lize was embarrassed, and I really felt for her.

I know there was a new song in the set, and that seemed to be the biggest problem. It was obvious that they hadn’t practiced it enough. Liza picks things up quickly. Plus, she’s been doing praise and worship, and singing for years. Because of that she can wait until the last minute, learn it and do it. Some people can’t. That’s why there is a need to practice. Practice until you get it right.

Then I thought about our friend Sheryl and her volleyball squad. She’s coaching high school volleyball this year. It’s interesting to hear her talk about practice. It seems kids don’t want to practice these days. They want to show up, play ball, and have fun. They don’t want to practice. They don’t want to work. What separates the achievers in life? Practice and hard work. Michael Jordan. Tiger Woods. They had talent, but people who know them say they practiced harder than everyone else. They outworked everyone else. I believe Larry Bird once said he practiced hard because he knew if he wasn’t, someone else was practicing and getting better than him.

Practice develops your skills. Practice makes you better. Practice makes perfect.

There are other people who have loads have talent but don’t want to work at anything. They prefer to coast and be “just good enough”. They have “potential” and they usually get tagged as being a waste of talent.
I don’t want people to look at me and see a waste of talent. I don’t want to have people say, “If Nate only applied himself….” I want God to tell me I did a job well done. I want to use the talent He put in me before I was even born.

The Bible says “Be excellent at what is good…..” It says “Study to show thy self approved…” I may be taking these out of context, but the implication is not. I believe God wants us to try our best, give our best, and be our best for Him. That means we have to practice. We have to practice reading our Bibles. We have to practice praying more. We have to practice loving others. We have to practice serving others. We have to practice living a Godly life.

We can’t just show up and when the lights come on, expect to be right on. Some people can do that, but most can’t. Those who can, have done it over and over. They have experience.

I think this was a defining moment for Lize. As she talked about what happened, she mentioned that it’s on her. She was leading and it starts at the top. She clearly saw that though she can do it, the ones she was working with needed more practice. And she should’ve practice more with them. I’m looking forward to the next time she leads. It will be good.

Man's Best Friend

Heeeeeeeeeeere's Tiger. This is my dog. Dude is crazy, but he brings alot o love and laughter to me and the family. He's been with us 8 years and has no signs of slowing down. That's 56 in dog years, so he should probably be moving out of my parents house in the near future. I think he's waiting for me and Lize to get out of the condo and into our own house.

Me and the Mrs.

On our honey moon, not too long ago. Yes, we are still in this good of shape! I WISH!! I'm so out of shape these days. Liza and I have been married since August 29 of 03. Still newleyweds in our book. She's a source of constant encouragement and joy. She makes life fun and interesting. She's a mean cook, a competitive game player (cheater.....), and a wonderful wife.

The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Terry S. Allen
My uncle through marriage, my choir director, and all around good guy when he isn't destroying me in Fantasy Football. Somehow, someway Ronde Barber leads his team to the "almost" championship. Seeing we're coming into the homestretch of the NFL season, I figured what better photo to post while trying to figure all this blogging out.

My first attempt

Well, I've just entered the world of blogging. Let's see how this goes. If anyone has any thoughts, suggestions or advice. Please post.