Advice from a Tractor: Cultivate Lasting Friendships

As the regular season comes to a close and playoffs, championship games and bowl season ramps up, one final advice from a tractor:  Cultivate Lasting Friendships

Cultivate means to nurture and help grow.  When you cultivate something, you work to make it better.  Tractors cultivate land to prepare it to plant and grow crops.  It helps the land to be in the best shape for the seeds to grow healthy and strong.

Officials have a unique bond.  It’s interesting how you can bring officials together from throughout the country and work well together.  From my 25 years as an official, I still have officials I keep up with from my first year in my local high school association.  I certainly have more officials I keep up with than people from my high school and college days.

To influence our crew or other officials, listen to the advice from the tractor—CULTIVATE lasting friendships.  If we want our crews to be the best, look for ways to help it grow—Cultivate it.  Notice it does not say just to be a friend.  It says to cultivate.  We have to nurture and look for ways to help people—to make them better.  I believe if we look for ways to make others better, we in turn will become better.

Looking back in our officiating careers, who made the most impact on you?  It had to be someone who cared and took time to invest in you.  I know I had 2-3 guys I could rely on to help me and took time to teach me.  They were really good officials, but even better people.  Here’s the point:

“The people who make a difference in your life are usually not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards.  They simply are the ones who care the most.”

I Corinthians 1:27-29 tells us "God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, so that no-one may boast before him."

As far God is concerned, being His servant is more important than being superstar. When Jesus chose His disciples, they were not the pick of the litter, the cream of crop. They were simply men He knew could be used to establish His kingdom.

Here is an unflattering list of people God used:

Moses stuttered. David’s armor didn’t fit. Jacob was a liar. David had an affair.  Solomon was too rich. Abraham was too old. David was too young. Peter was afraid of death. Lazarus was dead.  Jesus was too poor. Paul was a murderer. Jonah ran from God. Thomas doubted. Elijah was burned out.  Martha was a worrywart.  Samson had long hair. Noah got drunk.

How well are we cultivating the people around us?  Are we helping people grow?

Cultivate your thoughts and actions into positive seeds and see your life, and the people around you, change for the better!

The Domino Effect

A favorite quote of mine that has been used in other devotions:  “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” (Will Durant).  Positive results are sometimes result of luck; but most of the time, it’s because of consistent preparation.

Listen to any great coach, athlete, business person, teacher, etc and they will tell you that building habits and routines into their daily life most often lead to success.  You can phrase it another way---they ”line up dominoes” each day, knock them down by taking those actions one at a time which then knocks down all of the dominoes—the domino effect.

Of course, there is also the negative side which tells us there is a domino effect when things go bad.  But, we are thinking of positive momentum--when one domino is knocked down, it sets off a small and consistent set of actions that are connected.  Here is an example from a man who was training for a Sparta race:

Domino #1 – Start the day with a protein shake

Domino #2 – Do 20 pushups, jumping jacks or burpees every 60 minutes

Domino #3 – Train in the gym for 60 minutes

Domino #4 – Stop all meals by 7pm

Each day, he would set his domino’s into action knocking down #1 then onto the other ones.  This resulted in a consistent, continuous, and positive movement forward in his training.

Luke 9: 23:  Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”

How often did Jesus say to following Him—"DAILY”.  The Christian walk is not a sometimes thing, it’s a “daily” walk.  It’s consistently seeking what and who God wants you to be.

In officiating, as mundane and boring as preparation seems, we must line up our dominoes each week in preparation for the next assignment/game.   Every game is different.  Therefore, if we consistently prepare each week, we are better prepared to handle each game that presents it’s own challenges.

Consistency leads to continuous forward progress which creates and sustains positive momentum toward our goals. How do we do it?  -- show up and do the little things that lead to growth. When we knock down our dominoes, we want positive momentum not negative.

LUCK always favors the prepared.

Credit given to FCA Devotions-- http://fcaresources.com/devotional

Diamonds and Pearls

Diamonds and Pearls are two of the most popular pieces of jewelry.  Most wedding rings have a diamond(s) on the ring and pearl bracelets/necklaces/ear rings are favorites as well. Both are always good choices for gifts and to get yourself out of trouble!

What does it take to get a real diamond or pearl?  Other than money, to get a real diamond or pearl something tough must happen.  Real Diamonds are produced through high temperature and pressure deep in the earth’s surface.  The pressure of volcanic eruptions brings the diamonds closer to the earth’s surface to be mined.  For a pearl, it is formed when an irritant enters into an oyster, mussel, or clam.  As a defense, a fluid is released to coat the irritant.  The oyster (or mussel or claim) will continue to release this fluid to form several layers which hardens to form a pearl.

Now, think about what two of the finest pieces of jewelry are made from----High Temperature, Pressure, and Irritation. In officiating, what do we produce when tempers get high, when pressure rises, and when things irritate us?  Do we produce diamonds and pearls or do we melt?

James 1: 3-4:  ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Simply put, life’s pressure and irritations show who we really are.  Verse 3 explains that the testing of faith shows our “true-colors.”  Then in verse 4, it instructs us not to try to get out of it.  Why? So, we will  be “mature and complete.”  Pressure enables, or can enable, us to be better, more knowledgeable and stronger.

Therefore, we face pressure and irritations head on.  But how?  Focus on three things:

1)      Our faith.  Know that God puts us in situations to help us grow and He will not give us more than we can handle. 1 Corinthians 10: 13--“God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength but with your testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it”.

2)      Each other.  Crewmates can and should help each other navigate through pressure which will hopefully result in the most positive outcome.

3)      Our past.  Use our past to handle the pressure and irritation.  We all have good and bad in our past, learn from it and use it.

There is a 100% guarantee in every game we officiate--we will face high tempers, pressure, and irritations. Today, what are you going to produce from those things?  Will it be diamonds and pearls?

No pressure, no diamonds.

Pressure creates diamonds and fire refines gold.

Seeing Clearly

When we can’t see well, life is stressful. Blurred objects, squinting, fatigue, headaches … it’s easy to make mistakes, misjudging what you see. Frustration builds.  When things aren’t as clear as they should be, we need to go see an eye doctor.

During an eye exam, the optometrist conducts tests to determine how our eyes are working. The doctor will see whether you are nearsighted (close objects appear clear, but those far away are blurred) or farsighted (close objects are fuzzy but distant objects are clear.)  In both cases, our eyes do not focus images correctly. After getting corrective lenses, life is much more clear!  Blurred vision is dangerous.  We need to be in the right focus.

What about officiating?  What causes us not to see well?  I’m not talking about our actual vision.  I’m referring to whether we are seeing a play or a situation like we should. Here are things to keep in mind in order to see clearly….

1)    Focus—is our mind in the right place? Are we distracted by our surroundings or something that has happened during the week?

2)    Attention to Detail—are we looking at the right place?  Here’s an example: as a Back Judge, when a pass is thrown to the middle of the field, I focus on the catch.  I don’t look at the feet because there is no reason for me to worry about a receiver’s feet in the middle of the field.  To see the detail, we need to focus in the right place.

3)    Position—are we in the right place at the right time?  If we “miss” a call or perceived to “miss” a call, coaches, players, fans, media are much more forgiving if we are at the right place and looking in the right area.

4)    Attitude—positive emotions usually lead to positive outcomes.  What attitude are we relaying to the crew?  If we don’t have the right mind-set, attitude, before and during a game, our vision can be blurred.  Is there’s anything causing us not to have a positive attitude about our crew or the upcoming game?  If so, talk about it and get it straight before the game begins.

Proverbs 3:21
Preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight.

Our emphasis in this verse is going to be on “sound judgment and discernment”.  The result of sound judgment is victory or success from having wisdom.  Discernment means assessing how and when to act, or not, under different circumstances.  This verse tells me in order to see clearly, I need to seek wisdom, sound judgment and discernment that results in SUCCESS.

The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend.