Born Awesome

I heard something on the radio today talking of the need for safety for our children…it’s every parent’s desire for their child to be safe, the commentator said. How safe do you really want to play it? I, for one, don’t consider it a desire for my children to be safe. I want them to be safe and certainly pray for their safety in the physical sense but ultimately my desire for my own children and with all the kids I work with is that they recognize and walk in who they were truly designed to be.

Sometimes when we play it safe, we miss the opportunity. My son Sam doesn’t know the meaning of play it safe. He was riding his bike at 3 and as you see in the picture below, was performing stunts shortly thereafter. This picture was taken when he was 3 1/2 years old. There isn’t a ramp he hasn’t jumped or trick he hasn’t tried. That is how he is wired…so telling Sam to be safe just doesn’t resonate. That’s not who he was designed to be. We are all wired differently.

Here is a favorite clip of mine from my favorite movie:

Here is a little background on Ollie in case you didn’t see the movie ‘Hoosiers’…by the way, if you haven’t seen it, shame on you and go watch it right now.  In this clip, Ollie, the former manager turned 8th man on an 8 man team, sank 2 free throws to win the game and propel Milan High to the next round of the Indiana State Championships.  When the new coach moved to town, Ollie was considered a “half” of a player by himself and by his snickering teammates.  The new coach didn’t believe in “half” players and believed very strongly in the hand he was dealt.  He gave Ollie a uniform and even though Ollie still handed out towels and water bottles, he was also preparing for a moment such as this.  The coach valued Ollie as a member of the team, valued his role as a manager and as the 8th man, and therefore Ollie was also valued by his teammates.  It came from the coach first though.  How do you think that made Ollie feel?

To me, there are 3 reasons (plus a little luck) that Ollie sank the free throws:

• First and foremost, Ollie’s role was valued by someone in authority (the coach).
• Second, Ollie embraced his role as manager and the last guy on the bench and he performed his role to the best of his ability.  He may not have always been perfectly happy in his role but based on the 57 times I have seen this movie, it appears that Ollie did his job well.
• Finally, his teammates valued Ollie.  Did you see Merle (#12) come to his defense and give him encouragement when the thug from the other team was talking smack to Ollie?

The above bullet points are in that order because that is how it occurred in this movie.  In this situation, the coach saw something in Ollie that he didn’t even see in himself.  He was an important part of the team.  As a result of this, Ollie embraced this role and others followed suit.  I have seen it before where an “Ollie” knew he/she was important and because of this, someone in authority recognized this and others followed suit. 

Whatever the case may be, a critical component of effective teams, companies, churches, or organizations is that each individual embraces the role they were given and perform it to the absolute best of their ability so that the group can move forward to their desired outcome.

I take pride in remembering people’s names.  I don’t always get it right and a recent example is evidence of that but I think it’s an important skill.  More often than not, people will say, “I’m really bad with names.”  Now, I’m not claiming that this little column will change your ability to remember names instantly…BUT I do want to stress the importance of remembering names and faces.  Ultimately, a name connects with the heart…and if you recognize that fact alone, you should and will recognize the importance of improving upon this skill.

I love to ask questions…so often, especially in a large group setting like a volleyball clinic or a gym full of kids, I can’t wait to start talking to the kids.  I always ask their name, first and last, because I may make a connection with them through their name.  It also, when I ask both first and last name, brings honor to them.  I want them to take pride in their own name — first AND last.  On the selfish side, it helps me to remember their first name when I know their last name.  Maybe this is just me but hey, it works.

One of my favorite questions to ask people, young people especially, is ‘what makes you tick?’  After the initial response of ‘what do you mean’ [this response is given to my initial questions 97% of the time], I am able to probe deeper into what it is that makes their heart beat a little faster, gets them out of bed in the morning, and how God can speak to them when they allow themselves to do what they love to do.  This is a powerful time to speak into the lives of young people because their hearts are soft because someone has taken an active interest in what is truly the desire of their heart.

And…if you get someone’s name wrong as I did recently, life goes on.  Here is my story.  I recently held a kids volleyball clinic along with the coaches in our Revolution Volleyball Club for 52 of my closest 7-12 year old friends.  We had great help from our current club players, 35 of them to be exact.  So, when the clinic was complete, I had the opportunity to talk to the kids and their parents about BEing ‘born awesome.’  Toward the end, I noticed a face sitting in the back…it was Shannon Leary, who just recently had a very scary seizure and is currently being tested and treated and prayed over for a full healing of her body.  Shannon is doing great and truly captures the essence of all that we believe and value in our club.  So, when I pointed her out in the back, my words were, “So good to see you ‘Stacy.’”  Oops!  Shannon – please forgive me.  When we had the opportunity to catch up and hug each other later, I don’t think she cared…our hearts connected and that is what it is all about!

So, get better at not just learning names and faces but connecting with hearts!

This morning, I found a sheet of paper on my desk…one of those notebook papers with the rough edges.  As I examined the paper, I saw that it was Annabelle’s handwriting.  On the paper, I found the following words:

When I asked Annabelle what this sheet was, she said that “those words are words that describe me.”  This was music to my ears.  I want all of my children and all of the kids I come in contact with to believe in the greatness inside of them. Thank you Belle for who you are, for your beautiful spirit and for your daily reminders of your greatness!

One of my goals for this year was to introduce younger kids to the game of volleyball.  With the help of our approximately 70 players in the South part of our club, we have introduced 52 new players (ages 6-13) to the game.  Our players did an incredible job as did the “little ones” in the clinic.  This is definitely something that we are going to do again in the future, expand, and enhance to continue to teach, encourage, and impact this generation.

Here is a quote from the youngest player in our club…funny to think that a 12 year old could have this perspective in teaching 7-8 year olds.  She told her mom on the way home from practice the other night, “Just think, we could be changing these kids lives!”

Here is another encouraging note I received from the mom of one of our “Rowdies”:

As the Assistant Superintendent of the Chambersburg School District and the parent of one of your “little” players, I had the opportunity to watch the practice tonight for the first time and I have one word to say about your “coaches”!

WOW…but honestly, that one words means sooooo much!

I jokingly told my husband that they are Wonderfully  Optimistic  Women!!  The energy in the gym, the passion for the sport and for helping others, the desire to be a positive part of the community speaks volumes for these young ladies!  Impressive is an understatement quite honestly as I saw smiles on everyone’s faces for the entire hour and genuine ”celebrations” when the little ones made good plays and encouragement even when they didn’t make plays.

Coach Schall,  you are to be commended for your talents on the court with the “little” ones and the “big” ones….what you are doing for all of these kiddos is exemplary!!

Our daughter Rachel is thoroughly enjoying her first attempts at volleyball.  She feels completely comfortable with the positive surroundings given by you and your girls.

KUDOS to all of you,

Catherine and Todd Dusman

PS….Todd shared with me that this past Wednesday night (which was the only night I was able to attend due to other commitments with school) was no different than any of the other nights….the “coaches” are always SO Hyped Up and Gushing with positives!!

I know that I said in my last post that I was going to be writing about my beautiful family.  So, I will take a minute to do that just to introduce them to the people who are reading this and don’t know us.  (Tangent – Isn’t it amazing that people I have never met before will read this…the power of communication is incredible).

I have been married to my beautiful wife Sarah for almost 12 years now.  She is beautiful, compassionate, sensitive, powerful, influential, magnetic, and the love of my life.  Of all the people in this world, she is my favorite.

Annabelle, my beautiful Belle, was born in January of 2002.  She is 8 years old, intelligent, creative, tender, compassionate, beautiful, and organized beyond belief.  This girl is anti-clutter, neat, and always knows where everything is.

Sam, my powerful warrior, was born in January of 2004.  He is 6 years old, strong, athletic, adventurous, inquisitive, so caring, sensitive, and has a gift of speaking God’s words through his actions.  Numerous times, God has spoken to me through the actions of this boy.

Andrew, my strong leader, was born in October of 2007.  He is 2 years old, smart, intuitive, confident, bold, and has leader written all over him.  He is the guy who walks in the room and shapes the environment (this isn’t always a positive thing at 2 but I love it anyway).

Emelia (Mia), my graceful baby girl, was born on Valentine’s Day of 2010.  She is 7 weeks old, curious, passionate, radiant, elegant, and powerful.  She has beauty and elegance written all over her and has already captured the heart of her older siblings not to mention her mom and dad.

I did want to take another minute to shape the context of this entry…even though the entry is almost complete.  In Jeremiah 1, the Lord is speaking to Jeremiah, and I’m not sure if I know of a more powerful passage of scripture and a more relevant message for this generation, a powerful generation:

^“4Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, ⁵“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” ⁶Then I said, “Alas, Lord GOD!  Behold, I do not know how to speak, Because I am a youth.”  ⁷But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ Because everywhere I send you, you shall go, And all that I command you, you shall speak. ⁸“ Do not be afraid of them, For I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.”

I pray this over my children and over this generation, that they would not operate in a spirit of fear but with a spirit of boldness, a spirit of passion, and a spirit of love.  For they were “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm139:14) and were created in the “image and likeness” (Genesis 1:26) of the Father.  I KNOW that there are great things ahead for this generation…no, change that, there are great things NOW for this generation!

I came across a quote earlier today from Picasso.  I think he was some guy who painted some pictures…he said, “Every child is born an artist.”  That really hit me and it’s beautiful.  I’ve changed his words a little bit to say, “Every child is born awesome.”

This entire concept, mindset, lifestyle of ‘born awesome’ is something that has been stirring in my heart, my mind, and my spirit.  God has given me a deep desire to radically impact a generation and it all started with a 2 year old’s t-shirt!  My son, Andrew, turned 2 last Halloween (2009).  Andrew’s favorite shirt, or at least it was my favorite shirt to put on him was a blue shirt with the following words across the front: “I Was Born Awesome.”  The beautiful thing about Andrew was that he BELIEVED it.  And why not?

The funny thing is, I went back to the same store where we got Andrew’s shirt to look for t-shirts for the entire family.  More on my beautiful family in my next post.  We couldn’t find any t-shirts in larger sizes than 2T.  Interesting was my first thought…and the more I thought about it, my thought shifted to disturbing.  It states pretty clearly in Genesis 1:27  that “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”  My creative wheels got to spinning and truly felt a need existed in the hearts of people, a deep yearning to get back to the way God had created them.  We were all ‘born awesome.’

So, with zero experience in the fashion industry but a deep desire to impact a generation, we created ‘born awesome’ t-shirts as a reminder of who we were intended to be!  I was also inspired to do this by a phrase that my daughter Annabelle made famous in our house when she was younger (she is now 8…my beautiful belle!).  In the movie “Robots,” one of the characters had a saying, “See a need, Fill a need.”  In Annabelle’s interpretation, he had said, “Sillity Fillity.”  It took Sarah and I weeks to figure out what she was referring to so that is now a famous saying in our home!

It also supplied some inspiration to me to fill the need that I see in the lives of young people, adults, and those beyond adult status.  T-shirts are made…wear them proudly.  With each t-shirt, you will receive a card with the following on it: “Our passion is to help you see who God created you to be.  You were born awesome.  And we challenge you to take a risk and display the greatness in you.  We are determined to revolutionize the mentality of mediocrity that diminishes each person’s worthiness and replace it with the power and creativity of God’s original design for each person’s life.”

Foundation #2 is Leadership, one of my favorite subjects.  You are being asked to put in writing some practical ways that you can lead.  I have personal experiences when I have been a good leader and other experiences when I have been a bad leader.  The important thing I have learned though is that the process of sticking your neck out and taking a risk regardless of the outcome has caused me to grow.

I have put a copy of the Players Manual online…you can access it by clicking HERE.  Each player and coach in the club should have a physical copy of the manual but it is also online if parents want to follow along or if you want to print a copy out for your own reference.

Keep up the good work on and off the floor!

Personal Declaration

In our Players Manual (RealEVOLUTION), our first foundation is Goal Setting.  This year though, we have a great activity to get you started before you dig into Goal Setting.  Sarah came up with the idea to have the players do a “Personal Declaration.”  One of the things that we discussed was that so many young people are caught up in believing the things that others tell them.  So, we wanted the players to each have an opportunity to write their own thoughts about who they are.  We described the activity in detail on page 5 of RealEVOLUTION.

Sarah provides you with her example in the introduction to the exercise…but as a family, we had some fun with this activity last week.  I love this time of year because it’s an opportunity to evaluate the previous year and also look forward to the coming year in the way of casting vision and setting goals for our family, for this club, and for me personally.  My children are all younger than the kids in the club (Annabelle will soon be 8, Sam will soon be 6, Andrew is 2, and the baby is due in late February)…but I thought it would be fun to have Annabelle and Sam do the Personal Declaration just to see what they could come up with.  I want to share this list below as an encouragement to think like a child in this activity and don’t hold back…and in the interest of full disclosure, Annabelle did the list completely by herself while Sam had a little help…but I love their Personal Declarations…now it’s my job to continue to speak these things into their lives and help them to understand that they were wonderfully made.  Nobody else’s opinion or negative words can change that fact for my children or for you!

Annabelle’s Personal Declaration (in her own spelling): leader, passionate, joyful, hopful, helpful, blocer, setter, friend, nice, cousen, love-ful, athletec, crafty, running, sport, smart, caring, creatif, orgenized, player, waves washing, done.

Sam’s Personal Declaration (with spelling help): helpful, me, candy, warm, brother, athlete, leader, adventure, sky, football, baseball, basketball, soccer, tender, sincere, passionate.

We also did one for Andrew and for the baby…true, we haven’t met her yet in person but we know her heartbeat already…so we already have a gift for her when she arrives.

Goal Setting – Foundation #1

There is a reason that Goal Setting comes first.  There have been countless studies done that show the correlation between goal setting and success…for me personally, I wish I would have taken Goal Setting more seriously at a younger age.  That is why I am passing this on to all of you…so that you can start this critical skill at an early age.

Here is a glimpse into how I am going about completing this activity (yes, I will be doing these activities right along with you).  I am currently in about the 4th day of my personal goal setting process.  The way my brain works is that I start with a white dry erase board in my office, clean it off, and then start with a blank slate.  Everything that comes to my mind in relation to Goal Setting throughout the day, I write it down on the white board.  Most of my current notes revolve around streamlining some of the processes that we have related to the club and also in our own family so that we can focus on the things that matter the most to us.  In our club, that is the players…if we are inefficient with some of the things we have to do to run the club (which we are in some areas), it pulls us away from working with the coaches and players the way we would like to.  In my personal life, if I am lazy with my work and not organized with my schedule, that begins to negatively affect the time I spend with Sarah and the kids.  That is why focus, preparation, and discipline are some key words I have written down on my board.  I have not yet put them into actual written goals yet but I have begun the process.

Now, it’s your turn.  If you haven’t already, start the process by reading the introduction on page 6 of RealEVOLUTION…involve your parents in this process if you need help (and if you really want to involve them in this process, have them set goals for themselves!).  You will also write 2 action steps underneath each goal…these action steps should be things that you are going to have to do to achieve the stated goal.  Enjoy and submit a copy of your Goal Setting sheet to your coach by January 15th.