Character Moment #14 – December 19, 2007

This is the last Character Moment of 2007 and I have one wish for all of us in 2008. As I have all year, it has been my hope to encourage the building of character within our school community. To truly build our character I believe that there is one source, and that is God’s Word. It is in His word where we find story after story about how God’s love restores people.

The Bible really is a love story. The more you know its words, the more you are reminded about how much God does love us.

With the New Year coming, I would like to challenge you to do something for maybe the first time. Before January 1, go find a bible. It might be the one you have for school use, but it can be any version. I have enjoyed, The Message, in the past. Then get a guide that gives you a daily reading. My wife works at The Bible House at Tustin and Katella and they have guides (and bibles) there. The guide should take you through the Bible in one year. An online source is www.backtothebible.org It offers many options to get you through the bible in a year.

Finally, take the 10-15 minutes max to read a little bit every day. I am getting ready to start my 11^th year of this, and this daily ritual has truly changed my life. God’s Word is power. It is hard to explain, but your life will change!

Merry Christmas!

Character Moment #13 – December 12, 2007

One of things that I feel God calls us to be here at Orange Lutheran is different for Him. This does get acted out in many ways. Our conduct at games when we cheer for our team in a positive way instead of putting the other team or the officials down is one way. Another way is how we celebrate certain holidays.

With Christmas coming up soon, I think it is so important to use the words “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings.” We are inundated by all of the secular thoughts for the season. Think about the day after Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a day set aside to thank God for all the blessings He has bestowed upon us. Throughout the day we are bombarded by commercials that tell us that our favorite stores open the next day at 4 am for special sales. We are reminded all day long on the day we are to be thankful, that we don’t have it all. We need more. And, what do we now call that Friday? Black Friday. Incredible.

The Christmas season is that time we set aside to celebrate Christ’s birth. What has happened over the years though is that we take the Christ out of Christmas. I had an aunt that signed everything Merry Xmas. Merry X mas? Why?

Today we hear that people may be offended if we say Merry Christmas. I say, we should never compromise who we are. Christmas is about Christ. It should never be separated.

We get enough Santa and Happy Holidays outside of school. Let’s commit to wish each other Merry Christmas, thankful that Christ is in Christmas!

A Great Article

By now you may have seen the article in the Tuesday edition of the Los Angeles Times titled,

Coach knows it's first and life to go

Here is the link. It truly captures the character and honor of our head football coach, Jim Kunau.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-parsons4dec04,1,6752567.column

Special thanks to the author, Dana Parsons.

Character Moment #12 – December 5, 2007

How important is it to admit a mistake? What about if no one would ever know, would you still admit you have messed up?

A friend of mine recently told me the story of a young man who works in the race car industry. The boy had been promoted to a very important position on the pit crew of a race team and had the responsibility to make sure the right tires went on the car in the right location. It seems simple enough, but it is critical because of the high speeds that the drivers travel in the cars.

Well he did not have a lot of training in this, and during the very first race he inadvertently put the tires on the wrong side of the car. Doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it could have been tragic.

After the race, which the driver lost, the boy mentioned to his other crew members that he had made a mistake. Their encouragement was that no one would know, kind of like “no harm – no foul.”

He couldn’t keep that inside though. He went to the driver and admitted his mistake and apologized for costing the driver the race. His teammates thought he would be chewed out for sure, maybe even lose his job. The driver though, thanked him for his honesty. The driver knew he had learned through his mistake and that he would never make that mistake again. When your life rests in the hands of others, you want to know that they take their responsibility seriously.

Ephesians 4:25 from The Message[1] says, “What this adds up to, then, is this: no more lies, no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ's body we're all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.”

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[1] The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Character Moment #11 – November 28, 2007

I had a professor at Cal State Fullerton several years ago when I was getting my Master’s degree who used to say…

“People tend to do what they want to do.”

What he meant was that many times, people will have an excuse for not doing something, like I should exercise more, or I should eat better, when in reality it is truly because they don’t want to do those things. This particular professor challenged us to take responsibility for our actions and not make excuses.

When I first heard those words I had to really reflect on why I did or didn’t do certain things. I didn’t exercise because I chose not to set aside the time to do it. Instead of saying I didn’t have time to do something; I was actually choosing not to do it.

It made me think about what I want to be known as. The scholar, Aristotle, once said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

If we want to be known as a person of honor, we need to act as an honorable person. If we want to be known as a respectful person, we need to show others respect in all situations. As Aristotle said, if you want to be a person that strives for excellence, then you need to have that approach in everything you do. What we tend to do, that defines our character.

Former New York Governor, Mario Cuomo said, “Every time I've done something that doesn't feel right, it's ended up not being right.” God has given each of us a conscience, and we would be better off at times if we listened to that inner voice and made our decisions accordingly.