Will you be a 20-20?

2020 - What is the meaning of all of this? I decided to look up 'what is the meaning of 20' just to see if it was making any connection to this experience of the last couple of months. Let's see. Let's just start with a few symbolic meanings I found.....

1. The number 20 is a symbol of your positive attitude and optimism. It can also symbolize your ability for teamwork and your responsibility.
2. The meaning of number 20 is empowerment. If you keep seeing this number, it's a sign that you are more than capable to make something of yourself, and you will be successful in everything you put your heart and mind to.
3. And of course, 20/20 vision is able to see items up close as well as far away. 

OK, OK. I'm not saying I live by symbolism, but I did think this was very interesting. And if we put 20 beside another 20 (not really doubled, but you get the idea), WOW - what great potential we could see in our personal attitude and drive during this time of searching for answers and unsteady concerns about the coming days, weeks, and even years. 

I understand the sadness of parents and students who wanted to finish the school year. Samuel is a senior at MSU and will graduate (whatever that will look like) in May. He has worked hard these past 4 years to maintain good grades, carry an additional job (other than student), completed projects, participated in school activities, and was so looking forward to the viewing of his senior documentary project. Rick and I worked hard to ensure he would graduate with no debt and be prepared to enter the 'grown-up world' after graduation. We want to celebrate!! How does one enter a new career adventure in a hiring lull during a global pandemic?  Positive attitude! - He called to explain to me his back up plan until hiring picks up again. :)

And Cooper. She didn't get to finish her freshman year at HSU. She didn't get to run with her teammates in the conference championships. She didn't get to tell her friends goodbye. How does one stay focused on what needs to be completed now and look forward to the next school year without personal interaction with her classmates? She's using 20/20 - looking at what is right in front of her, and also looking at what is in the distance. She is determined to see both. 

I was scrolling through my older blogs trying to get some inspiration and I found this blog that was written going into a school year when I was serving as a principal. Although it was targeted to the beginning of a year, I feel it is relevant now and not just for school staff, but for parents, students, teachers, administrators, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters - well you get the picture! (I copied the post after these last few thoughts)

There are parents who are not used to spending a full day and night with their children and especially their teenagers - and vice versa. That struggle is real! There are students who depend on teacher support and teacher relationships to get them through struggles in their home, on their jobs, in their personal life. They are struggling. There are teachers who depend on students' smiles to brighten their day and teammate's encouragement to make it through their day. There are husbands and wives who depend on a little bit of separation during the day to make their connection even stronger when they are together. There are siblings who need their space to be themselves because they are not all the same. There is a struggle.

There are also entrepreneurs who are creating new business ideas and/or improving their current practices. There are ideas of innovation to meet the needs of people EVERYWHERE! There are families and work teams who are meeting virtually more often than they ever met in person. There are students who are thriving with online work because it is a better model fit for them than traditional school. There are families joining a variety of church experiences from their homes and cars. There is a 20! 

So here is my prayer for this season. I want to be a 20 and another 20! I want to be optimistic and empowered. I hope you will join me. (adapt as you need for your family and friends ;))

• Thank you, God, for new beginnings! Thank you for giving us a do-over where we may have been weak in practice, in attitude, and in integrity in the past. May we take full advantage of this school year to be strong in those areas. Thank you for new opportunities to invest in children, families, and each other. The seeds we plant in the upcoming months will harvest in our schools, our great town, and even our nation one day. Let us make a commitment to plant seeds of destiny in our students, fortitude in our families, and compassion in our teams.
• Equip us with unconditional love, unspeakable joy, and unbelievable strength to be your representative each and every day. Show us what that love looks like. Set our soul to look for the joy in every situation. Guard our mind and body against despair so that we can walk in your contentment. You have given us a strong, sound mind!
• Engage us in a vision.  Help to realize our corporate purpose as well as our individual purpose.  Let us see beneath the surface and beyond the horizon as we move our focus from ourselves to those around us. 
• Endear us to one another. Let our relationships be stronger and more honest than they have ever been before. Let our friendships be steadfast. Let our partnerships be enthusiastic. 

Much love,

Tori

Happy Birthday!!

January 28, 1970. My Birthday! What a special day. As I have read the words Happy Birthday over and over through the last few days, it triggered my thinking about those words. Who even started the phrase and what made them feel the necessity to wish someone to have a happy day in remembrance of the day they were born? That's it! Simply put, "I am happy that you were born!" 
I have heard it said that it is important to know your birth story. I remember my mom telling me many times about how stubborn I was and refusing to move my arm down to my side so that I could be born. How the doctors wanted to break my arm, but my mom wouldn't let them. How they ended up tickling me, which worked, and I eventually was born with my arm by my side and my hand on my face which resulted in some discoloration for a little while. I have told the stories of my own children's births many times as well. Seems they both took on my stubbornness when it came to wanting to do things their way when it came time to be born.  The story of your birth. A story your mother will probably never forget.
The story of your birth just begins the story of your life. It's the first chapter. Each year producing another chapter of your life story. Chapters of mystery and misery. Chapters of celebration and sorrow. Chapters of triumph and trials. All chapters carrying the thread of your life throughout your story. A thread of promise, or mercy, or favor, or grace. A piece of the thread revealed in each chapter as God is revealed to you through all of your experiences.
So keep writing your story. (I have to learn that I don't have wait for it to edited and perfect before I share it.) Someone wants to hear your story. Someone needs to hear your story.
Happy Birthday! It can mean many things: I am happy you were born. I am happy to be born. I am happy to have a life story that started on this day.
So to everyone who will have a birthday this year - Happy first day of your story! I hope I get to hear it sometime!

Fun at Fifty,
Tori

Welcome to the Coaching Staff!

Welcome to the Coaching Staff! It seems my social media feeds are beginning to be filled with all things coaches and teams and fans as we get ready to enter into the school year. It's one of the most exciting times of the year! As an educator/coach, there is great anticipation in what is waiting for you on that new class/team roster. No matter what type of coach you claim, we are all coaches. Instructional coaches, classroom coaches, athletic coaches, life coaches, financial coaches, wellness coaches, family coaches (goes by the call sign - MOM or DAD!), and many more coaches. While we all have a purpose and a plan, our effectiveness on the team and their resulting success is determined by our commitment to the coaching cycle that we all follow.  
So I am asking, what do championship coaches do that sets them apart from the others? 

• They have a great game plan that changes from year to year, game to game, day to day based on the needs and progress of their students. They spend time preparing, reviewing, and revising their plan frequently to ensure the instruction is applicable and the task is manageable. Tom Landry said, "If you are prepared, you will be confident, and will do the job."
• Great coaches practice procedures with their players every day of the entire season, over and over and over.  "The only place that success comes before work is in the dictionary." --Vince Lombardi.  And we have all heard and said many times, "Practice makes perfect," but PERFECT practice makes perfect. Our students want to meet our expectations and want the opportunity to master muscle memory routines that will support future learning and skills. 
• During practice, great coaches work with groups and  individuals, guiding, remediating, reteaching, encouraging, modeling, and scaffolding information for deeper understanding. They realize the varying differences in their athletes in all aspects.“All coaching is, is taking a player where he can’t take himself.” --Bill McCartney, 
• All great teams are led by a great motivator. The purpose of the motivation is to get kids excited and to encourage them to do their best. The truest form of motivation is showing enthusiasm yourself. 
• Great coaches surround themselves with others from whom they can learn. Bobby Knight said, "“A coach should never be afraid to ask questions of anyone he could learn from.”
• And lastly, great coaches and educators leave a legacy. They pour all of themselves into the next generation. “The most valuable player is the one that makes the most players valuable.” -- Peyton Manning.

How will I be a championship coach this year? How will I set my practices apart from others?  How will I adapt the game plan this year, this month, this day? How will I motivate my team to remain excited about their task and excel with their skill? How will I ask for feedback that will make me and my team more productive? And how will I make my players feel valuable?  Wow, I have a challenge ahead of me and I am not afraid of it. Will you join me? Will you raise a class of champions? Let's do this!

Have a winning year!

Tori

Team Haiti Turns Team Costa Rica

Haiti has always been a special place to our family. We love the missionaries at the Mission of Hope, Haiti and anticipate all year long from one visit to the next. Saturday, July 7, 14 of us from Pursue Missions boarded our flight and began our route to our beloved Mission. However, our itinerary was interrupted during our DFW>MIA route. As you know, Haiti was in turmoil at that time. Our hearts were breaking, not that we would not be able to complete our journey, but for the people of that great nation. But God had a plan!
After just 4 short hours of negotiations between Miami AA, Pursue, our travel agent; sitting on the hard tile floor; scavenging our snacks; doing 2 TV interviews; and trying to collect our luggage, we finally begin to understand what the plan would be. We would return to Lubbock that same night and prepare to depart Monday, July 9 for Liberia, Costa Rica to participate in Impacto Costa Rica! That Saturday we travelled to the airport at 3:15 am and were traveling the same road back home at 3:15 am Sunday - WITHOUT ANY LUGGAGE! We filed claims for 22 bags - individually - their color, size, contents, etc..  😜😴. Sunday was spent still collecting luggage and trying to get it to our team to repack for Monday. It truly was a whirlwind of 2 days. I could not even keep my days straight. 
It's finally Monday and we head back to the airport! Things just could not have been any smoother. It was... ahhh.... great! Steve, Tony, and the Impacto team greeted us with open arms and our week began with a little play time at a neighborhood field. Our mornings were filled with sports camps of basketball, baseball, soccer, and wait for it...  surf camp! You read it right! SURF CAMP!  Who wants to go to CR now, huh?! It was such a great experience to see the same kids from 4-18 over the next few days, talk to them, and share our stories with them as well as listen to their stories. The afternoons were filled with more playtime at the field, puppet shows, piñatas, and visiting with locals to invite them to our nighttime services. We are so honored to be able to be a part of such an impactful week. Our lives were changed and challenged just as the locals were challenged. 
By now you have seen that we did have the opportunity to partake of some of the adventures of Costa Rica also. We were blessed with a day at Canon Lodge where we battled the rapids of the river, flew across the canyon, and treated our skin to a volcanic mud bath and river rinse. 
Riding the Rapids - oh goodness. We rode, we wrecked, we marveled at the beauty during the tranquil waters. We lost shoes, and lost our grip, but we all made it to the end! We were talking about how we crashed and what happened and asking those who didn't crash how they stayed up. We were feeling so good about our success! And then.... while we are getting painted with mud and enjoying the river, we notice the next group of rafters--a CHILD--and an ELDERLY man. Talk about knocking the wind out of your sails! Guess we weren't as good as we thought! LOL! I guess the spiritual lesson includes a couple of things - 1) Listen to your guide. He really does know how to navigate the rough and the smooth waters and even the waterfalls. Just do what he tells you to do and don't do it halfway. And 2) If you happen to fall out of the boat, He will let you back in and will continue to guide you. Our guide simply said, "Stand up, get in the boat." And we were on our way again. 
Soaring the Skies - If you have ever been zip lining, you know they give you the instructions  so quickly and there are so many things to remember - grab the cable, jump for them to hook you to the cable, keep your hand out of the pully, cross your feet, brake at the end. The zipping isn't even the scary part for me, its walking up the slanted ladders and jumping on the small, wiggly platforms that give me a little anxiety. Just like in our spiritual life, sometimes there are steps to complete, hooks to be hooked, and jumps to be made before we can truly soar freely. Again, following our guide through every position. One more lesson in the zip is knowing the just right time to brake. If you brake too early, you may get stuck and someone has to rescue you - it happened. Or if you don't brake, you could over run your guide - it also happened. If you just watch the signals, you will have a safe and smooth landing every time. 
I will just leave you with this last bit of perspective. Often times when we return from a mission, we go through a period of feeling guilty for what we have instead of being grateful for what God has provided for us. So to put it in the words of Cooper to our group, "God blessed us with a little more than what they have, but that gives us more opportunities to become a blessing. So look at your cushy life as an open door to be a blessing to your neighborhood and it's people." (I love her!)
May we all be a blessing in our own mission field!

Thank you for reading!

Tori

Tune In

Scratching. Screeching. Squealing. Eyebrow raising. Head tilting. Radio static. You know-that place between the two channels where you hear more than one broadcast or maybe you just hear the white noise that is nothing at all or is it everything at once? However distracting and irritating static can be, it can easily be stabilized by the small yet precise movement of a tuning knob. All you have to do is tune in.
So here is my goal and my challenge:

• Tune in  - focus on the definite mark that I am trying to reach. Don't let something to the right or left distract me from the clear vision or confirming voice. When the days activities feel chaotic and disjointed, roll to the desired station that offers clarity. When my thoughts are scattered yet also intertwined, adjust my antennae to find that place that brings the melody and harmony to the forefront. I want to tune my ear to hear THE Voice above all static and above all other voices. 

Short and sweet today.

Tori

A Prayer for my School and Staff This Year

I haven't had good deep sleep in a couple of weeks now. It is always like this leading up to school. I haven't had my official back to school dream of my teeth falling out, but I have had some doozies! Last night I was dreaming that I was having a scary dream (how weird is that - a dream within a dream!) and in the process of wringing my hands on the blanket, realized it was a tiny kitten and almost smothered him. Luckily I awoke from my dreaming dream just in time. 😹 I'll have to look that up later because I love dream interpretation. See what back to school does to me?! 😂 So early this morning as I began to pray, I wanted to be sure to remember the words and thoughts that were coming to me so I decided to write them down. This was definitely a two way conversation and I felt God was really confirming my requests as well as showing me how he wants me to pray for me, my school, and my staff this year. 

• Thank you, God, for new beginnings! Thank you for giving us a do-over where we may have been weak in practice, in attitude , and in integrity in the past. May we take full advantage of this school year to be strong in those areas. Thank you for new opportunities to invest in children, families, and each other. The seeds we plant in the upcoming months will harvest in our schools, our great town, and even our nation one day. Let us make a commitment to plant seeds of destiny in our students, fortitude in our families, and compassion in our teams.
• Equip us with unconditional love, unspeakable joy, and unbelievable strength to be your representative each and every day. Show us what that love looks like. Set our soul to look for the joy in every situation. Guard our mind and body against despair so that we can walk in your contentment. You have given us a strong, sound mind!
• Engage us in a vision.  Help to realize our corporate purpose as well as our individual purpose.  Let us see beneath the surface and beyond the horizon as we move our focus from ourselves to those around us. 
• Endear us to one another. Let our relationships be stronger and more honest than they have ever been before. Let our friendships be steadfast. Let our partnerships be enthusiastic. 

As I turned to my Bible, the scripture for today is Psalm 130 and of course I wanted to include it! 

Help, God-the bottom has fallen out of my life!

Master, hear my cry for help!

Listen hard! Open your ears!

Listen to my cries for mercy.

If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings, 

who would stand a chance?

As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit,

and that's why you're worshiped. 

I pray to God -my life a prayer-

and wait for what he'll say and do.

My life's on the line before God, my Lord,

waiting and watching till morning, 

waiting and watching till morning. 

Looking forward to an indescribable year!

I'm a Survival Show Junkie!

It's true. I'm a survival show junkie! I love them all - Naked and Afraid, Bear Grylls, Dual Survival, Alaskan Bush People, etc...  You just never know when you are going to need to know how to make a fire with a twig and a chunk of your hair, or how to properly cook your Argentine grasshopper to avoid severe stomach cramps. I saw an episode the other day where they were trying to survive in Texas. I had to laugh. They made our state sound so ominous with the "Diamondback Rattlesnake and extreme temperatures." Now why couldn't I get on that episode? I mean, we live that one everyday! But really, I watch those shows and think "Hey, I could do that," and then they show a snake and I would be calling for the medical team because I would certainly be feeling extremely ill. And the dark - it is so  dark! I can't do that much dark. All those critters creeping around that I can't see, ugh. I am truly amazed at how some of them make it the 21 days in some of the conditions and facing the adversaries they encounter. They persevere on sheer willpower. Determination!
I love how Bear always finds a 'battered' canoe washed up at the edge of the most ferocious river. And what do you know, it is right beneath a huge tree that is just dripping with sap to make a little paste to plug that tiny whole in the bottom of the boat. But I have learned how to get drinkable water from the condensation of your - umm 'bodily fluids.' I still don't know what berries are safe to eat, but I am sure if I keep watching, I will find out. He is a walking survival guide. He knows his craft and is excited to share it. Knowledge!
And the Browns are so creative and engineering. They can make anything out of anything! Reminds me of my dad. I mean, a house out of plastic wrap? And I actually do love the door to the treehouse is an old car door. They see every item they touch as part of a bigger picture. Vision!
As I watch them not only survive, but thrive in their situations, I have to wonder what they key is. I don't know. But I do know they have three characteristics in common - determination, knowledge, and vision. Do I have what it takes to thrive in my 'environment?' My spiritual walk, my family, my occupation, my relationships? Maybe I can start here:

• Seek out, at all costs, whatever I need to survive/thrive. Sustenance, protection, a map to my final destination. Determine to make it!
• Learn as much as I can about what I am passionate about and then share it with others. Just get smarter!
• See every situation as an opportunity to make something bigger and greater. See further!

What is your "junkie" fix?  Maybe I'll write about my favorite cooking shows or Say Yes to the Dress some other time 😄

Tori