Things to Do

Today was all about trying to get things done before my last week of vacation gets away from me. I would love to think that I could work at home but if that would ever come true I would have to be really disciplined because I can too easily find myself working on other things around the house instead of the task at hand (can you say ADD). This is why today revolved around my "things to do" list. When I got up this morning I read a post on twitter from Tonya Bassett that said, can't waste time need to get things done today. That's when I decided I better get myself organized and begin with making a to do list. My wife doesn't always believe in to do list, especially when it comes to me. I can understand why. She says that I sometimes spend more time getting my things to do list written than actually working on the things that need to be done. Unfortunately I think she is sometimes correct. So here is what I got done today:
1. I was able to update my baseball website with some alumni information and player birthdays on my calendar. This month in our baseball family we will be celebrating the birthdays of Cody Long on January 20 and Paul Valdez in January 29.
2. I am writing a journal for each of my kids as they grow older. My hope is to give each one of them the journal on a special day in their life. Maybe their wedding day or some other major event. The problem is that I too often gone long times in-between entries and so I need to be more disciplined in keeping up with those entries.
3. BILLS. Today I spent a large part of the day looking at our family finances. This is another area that I need to stay on top of. I really need to get organized and go to a financial planner and begin to look at what needs to be done so that Julie and I can retire and be comfortable.
4. Last and most important item on my list was to spend good quality time with my family. I can too often get caught up in trying to take care of task and forget that there are real people around me that mean a heck of lot more than any task. This is one area of my life that I really want to work at this year. I spend way too much time focusing on task and neglect the real relationships that The Lord buts in front of me. I need to be more people oriented and less task oriented.

Lord,
Help me to be organized and efficient with my time. Also give me your wisdom and patience so that when I am doing a task and I am interrupted by someone that I take the time to listen to them and give them my attention over the task at hand. Help me to realize that people are more important than the jobs I am trying to complete.
Thank you for the amazing blessings you have poured upon me and my family. I give you all the praise and glory.

Love in Christ,
Scott

Family, Perspective and The New Year

Family, Perspective and The New Year

Happy New Year!!!  

Today is the first day of the new year and a time when the Oliver family gets together to celebrate football of course. We gather together at my parents house and celebrate the New Year by watching football all day long. It really isn't much of a family event as the guys sit around and eat themselves to sleep and the girls either play cards or finally give up and go home alone. Not much of a celebration. This year was not much different but something happend that made me proud of my little family.  At the end of the night after everyone had left my folks house my kids without much asking went and cleaned up so that my mom and dad did not have to do it by themselves. It's may not seem like a lot but take into consideration that we get enough food and beverages to feed a small army. Without a single complaint my three kids went to work to make the basement livable again. It was great to watch them as they cleaned up the mess that others left. Then helped each other gather things so that we could go home and spend time with their mother who like most of the women left the celebration hours prior to the final TV timeout. It's funny how little things like watching your kids get along and work together can make a parent so proud. It's not like they don't like each other or spend a large amount of time fighting (I mean they do fight like cats and dogs sometimes) but it just makes me feel a sense of family when they chose to get along and look out for each other. 

The kids working together was one of the bright moments of the day. Now lets take a look at one of the dark periods of our New Years celebration. Michigan lost to South Carolina by a last second  touchdown pass. After the shook of the loss and getting past my brother Marc wishing death upon all of the fans and alumni of the Gamecocks it was time to take to twitter to see what the rest of the Michigan faithful were saying about the lose. It always amazes me to hear sports talk radio or follow twitter and listen to people complain about the play of the team or the coaching descisions. As I was reading some of the tweets I came across a couple of comments made by some of the players and it made me stop and think about these young men. You see that is exactly what they are... Young men. Hardly old enough to vote, have a beer or even have a full time job. These are young men who as one of them put it, "playing for the greatest university in the country". They are the ones that really have to endure the lose. They are the ones that are taking on the pressure of an entire fan base to succeed. Yet in the end they count on each other to stay positive and remain grounded.  Wish some of the adults that call in to the radio station would do the same. It gives a whole new perspective on how well the coaches do at grooming these young people. I am humbled by the comments some of these players make about the fine universities they represent and the teammates they compete with. It gives me hope that hard work and loyalty is still something that our American society cherishes. If you work hard enough and you surround yourself with good people then a loss is not what defines you. What defines you is how you respond to adversity and the actions you take in response to that adversity. Today I was upset and disappointed to see Michigan lose but proud of the responses of many of the players as they took to the social media outlets to thank their fans and most importantly to thank their teammates for standing by them. 

Even though the New Year was not celebrated with a win by the Wolvines it was a success. I am excited about the possibilities of starting anew. My plan for this year are to become more healthy by staying in shape and eating better. Along with that I want to organize me life a little better and that starts first and foremost with getting myself closer to God. I always feel better and more grounded as a husband, father, teacher and coach when I am focused first on my relationship with Jesus.  I pray The Lord gives me strength and perseverance to stay committed in my spiritual walk with Him.  I am excited about the possibilities that lay ahead of me. 

So here is to 2013, may it be a year full of spiritual and physical growth (and if the good lord sees fit maybe a couple more wins for the Wolverines). 

Love in Christ,

Scott