Vision

Well, Christmas is over and once again the all of the opened gifts are spread out around the house. As it is every year, the jigsaw puzzle is spread out in pieces on the coffee table in the process of completion (with just the border done) and the box top that reveals what the completed puzzle will look like is lying on the floor next to it for constant reference. Looking at that box top, I thought "Wow, imagine trying to put that thing together without having that picture to look back upon as a guide". I then realized that many of us attempt to live our lives (or at least parts of it) just that way. We attempt to walk through different areas of our lives without the top of the box to look at, or without a VISION of what we, or more importantly what GOD really wants the outcome or completed picture to look like.

As baseball & softball coaches, I believe that many of us lack an overall vision or "big picture" as to what we truly want to acheive with our teams and the athletes that we coach and influence. Therefore, we often miss the mark and fail to reach the full potential of the platform that GOD has given to us as a coach.

A vision is a destination. It is the big picture of where you want to end up. The clearer your vision, the fewer options that you have and the easier that it is when it comes time to make a decisions. Vision is a mental image of what could be and maybe should be in regard to the different areas of your life.

We are all within a few weeks of starting back with our teams and preparing for the upcoming spring season. I want to encourage and challenge each of you to start thinking about and praying about the vision that GOD wants for you as a coach for this upcoming season. As you begin to ask those questions and also draw on the resources that you already have, I believe that you will begin to develop a mental picture of what could be and what you believe SHOULD be the direction in which your team is to go this season. I believe that as the vision for your team becomes clearer, the options that you have as a coach will get fewer and the decisions that you will need to make will get easier. Remember..If you have the top of the box to look at, it makes putting the pieces together so much easier.

So, what is the vision for your team? What does the big picture look like? How does GOD want to use you as a coach? Here are three things that I believe will help each of you as you go forward into the beginning of a new season.

1) Begin to pray for GOD to give you a clear vision as to what HE wants to achieve through you as a coach this season. Begin to develop the top of the puzzle box.

2) WRITE THE VISION DOWN! Just a simple sentence or a short paragraph is all that is needed to say "Here is what I want to achieve with and through my team this season".

3) Act accordingly. Begin making your decisions based on your vision and do not stray from it.

I believe that through this process, you can fully achieve great things using the platform given to you as Coach.