Me, Magic Johnson and my imagination

As a boy growing up in the 80s who enjoyed playing basketball, I loved watching Magic Johnson lead the L.A. Lakers to five titles in 9 years. The man was an amazing player, a highlight waiting to happen, and he truly redefined the position of point guard, and the game of basketball. I tried to model my own game after his, in fact, there many (none) who would say Magic and I have a lot in common when it comes to basketball.  

For example, he played basketball, and so did I. He dribbled the ball, and so did I. I once saw him make a shot, and so did I.

As you can see, we are practically basketball twins.

I’ve always had a very active imagination. Maybe not quite as active as The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (a great movie well worth watching, by the way!) but pretty close. And back in the day, Magic Johnson and I used to play a lot of ball together.

Because I grew up with Swegle Elementary School just a fence-hopping away from my house, the school’s playground became my personal basketball court. I would shoot hoops under the “covered area” for hours a day, rain or shine, and often played in some very intense games against Larry “Legend” Bird and the evil Boston Celtics. And just like real life, my Lakers always came out on top of the Celtics (no, that wasn’t a shot for a buddy of mine who might be a Boston fan and might be reading this blog).

I remember running from one end of the court to other, as if I was playing in front of 20 thousand screaming fans, I was leading the Lakers (ala Magic Johnson) in game 7of the championship series. I would shoot like Cooooooooper from 3-pt range, I’d make passes to myself (I also happened to play a very good James Worthy) off the end wall, and I’d even steal the ball from an unsuspecting Kevin McHale and shoot the “baby hook” to win it all. I could make awesome crowd noise, do the play-by-play announcing and celebrate the championship by running crazy over the playground trying to escape the nutso fans that charged onto the court.

And I could do all of this, day after day, all by myself. I was a one-man basketball game.

Imagination is fun. I also think it’s a powerful tool that God has given us in pursuing His dreams for our lives. In Genesis 15 God was talking to Abraham about God’s big plans for Abraham’s life. But Abraham was frustrated that he was approaching 100 years old and he still didn’t have a kid. (Even back then, 100 year-old-men and women were dropping pups very often!)

God took Abraham out of his little village and had him glance into the night sky. Then God said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them. So shall your offspring be.” Wow, what a promise! If Abraham could count the stars, then he would be able to count his offspring! How many nights after that, did Abraham take a moment from a late night walk to glance skyward and imagine his children, grandchildren, great-great grandchildren that would one day walk the earth? How did he imagine the dreams God had given him?

Have you ever imagined your life being totally used for God? What would that look like? How would you serve your spouse? How would you raise your children? How would you do your job if you imagined a life totally devoted to God? Have you ever dreamed about doing something remarkable for the Lord? Have you dreamed about doing something extraordinary that would require great faith, patience, love, courage and an awesome community?

I imagined some great basketball games and “played” them with enthusiasm, joy and sometimes a lot of endurance. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve had some new imaginations and dreams, some God-sized goals that I’ve gone after with a similar passion, energy and focus. I hope the next 40 years of my life will be filled with great joy as I seek to the live the Overboard Life and watch to see what amazing work God does in and through me. How about you? What dreams are you chasing? What God-given imaginations are you living for?

12 down, 28 to go.

Go ahead and take the plunge, life is always better on the water!

Getter' done!

My wife and I love dreaming big dreams about our future, and about what God is doing in our lives and in our family. Not only do we like to think about our work and our goals for projects etc… we like to dream about vacations, events we want to be a part of and special trips we hope to take. One of the realities we have observed is this: If we don’t put those things on the calendar, they rarely come to be.

A couple of months ago, Traci and I had the privilege of teaching our couples’ small group at church. It’s a class of 12-15 couples that we enjoy being with every Wednesday night. Back in November, we were given the chance to teach two of our weekly classes.

During those two sessions, we talked a lot about goals and dreams, and about this idea of getting them on the calendar. Well just a few days ago I was talking with my pastor and he told me, “Kori and I bought our books.” I asked what books he was referring to, and he talked about the books that would prepare them for their dream vacation 2-3 years out. They’ve put it on the calendar and now they can start preparing to enjoy it, and watching to see what God will do in the weeks and months to come as they steer towards this special trip.

But this idea of putting a date on the calendar isn’t just good for vacations and dream trips, it’s good for goals and plans etc… For example, after coming back from a conference in California, I knew it was time for me to tackle a challenge, both physical and mental. It would be easy to put this activity -- running a 1/2 marathon with my wife -- on the “to-do” list that would never quite finish. Mind you, me not running a 1/2 marathon is a to-do list item I wouldn’t mind leaving unfinished!

However, since I know this run means more to me than just completing a physical challenge (it is symbolic of theme God has put in my life) I had to put a date on it. My first half marathon is on the calendar for October 5th; Traci and I will be running together (along with a couple of other friends who will be running both the 1/2 and the full marathon). The date brings a certain urgency and expectation to the commitment.

What do you have on your dream list, goal list or to-do list that needs to get put on a calendar? Want to multiply the success rate of that particular event? Then don’t just put it on calendar, but announce it others, too. The extra accountability creates even more potential for you to experience success.

Go ahead and take the plunge, life is always better on the water!

Are you pursuing some great plans in your life? Check out Project Nehemiah from the Overboard Bookstore. It’s ON SALE for this month (only $8.99), and includes free shipping!