6 weeks after packing up my bags and leaving Minneapolis, I'm back! Here's a few things I learned in the midst of the craziness that is the college football coaching carousel: 1. What you notice you will see more ofFor the last few weeks, I’ve been keeping a log of miracles. Things that have happened or that I have seen that I truly can’t believe! I’ve filled up an entire page. It’s a lot like when you get a new car and you notice a bunch of them out on the road for the first time. There’s a lot of things happening in the world. The lens we choose to see it through determines what we find.2. Success cannot be ensured but it can be deservedErwin McManus says: “peace does not come when you have control over your life, but when you no longer need control.” I would be lying if I said that over the 6 weeks that I was looking for a job, uncertain if I would get one at all, that there were not sleepless nights spent tossing and turning. Was all of my hard work for naught? Eventually, it got to the point where I surrendered the desire to control the outcome. I came to peace with the fact that I had worked really hard. And I still did want a job! But I knew the job I wanted would also require some stars to align that were outside of my control. John Wooden said the softest pillow at night is a clear conscious, and that is how I define success.3. Sometimes what makes the most “sense” isn’t really the best fitOn paper, it looked like this school was the perfect fit for me. It offered convenience - I would be able to live at home and work at my old job on the side. It offered familiarity - I grew up in the area. Logically, it made a lot of sense. And I always dreamed of coaching there! But looking back on it now, I’m glad it didn’t work out. I think I ended up exactly where I’m supposed to be for this next chapter in my life. Convenience and familiarity aren’t the best ingredients when you are looking to grow and stretch yourself.4. Find voices you can trust and follow themBob Goff says “often times when we try to make plans, God sends us a person.” The last 10 months of my life has brought so much uncertainty! And as someone who typically likes to have everything planned out, that’s been challenging. But what happened is that life sent me a person that I could trust. When the opportunity presented itself for me to return to Minneapolis and work for that person again this season, it was a no brainer. Voices that you can trust carry a lot further in life, find them and follow them. 5. Adversity is the first thing we look for in others and the last thing we want for ourselvesWouldn’t a movie be boring if the hero or main character didn’t have to struggle through some adversity? Would you want to sit through a 2 hour film with no suspense? Why are our lives any different? Recently, I was sharing with a high school basketball team about how when Kobe Bryant was 11 years old he went an entire summer without scoring a single point in his summer hoops league. Their eyes were as big as basketballs! We relate best to stories filled with adversity. We can cling on to them. They inspire us, and they give us hope. Yet, when it comes to our own lives, we typically want to stay as far away from adversity as we can. Understand that you are the hero. And without any bumps in the road, it would make for a pretty boring life.

Runaway Train