Several times per week on my early morning commute, when the Texas stars are out (now the Florida stars) and the sun isn’t even hinting at the horizon….my mind begins to wonder. I start thinking about what coaching jobs will be coming open and what other opportunities may be around the corner. I check footballscoop and coachingsearch.com. I check the NCAA website. I check ESPN. And then… I begin the same dialogue with myself that we are all familiar with.
“All is need is for ONE DOOR to OPEN!”
“If I could just get one big win…”
“I could just get invited for an interview….”
It seems that we are all “hoping” and “waiting” for the door of opportunity to open for us in our given profession and field of expertise.
It has been my experience with every job and every interview I have been offered that my opportunities have not come through “OPEN DOORS” but “cracked windows“.
Let me explain…If you really look back over your life you will notice that the BIG moments were orchestrated long before they actually took place. Usually, someone you never expected to be of assistance made a move or suggestion that changed your life.
This week, I’d like to share one of those people with you…
When I was in my early twenties I was going to school and working at a nightclub in Tuscaloosa, AL. This wasn’t just any “club”! It was the biggest dance club in town and was the hangout for University of Alabama athletes and the campus community. It was a place to see and be seen. And just like the lifestyle the bar atmosphere promotes…I was living it. Late nights, big crowds, and did I mention we had a cage on stage in the upstairs portion of the establishment?!
It was…..”Off the Chain!”
I originally planned to only work at the bar for a few weeks or months until I saved a little cash. Before long, 3 months had flown by and my job applications to local businesses and schools had slowed to one a week.
“Doors just weren’t opening!”
Spring Break came and went. And with it trips to Destin, Fort Myers, and Orange Beach. Crazy parties, some interesting card games, and early morning stops at Whataburger wrapped up a crazy semester.
One night as I walked into work, fellow door-guy Adam Hughes was sitting by the front door waiting for the night to start. Adam, waiting to begin I.D.’ing people at 9pm, was doing something that had probably NEVER been done on the Strip in Tuscaloosa. Adam was sitting on his stool…….
READING A BIBLE!
………yes, you read that right! Adam had his bible open and was reading out of the New Testament.
I stopped, said that was “AWESOME”… and continued into work. As the night continued Adam took his second post on stage with me upstairs where we began to talk about our church structures growing up and where we were in life. Imagine the irony….the biggest nightclub in town….so crowded you could barely walk…smoke and dance lights…and we are sitting there talking about church!
“God was using the window…”
The next week, during a West Alabama turkey hunt, he invited me to a men’s group in Northport, AL called, Son’s of Thunder….
Sons Of Thunder, with Tim Clements and the gang, opened their doors to me and I found it to be the most genuine, real, and authentic example of Christianity I had seen. Real people, real fellowship, Real accountability!
Ladies and Gentlemen….I had been searching for a door to open…when what I should have been focusing on….were the cracked windows.
Adam Hughes is now a licensed Methodist pastor. He pastors two churches, is a full-time lineman for Alabama Power, a devoted husband to Suzanne, and loving father to three amazing kids.
A cracked window!!!!
Sons of Thunder encouraged me to take a step out in my faith. They, along with other community members, instructed me to trust my faith and use my experiences to help young people.
I then met another “cracked window” named Abbey from Baton Rouge (Yes, she was an LSU grad). Abbey at one time was in a youth group led by Pastor Chris Hodges, who was planting a church in Birmingham, AL by the name of
The Church of the Highlands Story with Pastor Chris Hodges
And it was Church of the Highlands that put me back in Tuscaloosa and provided me a chance to resume my coaching career….through…
Not an open door but a cracked window!
This week I want you to write down how you really arrived at the point you are at now in life. List the people that God placed into your life to direct you and maybe even correct the course of your life. You will soon see that God’s Plan for your life trumps what you wanted just 5 years ago.
Like Coach Saban always preaches, Trust Your Process! Come to work everyday working your craft willing to meet and develop relationships.
OH, and just one more thing! That thing you’ve been praying about…..that thing that you have written down in your locker..in your desk….you know…that one thing.
Maybe the answer is coming in a way you will never see coming…just big enough to fit through…
Get out there and Get your dream!!!
#CoachKD
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