Meeting Challenges this Holiday

7-on-7 Football

Memorial Day weekend, ESPN, I watched, “Outside The Lines,”
And what I heard, well as the saying goes it just, “blew my mind,”
High school kids desiring to advance & arrive at the college level,
However, there are those coaches who would bury it with a shovel.

7-on-7 football program is rapidly gaining popularity nationwide,
Okay now begs the question, what right has the NCAA to decide?
Former NFL great, Keyshawn Johnson sponsors & coaches teens,
By the way he doesn’t make any money but spends his own green.

How is it that people are in a huff about a day spent on a yacht?
To reward the kids for their efforts and enjoy what they have not?
Giving a sneak peak at what can be accomplished and the reward,
Should they reach the pinnacle of success and are able to afford.

Two Caucasian coaches speaking on OTL were one 100% against,
And should be obvious they grew up on the other side of the fence,
Whereas the majority of these teens are of African American decent,
Now with the high unemployment rate parents are just making rent.

How dare they or anybody come on camera, whine, moan & groan,
Because most of these kids will never qualify for any student loans,
Until they or anyone are willing to foot the bill, leave them alone,
Prejudice is not manifested in the locker room it begins at home.

Scholarships are the one and only way they will ever continue on,
How can any sanctioning body not involved declare it is wrong?
When a former standout wide receiver is willing to share his time,
What gives those who’ve never played a right to speak their mind?

It’s impossible to appreciate endless opportunities unless exposed,
As inner city Blacks, Hispanics & Whites the whole world knows,
Are like goldfish in their limited environment of one gallon bowls,
Till the big fish on the outside take time to tutor & help them grow.

So, when coaches steer them towards colleges they graduated from,
Would that not be better than not being recruited from a single one?
Or a school with unscrupulous characteristics and deceitful means?
No one alive has the right to prematurely squash God given dreams.

By Luke Easter

1 Challenge Or 1 Weak Link

What’s a challenge; does accepting it make you weak or strong?
Will it be easy or might you have need, to put your seat belt on?
An arduous journey produces strength and promotes discipline,
Always remember, that belief in yourself is the only way begin.

What’s only as strong as it’s weakest link of course it’s a chain,
If you’re the only sturdy point in the group why do you remain?
What is the use of pushing through to status quo or the same?
A main reason success or failure is associated with your name.

You have identified the problem and you have the tools to repair,
An even bigger problem is you are afraid to get up and go there,
Before Goliath, David first killed a lion and a bear tending sheep,
This future King of Israel did not flee, groan, complain nor weep.

I know how I feel however I also know what the bible says I am,
Now matter how seemingly the summit scripture states you can,
Challenge becomes a challenge only when the chain is stretched,
Where there is no other way for the weakest link to pass the test.

Who wants the success of their future or final outcome to depend?
On someone who has no intention or chance of surviving to the end,
Victory does not always go to the swiftest, the tortoise vs. the hare?
It’s not how fast you move but how safely you get from here to there.

A challenge is not a challenge loosing playing volleyball on the beach,
A challenge is a challenge when your aspirations have suffered defeat,
Because, there’s only one way to experience failure and that is to quit,
It’s one thing to be replaced by a better one but not if you choose to sit.

Okay! What’s the best thing to ever happen to the American made car?
It’s the success of foreign made automobiles produced from lands afar,
General Motors, Ford & Lincoln are producing high quality vehicles too,
However, they did not do it by sitting back to relax, neither should you.

Is there a proven best or right way to prepare before the journey begins?
Surround yourself with others sharing the same goal they are your friends,
Just like you, these individuals are seeking to achieve above and beyond,
Whales and sharks will only be found in the ocean not the backyard pond.

There is not a Standard Operating Procedure, “SOP” yet there are rules,
Not those acquired from the streets, those taught and learned in school,
Realize you have already failed the challenge if your only way is to cheat,
And sooner or later guidelines will be posted then how will you compete?

The road to victory is by no means short and sweet it is bitter and long,
Understanding if it were easy then everybody would be big and strong,
Question, is it possible to tell good from bad, certainly, since it will stink,
So, on the pathway of life you are either, “1 Challenge Or 1 Weak Link.”

By Luke Easter

Vision! Where Is Your Vision?

First thing the Philistines did to subdue his power and might,
They relieved Samson of the most precious gift, that of sight,
Without this precious vision, the enemy no longer had fear,
Because even if he still had strength how could he get near?

Now prescription glasses are a necessary yet real funny thing,
Restoring to 20-20 the deterioration growing older might bring,
And by wearing another’s spectacles made exclusively for them,
Assuredly, that is what will cause all sorts of problems to begin.

As highly improbable as statistics verify or unlikely it may seem,
Very seldom will two people anywhere have the exact same dream,
Why wear the glasses of another who does not share your view
Or allow them to pen the road map God has outlined just for you?

Basketball playoffs are going on, look at the center and a guard,
Their roles are easy but switching positions will make them hard,
Centers cannot be effective champions shooting @ 3-point range,
While the ball handler is playing in the middle, collecting change.

Your dreams are exactly that, they’re only your dreams & desires,
Allow another to guide, causes wood to be put on the wrong fire,
Remember, when God told Abraham, He told him and him alone,
It wasn’t on twitter or face book, only to Abraham was it known.

The Book of John, from birth for almost forty years he was blind,
Known only as the beggar his miraculous recovery’s in chapter 9,
But take a look at how he was described because he had no sight
At the end is this how you want to be remembered living your life?

Has the Creator of mankind put a dream inside your spirit and soul?
It will never materialize or prosper allowing another to declare, “No!”
A mind not tuned to excellence is unable to make the right decision,
And likewise for your dreams when using someone else’s, “Vision.”

By Luke Easter