0 First Name Basis

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of hearing Duke University men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski (Coach K) speak at Lipscomb as part of the 3rd Annual Don Meyer Evening of Excellence. There was one takeaway in particular that has stayed with me all week.

Coach K talked about being an assistant coach on the 1992 “Dream Team” that won the gold medal in the Barcelona Olympics. He referenced one specific moment when Michael Jordan approached him during one of the first practices. As the all-world, MVP, mega-brand from arch-rival North Carolina began to speak, Coach K had no idea what to expect.

“Coach, could you please help me with some of my offensive moves,” said Jordan.

As Coach K said, Jordan very easily could have said “Hey” or “Hey you” or worse. Instead, Michael Jordan called him Coach. The second point, possibly the most obvious but maybe also the hardest to remember, is that Jordan used the word please. Krzyzewski went on to say that ever since that day he has required all of his players at Duke to do those two things – use names and say please – when dealing with anyone and everyone no matter the position or lack of position they hold in life.

This week I have tried to follow that teaching in my own life. It’s been fascinating as I have focused on listening for, remembering and using names of the people I have come in contact with how much more pleasant my interactions with those people have been.

From Esther who cleans the arena to home plate umpire Hayden at Houston’s game to Betty at Cracker Barrel, using their names and saying the simple words “please” and “thank you” at appropriate times has given my interactions with them added depth.

Brent, please forward this lesson I’ve learned to others that might benefit. May the ripple effect make us all kinder, gentler and more purposeful in our daily walk.

Almost there,

Brent

0 Valuables

Monday afternoon my sweet mother was being prepared for an arteriogram at Baptist Hospital in Nashville. A stress test the week prior had indicated a possible blockage in one of the main arteries near her heart.

My Dad and my brothers, Chad and Lance, all surrounded her bed as the nurses and doctor finished their pre-procedure preparation, checked and double-checked wrist bands and asked Mom a myriad of questions about allergies, medication and family history. The last nurse came to push Mom back to the cath lab.

“Do you have any valuables with you,” she asked.

“My husband and my three boys are here with me,” Mom said without missing a beat.

Mom hasn’t diversified her investment portfolio. She has gone all in with her family. She has loved my Dad since the day they met as co-workers in the David Lipscomb College cafeteria. She prayed over us as boys like no other mother I know. She insisted we learn how to play the violin and made us do Lads to Leaders speeches even when we didn’t want to. She helped revolutionize the way Sunday School was done through learning centers at Brentwood Hills and lectured all three of us to be “Josephs” as it related to our purity. Now she pours herself into the three “daughters” she prayed for since we were little boys. Her favorite assets in her portfolio are her “grandbabies.”

Thankfully, Mom’s arteriogram revealed no blockage and she got to go home from the hospital Monday night. Lord willing, she’ll be around to invest in us for many more years.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:19-21

Almost there,

Brent

Brent High

615-566-6023 mobile

brent@brenthigh.com

2 Growing Good Corn

Several times this week, in various arenas of life, I have been reminded of an old story that’s been retold many times. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find the original author.

 A reporter asked a farmer to divulge the secret behind his corn, which won the state fair contest year after year.  The farmer confessed it was all because he shared his seed corn with his neighbors.

 

‘Why do you share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they’re entering the same contest you are each year?’ asked the reporter.

 

‘Why,’ said the the farmer, ‘didn’t you know?  The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field.  If my neighbors grew inferior corn, cross-pollination would steadily degrade the quality of my corn.  If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbor do the same.’

If I want to live in a safe city, I must pour myself into the youth that are most at risk for becoming violent. If I want my boys to have friends who are trying to do the right thing I must invest in their friends with my time and teaching. If I want my baseball teams to have the best competition I have to do what I can to make sure the other teams in the league are getting better. If I want the people around me to make educated decisions, I must pay attention to what’s going on in our schools.

The gap in this world, in this country, in this state and in this city between the haves and the have-nots continues to widen. When we build our greenhouses and bubbles, put distance between ourselves and “those people” and activate a win-at-all-costs approach with no concern for those left behind, we do more damage to ourselves than we realize.

Almost there,

Brent

Brent High

615-566-6023 mobile

brent@brenthigh.com

Brent High is the chief operating officer of LT360, based in Brentwood, Tennessee. LT360 is a cellular health and weight loss company with clients  in 17 states and three foreign countries. Between October of 2014 and April of 2015 (6 months) Brent lost 124 lbs. of fat and 42 inches from his shoulders, chest and waist, going from a size XXXL shirt to a size large. 

0 Seeds

Earlier this week I received one of those phone calls that you never forget. Thankfully it wasn’t because of a deep sadness connected to the other end like so many of those unforgettable calls. It was the exact opposite.

On the other end of the line was one of my “kids” from White House. Many of you know that I was a youth minister for a very short time for the White House Church of Christ in White House, TN from July of 1999 until February of 2000.

 

This particular young man was a middle schooler when I left. It had been more than 11 years since I had talked to him.

“Mr. Brent,” he said very respectfully. “Over the last couple of years I’ve experienced an awakening in my life. Looking back I realize God used you very specifically at a very specific moment in my life to help bring me to this point. I was going into surgery at Vanderbilt and you put your hand on me and prayed for me. I remember how fervently you prayed for me. In that instant I knew there was something more to you. Now that I’ve had this awakening I want to learn more from you.”

As I listened, with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat, I tried the best I could to remember anything about the chain of events he was describing.

I couldn’t remember any of it.

I hadn’t sat with him and studied the Bible at length. I hadn’t taken his confession of faith and immersed him into the waters of baptism. I wasn’t his counselor at camp. Quite honestly, I hadn’t done much of anything I could remember with the middle school students when I was there. Most of my time was spent with the high school students.

God took the tiniest of seeds that I had unintentionally sowed with the least amount of effort and thought on my part. He kept it alive in the heart of that young man for many years. Then he sent others to water and cultivate it. Now it’s growing and producing a crop.

What a thrilling, humbling, encouraging and challenging moment that God allowed me to experience!

What seeds are you sowing?

“….Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.” Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” – Mark 4:8-9

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” – 2 Corinthians 4:7

Almost there,

Brent

Brent High

615-566-6023 mobile

brent@brenthigh.com

0 Good Ideas

Several years ago we were meeting with an angel investor who was interested in buying a stake in Third Coast Sports. During our discussion he said something that I will never forget.

“There isn’t a shortage of money out there…only a shortage of good ideas.”

With apologies to those of you who were standing at the end of your driveways last Friday morning waiting for the 8 a.m. delivery of High’s Lights, I was actually in Disney World. For those of you that know me best, you know it took a supernatural event – in this case Santa Claus – to get me there.

I saw the sign pictured above near the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids play area. If you’re reading this in text only version, it said:

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” – Walt Disney

I sat down and Googled a few questions I had about Disney World.

47 square miles of land. Four theme parks More than 66,000 employees. $1.2 billion payroll. $474 million in benefits. More than 50 million visitors last year.

All because a man named Walt Disney had a dream…..and acted on that dream.

I often wonder what the dreams of believers look like – the kind of dreams that would impact the Kingdom of Kingdoms. A few I’ve had….

* Movie house that would use today’s computer animation technology to retell the great events of the Bible

* Farm where work ethic is taught to underprivileged youth through crops, livestock and other chores

* New set of Discovery Channel’s Planet Earth series with creation-themed narration

 

* Private, Jesus-centered K-12 school in downtown Nashville with rigorous academics; similar model to New Hope Academy in Franklin where half of the seats in the school are reserved for low income students who can’t pay

What are your dreams?

Almost there,

Brent

Brent High

615-566-6023 mobile

brent@brenthigh.com

0 We hit the lottery!

Yesterday I was having lunch with my good friend and youth baseball coach extraordinaire Chad Pearman in Cool Springs. We have been friends for a long time so we had our share of “glory days” stories mixed in with 7-year-old baseball strategy. The great thing about conversations with good friends like Chad is there doesn’t have to be any logical connection from one topic to the next. After we dissected the status of the real estate market, Chad decided to go deep.

“You know Brent, we hit the lottery,” said Chad. “For us to be born where we were and to have the parents we did, we hit the lottery.”

Charlie & Beverly Pearman and Junior & Donna High are four of the best parents I know. They all attended Lipscomb University in the early 70’s where they received an impeccable education and were surrounded by friends who are some of the giants in our community today as far as I’m concerned.

Because they had, we had. We have.

“…When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.” – Luke 12:48

We have treasure (click here to see just how much you have in comparison to the world). We are educated. We have talents. We have networks. We have jobs and job opportunities. We have church families. We have citizenship in the best country in the world.

Now our challenge is to use that wealth, power, position and privilege that we’ve been given not for ourselves but for the Kingdom. Much has been entrusted. Much is required. May God provide all of us with opportunities to do just that this week.

We hit the lottery!

Almost there,
Brent

P.S. Please continue to pray for Sara Pigg Walker. She was diagnosed yesterday, on her birthday, with colon cancer. Her email address is sarawalkerpt@hotmail.com.

Brent High
615-566-6023 mobile
brent@brenthigh.com

0 Perspective

When you work for a university athletic program, there are certain hazards that come with the occupation. Wins and losses can have a direct impact on how easy or how difficult your job is in a certain week, month or year.

Last night I sat in Belmont’s Curb Events Center and finished my last score update of the night on the Lipscomb Athletics’ Facebook page:

MEN’S BASKETBALL: Belmont 88, Lipscomb 52 FINAL

The women had lost a heartbreaker earlier in the evening. Then in front of a full house and a national television audience on ESPN, the men got blown out of the gym. The 36-point loss was Lipscomb’s worst in the 127-game, 58-year rivalry between Lipscomb and Belmont. It was terrible. It was embarrassing. No one could possibly be having a worse day.

Then I read Sara Pigg Walker’s Facebook status:

biopsy indicates malignancy. CT revealed colon abnormalities. Colonoscopy tomorrow (fun prep today!), PET scan of my whole body on Wednesday. Back to onc MD next Thursday (my birthday) for diagnosis and treatment options. Jeremiah 32:27 “Behold I am the God of all flesh, is there anything too hard for me?”

Last Friday I shared Sara’s story with you. Her baby girl was stillborn at 37 weeks the first month of December after a healthy pregnancy with absolutely no warning. Then last week doctors discovered multiple spots on her liver which led her to this week of tests and waiting and finally the news she received yesterday.

Earlier in the day Friday my friend (and former Bison basketball player) Rob Browne sent an update on his wife Traci who is battling breast cancer. She had just completed her sixth, and hopefully final, chemotherapy treatment. Now she’ll deal with three weeks of side effects and waiting until she finds out if radiation is in her immediate future.

Lord, please help me to keep proper perspective. Thank you for the lessons you are teaching me through your warriors Sara and Traci who have the “even if He does not” faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego we read about in Daniel chapter 3. Help them see the eternal difference you are making in others through their faith. In Jesus name, amen.

Almost there,
Brent

* If you would like to send Sara a note of encouragement, her email address is sarawalkerpt@hotmail.com.

* If you would like to send Traci a note of encouragement, her email address is traci@wwyc.org.

0 Prayers for Sara Walker

As most of you read this, sometime between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. Friday morning, Sara Walker will be receiving test results from an oncologist (the less alarming name for cancer doctor) in Nashville. Earlier this week, after a trip to the emergency room, doctors discovered multiple spots on her liver.

The rest of the story is that Brian and Sara were expecting to bring a healthy baby girl home from the hospital just before Christmas. Tragically, with no warning, Anna Elizabeth Walker was stillborn the first week of December, a full 37 weeks into the pregnancy.

Sara is in her early 30’s. Sara, her husband Brian and their two boys, Camden and Scott, attend the same congregation we do – Brentwood Hills Church of Christ in Nashville. Sara’s sister, Dinah Hall, and brother, Michael Pigg, are friends of ours as well.

Sara and her family are asking everyone everywhere to lift up their family in prayer, specifically between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. this morning. Dinah shared the verse below from Matthew in one of her latest emails.

“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Matthew 21:22

If you would like to send Sara a note of encouragement, her email address is sarawalkerpt@hotmail.com.

Lord, come back soon.

Brent

0 Coach Meyer and Four Little Verses

Some of the most powerful lessons you learn in life are unplanned.

On December 17th and 18th Coach Don Meyer, Lipscomb University’s former basketball coach, and Buster Olney from ESPN came to Lipscomb for a luncheon and two days of book signing. Olney’s book, How Lucky You Can Be – The Story of Coach Don Meyer, is in its fifth printing and doing very well nationally.

I had worked on promoting the visit and coordinating with our campus bookstore on how many books they should have on hand for purchase. I planned on helping Coach and Buster get set up and then go about my normal business. What actually ended up happening I could have never predicted and I would never trade.

Far more people showed up for the book signings than we ever dreamed. The line stretched out into the concourse both days. It was always 60-70 people long and never seemed to shrink. Someone bringing in one book to be signed was rare. Most brought at least two. Some brought five, six, 11, 36 at a time.

I decided to jump in and do whatever I could to help speed up the line. For over 16 hours over those two days I opened over 1,100 books to the title page, asked each person in line who they wanted their book personalized to, wrote the names on post-it notes and then handed them to Coach and Buster to sign.

I had the easy job.

From 11:30 a.m. to almost 9:30 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. to midnight on Saturday, Coach and Buster wrote a personalized note in each and every book. Coach’s notes were in cursive writing, usually 3-4 sentences in length. Every note was different. If he knew the person in line the note was very personal in nature. If he didn’t know the person in line he asked enough questions until he could get an angle for his note. Then he signed his name.

What he did next was unprecedented at any book signing I’ve ever attended or read about. Under his name, Coach wrote out four scripture references in each and every book.

Four.

James 4:10
Luke 14:11
James 3:13
Ecclestiastes 5:19-20

Throughout the two days I picked up little pieces of the puzzle as to why he picked those four verses.

“If we humble ourselves, God will lift us up,” said Coach. “If we do His job for Him, He’ll do ours for us.”

Coach made it clear that he had written the four references in the order he had written them on purpose.

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” – James 4:10

“For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” – Luke 14:11

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.” – James 3:13

“Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.” – Ecclesiastes 5:19-20

Coach has every reason to be bitter, to withdraw and basically give up who he’s been for the last 65 years. The wreck, the amputated left leg, the countless follow-up surgeries, the cancer and the fatigue associated with it that forced him to leave the profession he loved would be easy scapegoats.

Instead, he continues to teach and coach – just sometimes in unplanned ways he doesn’t even realize.

Coach, thank you for helping make an eternal difference!

* If you’d like to send Coach Meyer a note of encouragement, his email address is meyerd@northern.edu. He will be speaking at a men’s prayer breakfast at Brentwood Hills Church of Christ in Nashville next Saturday, January 8 at 7 a.m. To RSVP for that event, please call 615-832-2541. He is also scheduled to conduct a seminar on leadership on Tuesday, September 6th in Nashville. For more information on that event, please email meyerleadership@gmail.com.

Happy New Year!
Brent

Brent High
615-566-6023 mobile
brent@brenthigh.com

0 Santa Shares His Secret – from USA Today

from USA Today story by Nancy Hellmich

There really is a Santa Claus.

Larry Stewart, 58, a successful businessman in Lee’s Summit, Mo., announced a few weeks ago that he is the Secret Santa who has been doling out $100 bills anonymously to the needy in Kansas City, Mo., and other cities every Christmas for the past 26 years.

Stewart carefully guarded his identity for years; only his family and a few close friends knew the truth. USA TODAY profiled him in a front-page story in 2001 but did not publish his name. That holiday season, he handed out $25,000 in $100 bills to New Yorkers who were reeling from the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

Over the years, Stewart estimates, he has given away $1.3 million. He says he has been amply rewarded in return.

“I see the smiles and looks of hopelessness turn to looks of hope in an instant,” he says. “After all, isn’t that what we were put here on Earth for — to help one another?”

Click here for the full story on USAToday.com.

Merry Christmas!

Brent