I haven’t been on here for awhile now. The reasons are many, most of which I won’t bore you with. Things have been crazy with school and Covid and a lot of other things going on as well. I would say I haven’t had time, but honestly, I haven’t made time. I needed a break. I needed to recharge. I’m sure many of you can relate to that in some aspects of your life. It’s not a bad thing to step back and recharge sometimes.
About a month ago the world lost a great man. The world lost a man that dedicated his life to young people for over 60 years as a coach and mentor. He coached at the high school and college level. He coached me in college 20 years ago. He had a huge impact on me and my life for the last 20 years. Any time any of us got together there were many Coach Powell stories told. We would tell of the many injuries he endured on the baseball field and how he would just keep on keepin on. We would talk of all the times he would chew us out, and sometimes we wondered why. But, he always had a plan and a reason. We would talk about some of the things he would say in his pre or post game speeches, and just like any players do with their coaches, there would be imitations of those speeches. He left an impression on all of us. While he could chew on us when needed, everything he did was done out of love and the impression he left on all of us was positive!
He had a gift for what he did. He not only taught us about the game of baseball, but more importantly how to be a Christian, a man, a husband, a father, and a genuinely good person, among many other things. He kept up with his players years after they were out from under his wing. He would call me anytime the weather got bad out here in western Oklahoma just to make sure we were alright. He would call me every year when our baseball season began and when we were getting ready to begin the playoffs just to check on my team and how they were doing. I always looked forward to those phone calls. They continued right up until the very end. Whenever I would call him at random times he would start the conversation off the same way I’m sure he did with many others. I would say, “what are you doing?” He would respond with, “Well, I was just getting ready to call you.” For awhile I thought it was ironic that he was just getting ready to call me every time I called him. I eventually figured out that was just his way of saying he was thinking of you and making you feel special. He loved his players’ families as much as he loved his players. He always asked about our kids and wives. When you saw him in person, he treated your family like his own too. He truly lived out God’s two greatest commands, love God and love your neighbor. If you ever met Coach Powell, even if only for a few minutes, you felt that love.
He was thought of by so many as a coaching legend. He coached for so many years and had so many successful seasons. He won countless games, but more importantly, he molded countless men and women. I say women too because I’m not sure if he ever coached girls, but surely after that many years of coaching he did at some point. Even if he didn’t, he had an impact on many female athletes while coaching the boys teams and also his players’ wives. While he will be remembered by so many as a baseball coach, he will be remembered by those baseball players as a mentor and a father figure.
So that lead me to think about legacy. It made me think about what that means. It made me think about my life too. I have said this on this blog before, but we will influence people every single day. Every one of us will. There will not be a day that goes by that we won’t influence people in some way. It is up to us if that is positive or negative. But, going beyond that, we will leave a legacy as well. Hopefully that legacy is full of love and positive experiences for those around us.
Mark 8:36-37 says, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” Many of us spend our time and energy seeking earthly pleasure in whatever form that is for us. But God tells us that is only temporary. In the end, if we do this and this only, we are left empty. Coach Powell did not leave this world empty by any means. He focused every day on others. He didn’t focus on worldly pleasures, but making sure those that he knew and loved felt special and that they were taken care of. He passed that love on to others. That love has been passed down to so many that had the pleasure of knowing him in whatever capacity that was. May we pass that love down to those we know and care for as well.
I challenge us this week to think about our legacy. What do we focus our time on? Is it worldly pleasures? Is it complaining about things? Are we known as that person that is always unhappy about something? Do we focus on our own selfish desires? I know many reading this knew Coach Powell. Partly because I tagged a lot of people in his circle when I posted this on facebook. But, also because his circle was large. So many people had the privilege of knowing him and being mentored and loved by him. He was thought of by so many as a coaching legend. But to so many more of us he was a legend for so many other reasons as well, and that will live on forever! I just hope that I can have a small portion of the positive impact on people that he had. If we all had a portion of that impact, this world would be a much better place. So as we think about our own every day life and our own legacy, please keep in mind that legends never die, they just don’t live forever!!!