“Because of you” were three cherished words on social media today from a former camper reminding me that I made a positive impact on her life out of my love for tennis and for others. Today, I received a t-shirt with “play tennis” scripted on the back from the local Senior Center where I volunteered last month to instruct a USTA tennis program. Wednesday, I ran into one of the participants from that senior tennis program and she invited me to join her this morning at their dance class at the Center. I happily accepted the invitation and went to watch a room full of senior citizens learn dance steps and show love and respect to their dance instructor as he taught them a final class before he moves onto NYC for what likely is his dream job. I was smiling all morning at the timing and beauty of it all.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a very entrepreneurial mindset and skill set. And somewhere along the last two decades, the sport of tennis served its way into my life, and I realized that I had a passion for coaching. The sport parallels life so well that it is a dream for a metaphorical writer like myself. Tennis is the sport I love to play and it is my personal metaphor for faith and life that I choose to write about. I am sure that more will develop with this blog, tennis, coaching and writing…in time, but for now I hope you’ll enjoy this piece of me today.

I re-titled my blog a year ago this summer. Formerly, it was “The Writer in Me,” and while I really liked it, I found upon a quick google search that it was essentially already taken. It took a lot of contemplation and prayer (typically like most of my blog posts). A Life Starting at Love was very intentionally chosen, with a slightly shorter URL. Perfect. You can link back to my original post for more on this here.

Sadly, over the past few months, I have allowed myself to become distracted and pulled away from the discipline of writing. Truth be told, I still have over 17 lengthy blogs sitting in draft stages, unedited, unfinished, incomplete. I’ve already opened up three today, but the timing just doesn’t seem right anymore. Isn’t that true of all things in our lives? Timing. Today, I was reminded everywhere I looked and went of why I titled this blog A Life Starting at Love and why tennis has brought me so much joy. The reminders all this week and significantly today were a clear indication that it was time to put the phone away and write. As I do, the revelations just keep flowing!

Have you ever just been so thankful and thrilled with the achievement of the dream that you failed to recognize it actually didn’t meet a lot of the needs for a permanent assignment? Read that again. Perhaps another time, I could write an entire blog on that question alone! Recently, I chose to lay down my life of coaching collegiate tennis (a dream that started around 2007 and was fulfilled a decade later). Honestly, the first year was rough and the second was reality. I didn’t do the math logically in a long-term fashion to determine how significantly the constraints on my budget were impacting my future and my attitude. It was hard to let go of a dream, yet when you sense that inner conviction of God’s Holy Spirit, and He doesn’t relent, you either act in obedience or you delay and suffer by choice. I may have done a little of both.

God has now shown me the difference between healthy self-sacrifice for the good of all people and unhealthy self-sacrifice that leaves you spiritually, physically, and mentally drained. Sometimes what we think we are called to is so close to the real calling on our lives that if we are not walking in relationship with Christ, we begin to forget about the battle going on beyond what we can see. The distractions. My work was distracting and draining me of more than just my financial resources; it had started to steal the joy that I have for the sport that I love (i.e. clear indication that the enemy is at work spiritually John 10:10).

Once the decision became clear to lay that work down and move in a different direction, I was able to sit back to see so much. My path has been crossing with so many incredible people right down to this very day and it will be really exciting to look back at how and where it will all come together one day.

Today, I am thankful to be reminded of His (God’s) perfect timing, and that while I cannot see the details yet, He has given me a vision for bigger pictures that will likely come into view more clearly as I learn how to simply steward my daily life and responsibilities better. You see, life starts, like tennis – the process and the purposeful intention with each step we take in life to move forward – when we start with love. I hope to spend my life always starting at love. Loving my God first, so that I know how to love others well, because I know how He loves me.

Do you know how to start a life from love? Here’s a great place to start learning 1 John 4: 7-21