Last night I attended a parenting seminar put on by the Positive Coaching Alliance. The goal was to teach parents how to help their kids learn life lessons through sports. It was very worthwhile and if you enjoy sports or have kids in sports, I recommend checking out their website for more information.
At the seminar, I saw an acquaintance who really confused me. I know this man through a friend and for the sake of this post I'll call him "Roger." I've seen Roger be a bit of a bully, I've seen him come down really hard on his kids for making mistakes, I've seen him be helpful to his friends and neighbors less than I thought was possible, I've seen him not reign in his kid when he was being unfair to a group of younger kids.... So, to put it simply, I've never liked this guy. And when I saw him at the Positive Coaching Alliance seminar, I admit I thought the heavens were about to crack open and deliver Jesus to me Revelation-style because nothing could be more disparate than Roger and being a good parent regarding sports.
After sitting down I thought, "Let's see the sparks fly when this guy hears that he should not put his kid down for making a mistake and that although winning is important, it's not everything." Pass the popcorn!
Much to my surprise, Roger and I had a nice discussion about being a good coach and a good parent in the ways that I know to be good. Then he was perfectly content, nay, supportive, of the goals of the Positive Coaching Alliance and I found out he had recently attended the PCA's coaches' seminar.
Wha?
If I only knew Roger from last evening and never before, I would think he was a totally different person. Seriously, 180 degrees from the guy I've known him to be to this point. Now I have to work on putting those two images together into one person.
Man, I hate it when God makes me start seeing the good in someone I've enjoyed disliking for so long.
No comments:
Post a Comment