WHAT NEXT?

Now that Brett Favre is hurt, Kobe is entering the latter stages of his career and Tiger’s gaze no longer intimidates golfers worldwide it’s appropriate to ask, “What’s next?” What is the next step after you’ve been defined by one thing for so long? How do you move onto equally valuable pursuits that reproduce a learning curve you’ve not known in some time? What is the mindset you should have when moving from a place of mastery to a place where you’re required to both learn and serve?

I coach a basketball team that is all seniors. Every single dude on the squad is headed to college next year. Every single one is only months removed from the post-high school doldrums/hysteria. But for these cats what’s next at least has protocol. They have material to work with having seen others go off to college before them. But to their credit, it’s still very foreign as is much of what you and I are attempting in the next phase.

I can’t help but wonder why we spend so much time casting our own images in bronze, so-to-speak, only to find ourselves redeployed to a new location, endeavor or service altogether. “Next” is hard because it often involves abandonment of something. “Next” is like that cold  walk to the car as a half-sleep 6 year old leaving your friend’s house after mom or pop picked you up. You were in your buddy’s room or on the couch or on the floor knocked out. Then the parent arrived from wherever, wrapped you in a jacket and ushered you briskly to the car for the ride home. And one thing’s for sure, that ride home is never as comfortable as being in a bed. That’s why “Next” is hard.

“Next” might be hard because it’s not like the walk to the car as a six-year-old. “Next” could be maddening and frustrating because it feels more like the walk to a car that IS home because your family has just been evicted. “Next” occurs without notice sometimes as economies turn and layoffs ensue. Nevertheless, you can be certain that there is divine creativity in the “next.” You will be enlivened by the “next” should you not scorn its arrival. I’m in the “next” right now and trying to embrace the role as head coach, pastor guy, husband, wanna-be entrepreneur, etc. If I didn’t care so little about my image I might actually be embarrassed that I’m so fallible in every area listed in that last sentence. But by grace I know that what to do “next” is quite a bit less daunting when you realize it’s the natural course.