| I had the opportunity to hear Colt McCoy’s Dad speak this Tuesday
>> morning to the Dallas Christian Leadership Prayer Breakfast. The
>> breakfast is an annual breakfast that was started by Tom Landry and
>> other Dallas leaders over 40 years ago and the speakers are usually
>> amazing. Colt McCoy and his Dad, Brad, were supposed to deliver a
>> combined message; however, Colt became sick on Monday and could not
>> join his Dad on Tuesday morning. In the end, it was a blessing
>> because Brad McCoy delivered a message on raising Colt and his two
>> other boys that was truly amazing! The cliff notes are below. I
>> took copious notes because he prefaced his speech by stating, “I
>> am going to talk about the four principles with which we raised our
>> three boys.” They are incredibly applicable to us as parents
>> (regardless of the sex of our children) and they made a significant
>> mark on my heart.
>>
>> Brad McCoy said that he and his wife raised their children
>> according to the following four principles:
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>
>> 1. “Prepare your child for the path, not the path for your child.”
>> Brad said this is not just for our kids – it is for us as parents.
>> The road is rough, narrow and hard to find. We have a book (the
>> Bible), a map vis-à-vis the Bible and God to help us. We must
>> prepare ourselves and our kids for moments in life when doors open
>> and close. He cited Proverbs 22:6: “Train a child in the way he
>> should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” He also
>> cited, almost in jest but also in reality, Proverbs 23:13, “Do not
>> withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he
>> will not die.” It was a funny contrast, but a real contrast. He
>> then said, “Dads, fight for your kids, prepare them!”
>> 2. “Prepare to be our best.” This was one of the four McCoy
>> family mottos. He cited 1 Corinthians 9:24, “Do you not know that
>> in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in
>> such a way as to get the prize.” He stated that every day he would
>> take his kids to school and upon them exited the car, he would say
>> to them, “Do your best and be a leader!” He said that they listened
>> every time and even as they got older (4th, 5th and 6th grades) he
>> would repeat these words even if they said, “ Yeah, Yeah, Dad, I
>> know, do your best and be a leader!” He said that as a coach for
>> 27 years, he would always lead his team onto the field and leave his
>> team at every practice with the chant, “Expect to Win, Play to
>> Win.” And he implored us as parents to instill the same attitude in
>> our homes and in our children. He cited Jim Collins book, Good to
>> Great, stating that good is the enemy of Great! We don’t aim high
>> and miss – as we would like to believe. In fact, most times, we aim
>> low and hit the mark! As parents, he implored us not to aim low!
>> Aim high!!!
>> 3. “Be a Leader” He stated that we are surrounded by such a
>> great cloud of witnesses – great leaders that we can draw from and
>> that our kids can draw from. He said we are all at the mercy of
>> time and money and asked a rhetorical question: How do you spend
>> your time and money. He then said that how we spend our time and
>> money is a direct reflection on where our true priorities lie.
>> Convicting! He then said as a leader that he has always loved the
>> quote by Ghandi (even though he didn’t ascribe to all of Ghandi’s
>> beliefs): “I will not let anyone walk through my mind with dirty
>> feet.” He said that as he taught this principle to his three boys
>> that Colt McCoy turned this phrase into his own words: “Thoughts
>> become things.” Colt would tell his younger brothers as he mentored
>> them, “ You can’t talk like that or think like that, because
>> thoughts become things that play themselves out in your life.”
>> 4. “Prepare for Open and Closed Doors.” As a Dad, he said it
>> was painful beyond all of his years on this earth to watch his son
>> get hurt in the first series of play in the National Championship at
>> the Rose Bowl. A perfect setting. A setting his son had dreamed of
>> ever since he threw the football with his Dad in the front yard as a
>> kid. As a Dad, he went over to his son’s hotel room after the
>> Championship loss and the demoralizing fate for such a NCAA football
>> star. He went to his son’s room to cheer his son up and was praying
>> to God for the right words. He entered his son’s hotel room to find
>> his son finishing a devotional. A devotional that read as follows:
>> “My positive energy must be better than my negative energy. My
>> certainty must be me stronger than my doubt. The battle is won
>> before I ever start the fight. I choose faith over fear. Leave a
>> legacy of excellence, love, dedication and service. Jeremiah
>> stated, ‘Blessed is the man who’s trust is in the Lord.’” He said
>> as a Dad, he had to find a corner of Colt’s hotel room to sit down
>> and cry over the maturity of his son. His son was prepared for open
>> and closed doors! Wow.
>>
>> He then finished his speech by stating that as he consoled his son
>> under the Rose Bowl stadium, after it was readily apparent that Colt
>> would not be able to go back onto the field and play for the
>> Longhorns. And as he was trying to motivate his son, his son
>> motivated the team and his Dad. His son stepped into a new mantle
>> of leadership. Rather than return to the field in pedestrian
>> clothes, Colt insisted on returning to the field to help his team
>> win. He walked back onto the field in his uniform and helped the
>> second string quarterback read the defense and mentored the second
>> string quarterback over the course of the 3rd and 4th quarters. He
>> said that his son had been studying “trust” in a Bible Study all
>> year long leading up to the National Championship game. He said his
>> son had told his mom and dad that he didn’t know why he had been
>> studying that “trust” concept all year, but he fully knew why in
>> the moments leading up to the National Championship loss. He told
>> his parents that he came to the conclusion that God had “prepared me
>> for years leading up to that game, because He wanted me to “trust”
>> Him!” As his son, Colt, was approached by news reporters after the
>> Longhorns had lost the National Championship, the reporters asked
>> Colt how he was feeling and Colt replied: “I always give God the
>> glory. I never question what God does. God is in control of my
>> life and if nothing else, I am standing on the Rock!”
>>
>> Brad McCoy said that his cell phone began lighting up with texts
>> after the game with friends, ministers and family members wildly
>> acclaiming the statement that Colt had made to the reporters. He
>> said that he received letters from non-believers, Jewish ministers,
>> Muslim ministers and atheists in the days following the game – all
>> pointing to the AMAZING statement that Colt had made after the
>> game. He said that as he entered Colt’s hotel room that night, he
>> asked his son, “What did you say after game?” [He had not been able
>> to hear it in the mayhem of the stadium.] Brad McCoy, Colt’s Dad,
>> asked two to three times, “Son, what did you say after the game?”
>> Colt said, “Dad, I don’t know. I really don’t remember what I
>> said. All I remember is that the reporter asked me a question and I
>> prayed that God would supply me with the right answer.” Wow.
>>
>> Brad McCoy then ended his speech by telling a story about a young
>> football player that he was coaching back in his hometown. He said
>> the young football player approached Brad McCoy after he returned
>> from Pasadena and said, “Coach, I heard what your son said after the
>> game, but I have one question: What is the rock?” He said it’s
>> funny son. We sing about it in church. He then began singing
>> accapella: “My hope is built on nothing less, Than Jesus’ blood and
>> righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly
>> trust in Jesus’ Name. On Christ the solid Rock I stand, All other
>> ground is sinking sand; All other ground is sinking sand. When
>> darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In
>> every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil. On
>> Christ the solid Rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand; All
>> other ground is sinking sand. His oath, His covenant, His blood,
>> Support me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives
>> way, He then is all my Hope and Stay. On Christ the solid Rock I
>> stand, All other ground is sinking sand; All other ground is sinking
>> sand. When He shall come with trumpet sound, Oh may I then in Him be
>> found. Dressed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before
>> the throne. On Christ the solid Rock I stand, All other ground is
>> sinking sand; All other ground is sinking sand.” By the end of his
>> singing, the entire room of men and women were singing in unison
>> with Brad McCoy. It was truly an amazing morning for the Lord and a
>> truly amazing speech for us to learn from as parents.
>>
>> Sorry for the long email. I hope it blesses you as much as it
>> blessed me.
>> Paul Jackson
>> Principal
>> Spyglass Equities Company |
