LovePrints Dr. John Butler Always present. Always adding to..

Love in action. Action in love. Love out loud.

Life is constantly adding to, giving to, and showing us what is for us.

There are people placed purposefully and specifically in our lives to add to. When God leans in your direction, jump in his hand and enjoy his grace.

I met Dr. John Butler many years ago while taping a Redskins Magazine Plus television show. John is the voice behind its theme song, and one day sat down on the set to add some of his amazing spirit to that week’s show. Tony McGee and Doc Walker smiled so fully that I knew something good was in store. I was stunned. How was this not in my life already? I knew the theme song, I just did not know who it came from, and where he came from. I was going to learn tonight!

Fast forward ten years later, and we were sill friends. We talked life, faith, and football. We talked families and communities and chances. I don’t know if you have ever been in the presence of true good. I always wanted to be better around him. I wanted to DO better around him.

When I was blessed enough with a life’s love who chose to spend the rest of her life with me, I thought of who to invite, and at the top of the list was John. I asked him if he would sing at the ceremony. I asked, and he said yes. He did what John does, he ADDED TO. He introduced me to Charles and Cynthia Williams, who added to. (Thank you!) These two amazing souls walked into our lives and added to. On our special day, they made everything perfect. PERFECT. The Nationals Park in Washington, DC let us use it as the place, and when the ceremony began, John sang. HE SANG! Charles led us through the ceremony and it was PERFECT!

Two years later, life had a gut punch in store for us. My mother passed away, and I was spinning. My head and spirit were cloudy. Enter Dr. Butler. He offered to show up at mom’s service. HE SHOWED UP! He gave a church of mourners his voice, his strength, his faith, and his word.

Life moved again, and took my family to Houston. Even in distance, John is present! He is constantly in motion for good, always a strong board of support, and a vacuum of good. This man of God is consistently in place and prepared with purpose.

This Man of God, New Orleans Saints fan, and friend has been there for me. I just wanted to thank him for his LovePrints on me and my life.

At my lowest, you picked me up. At my strongest, you shined the light. Every day, you love.

You action in love, and you action in love.

Thank you.

LovePrints- Coach Eric Larkins John Cooper School

Great people make great coaches. Great coaches make great people. Love in Action. Action in love.

A loveprint is the constant and consist covering of those around you in love. So much so, that nothing else can stick. Nothing else can exist. A vacuum so filled with love that nothing else can occupy it. Acts of kindness, purpose, and love.

I am a combination of many great coaches. Many great people. I have coaching brothers and sisters all over the country. All over the world. No matter where I moved, there was a magnet putting me in the company of great people. It happened when I moved to Texas. Again.

I left Virginia, and behind me was a great collection of people who were family to me. They cared, they mattered, and they had purpose. They loved. Leaving that place created a hole in the fabric. I have heard the phrase “Grow where you are planted”. I try to live with that in mind. God has never put me anywhere I could not grow, or anywhere that I would be alone.

When I got to Texas, I was coming off a coaching high, and wanted to stay active. I found a school with extremely impressive academics, some great coaches and leadership, and a spot for me to coach three sports. I jumped in immediately, and found some new family to work with and alongside.

I tear up just typing this. God continues to put amazing people in my path, for my journey. I seem to find these coaching brothers who understand the right why, the right how, and the right priority. It gave me great strength to know that I was among great people doing great things for great reasons.

There was another multiple sport coach who gave me light. He gave me strength. Someone to trust. Someone to walk with. He was smart, charismatic, strong, Godly, and he had a ridiculous lefty crossover. (the crossover is almost as strong as his faith. ALMOST). He coached with his heart, he was steady with his hand, and his smile made every player trust his word. His actions always matched his word. Vital.

At the end of basketball season, I started having trouble with my back. I leaned on Coach Larkins for support, strength, and he never wavered. At the end of the school year, I had major surgery on my spine. The surgery had complications that put me at risk and in the ICU. My health was under fire, and I was leaning on a strong faith that kept giving me answers. Things took a darker turn, and the hospital feared the worst. I was weakening and wavering as they added procedures that concerned me, and I was in trouble. I was calling out loudly for faith to strengthen me, and I got a visit from Eric at my lowest point. How did he know? He and his amazing wife Jan showed up at the ICU and held my hand, hugged my wife, and prayed with me, for me. I cried. I could not believe that the right persons with the right words and smiles showed up right on time. They gave me the strength to get through the procedures, get out of ICU, and get home. A year later, I am healing, getting strong, and never forgetting.

I do not know what I did to deserve the great people in my life. Eric and Jan and family are constant smiles in my heart. I try to say thank you enough, and they would say “no worries”, but I will try. One of the working orders of LovePrints is “loving and learning through sports”. Well, I am honoring that today.

At least today, you will know how thankful and appreciative of you, your wife, and your faith. I appreciate who you are, what you do, and why. God brought you into my life, sports was the vehicle, and my heart is forever indebted. Thank you for your prayers, your words, and your work.

The young people in your path are blessed indeed. So are the adults. Sometimes the streets are your pulpits. And sometimes, it’s a hospital bed in ICU. Thank you.

Great coaches make great people. Great people make great coaches.

Love in action. Action in love.

Coaching Commandments. Why? What? How? When?

Here is the working list for Coaching Commandments. It is not the gospel, it is just the working starter point for coaches, teachers, parents, and educators. The more that is shared, the more that it is known. We can make this an introduction to who we are, why we do what we do, and the way that we do it. We can express How we work, operate, and function. Once the mission and plan are known, understood, and shared, everyone has a greater opportunity to reach whatever goals we put into play. The printable list is linked below:

COACHING COMMANDMENTS

• ASK. Why? What? How? Who? Why you play or coach. Why it matters. Why you are here. What is the goal, the task, the plan, the assignment, the purpose? Who is this for? Who can help you. Who needs you. Who cares about you. Who made it possible to be here. How will this work. How is this helpful? How is the going to happen. How can you make it simple? How can you make this likely? Who gets honored in this? Why is this important?

• TRUST. Your coaches. Your teammates. Your family. Your plan. Your work. Yourself.

• WORK. Do your job (before, during, and after the season). Even love requires action. Action requires love. Both are required for success and growth. Let your work be your resume and statement of who you are.

• RESPECT. The game. The process. The name. The history. The people. Those who love you. Your body. Your time. Your future. Your body. Your home.

• EFFORT. Give what is required, before it is required. Give yourself every chance. Give yourself the truth. Give your potential a challenge. This can never be an option.

• IMPROVE. Each rep. Each play. Each drill. Each shot. Each throw. Each test. Each practice. Each classroom session. Each assignment. Each day.

• PRESENT. Be present. Firmly attached to effort. If you have honored the above, they allow you to be present in the moment, the drill, the task at hand, the practice, the play, the mission, the goal. This is the process.

• PLAN. Know your responsibility. Know the mission. Know the purpose. Know what you are doing. Know why you are doing it. Understand the plan. Understand that what was planned will happen.

• FINISH. The most difficult thing to do is finish. Be present in the very next task at hand. Be able because you have respected the game and yourself enough to trust your team, coaches, and work. Be calm in knowing that you have the plan, you have worked and worked on it to get better at it, you know what is required before it happens, and you have the energy to do so.

• LOVE. If you do the above, it is winning and loving. No matter the result, if you have done these things, you will be successful. You will have done the work to respect yourself, and gotten the respect of others. They will trust you, and you, yourself. The work will be honored, valuable, and worthy. You will create memories, provide a path for others to follow, create paths for yourself, and be able to be proud of what was done. You will have gotten better at that thing, and things that you did not know were connected. And, I am sure that you complete the task because you cared enough about it, your team, your name, and yourself to not quit before it was done. You will have more love for the game in understanding all that goes into it, and all that was put into it. You will be loved. You will love.

COACHING COMMANDMENTS

Love in Action. Action in Love.

Love Out Loud

Coach DP

LovePrints - What are your Coaching/Teaching/Parenting Commandments?

Great coaches make great plans. Great plans make great coaches. This may be the toughest question that I ask of you. It may require the most time thinking about it. It may also require that you ask yourself questions that you may not have the answers to.

Why? Who? How? What?

You may already have the answers.

If you do not have to answers, it is time. If you have the answers, it is time to share them.

Each day, coaches, teachers, parents, mentors and leaders face the masses. Those masses are looking for answers, direction, and leadership. If we stand before them under the assumption that we know what we are doing, that we know what we are going to ask them to do, we should already know.

Why are we there, standing in front of them?

Why were you chosen?

Who are you there for?

What is the goal?

How will we get there?

Where do we begin?

What are the boundaries?

Are there rules?

Are there different ways to get to the goal?

Is there existing proof of a right way?

Is there only one way?

What is daily success?

When is enough, enough?

What are the steps to success? How do we know?

On the path to success, the path to any goal, there must be a playbook, a plan, a purpose, and a way. Far too often, these things are not known, understood, or shared with the people who need them the most. The shortest distance between any two points is a straight line. Your commandments are your points. They are your straight line.

Do you know your points? Do you know your goal? Do your players, students, and children know?

If you do not, they can’t either. If you know, and they don’t, you can not achieve them.

Let the discussion begin. Let the goals be known, clearly.

I hope that you understand that these are your LovePrints. These things are what they will take with you once the games and tests are over. I hope that you are giving them something worth following. I hope that you are directing them forward and up.

LovePrints-Letters from a player. Thank you.

Great players make great people. Great people make great players. Love in Action. Action in love. Love out loud.

As a coach, we are given a great responsibilities. Be worth following. Have something of value to say. Be worthy of each young mans future and potential. Be the quality of person that they should aspire to be. Be there for them, in the present and in the future. Love them as your own.

Our wishes as coaches generally run from love of themselves, love of others, respect for them both, and the ability to recognize the value of this. We wish for health, happiness, joy, wisdom, and love. We wish for their best, their opportunities, and their future. We hope that they know that we care, that they should care, and to show them how.

Every once in a while, life hands us a living breathing example of why we do what we do. A young person physically grows, emotionally aspires, mentally pursues, and lovingly achieves some of the things on our wish list. They reach, they grab, they acquire. They gather, stand, and extend. And, they love. Out loud.

When a young person takes the time to reach out and share a piece of themselves, you have reached them. It is not always easy for them, comfortable for them, or a part of their nature. When they do, stop what you are doing, pay attention, and listen. Something real is about to be said.

This letter is wind for the sails. It is a reminder that seeds planted with love, grow in love. It is a reminder that sharing strength makes us all stronger. It is a reminder that sharing weaknesses does not make us all weaker. It makes us stronger. It is a reminder that the seeds grow and blossom, even if they are not in sight, they are in spirit. This letter is why we do this.

I get to cheer on my young people as they fall in life, stumble in life, trip in life, and scar themselves. I also get to cheer them on as they gather themselves, stand up, right themselves, and move on, forward and up.

This letter belongs in praise. What God can do for our loved ones, and for us. This letter is a statement of the power of love, the depth of love, and the strength of connection. I am thanking God for his hands on this young man and his family. I am applauding his heart, soul, and spirit. I am thanking him for thanking me. What God did, I am thankful for. What he has planned for this young man has got to be some kind of wonderful.

He is thanking me. I am thanking him. We are both thanking God.

Say your thank you's out loud. Say them often. Say them freely. They are powerful. They are good. They are love, and loved.