Too few are willing to tough out some rough years in order to see the real fruit that longevity (5-10 years) brings.

"2009 will be my fortieth year of playing tennis; thirty-seventh year of teaching tennis and thirty-fourth year of coaching for my living.  I have found that anyone who lasts ten years or more in the profession of coaching has longevity.  A coach simply has to be good enough to find students who want to take lessons from them and if not - they can not financially survive.  I feel a real kinship to tennis coaches and my first question is always, "how long has you been coaching?".  The answer tells me everything."

When we build relationships in ministry...and then leave, the loss makes it incredibly difficult for people to trust the next person enough to get close to them. Rapid turnovers lead to people who aren't interested in getting to know the new...worker. After all, what guarantees are there that this new person won't leave in 18 to 24 months?

"2009 will be my twenty-third year of involvement in ministry.  Ministry is much different than coaching tennis.  People have to trust you over skill acquisition.  In sports, you can be a great coach, a lousy person and still succeed.  But in ministry you can not be a great Pastor, a lousy person and succeed.  Over a period of years you build a number of relationships with people who want to work alongside you and are in agreement with your methods.  This is success in ministry.  Who works along side tells you everything about that person."

Something wonderful happens in...ministry when the...director remains in place for five or more years. My own experience is that it takes five years to get a vision going and see fruit. Year one and two are all about settling into the work, establishing key relationships, listening to needs, and recognizing opportunities. Year three gives us the chance, now that people know us, to set a vision and strategy. Year four and five sees that vision take shape and perhaps begin to bear fruit. Beyond that we reap a number of benefits.

One is the development and growth of our vision for ministry. As the whole church gains an understanding of the vision and sees that we’re in it for the long haul, more leaders emerge to help. A second is that younger youth begin to look forward to the day they can be part of that ministry. A third is that people trust the...ministry and know what to expect.

As 1 Thessalonians 2:8 reminds us "So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us."

Websites:
http://dailyverse.multiply.com
http://www.tennisministry.org
http://bobkraft.multiply.com (posted soon: Day Nine - French Open)

I have often prayed with tennis players and their families.  I go to a church that believes in miracles and prays as if they believe "that all things are possible with God". 

I can think back to instances of my own prayers for others such as knowing the person had cancer and then passed away within a year; passing away suddenly within a few months from cancer; undergoing chemotherapy for cancer; and another in the later stages of Multiple Sclerosis. But on the other hand, my own mother was healed of cancer and a lifelong illness after our prayer together and that is the greatest miracle that I personally know first hand.

What I do know about miracles is that I have met thousands of people that have been totally and significantly changed as the person accepted 'Christ' as their personal Saviour.  I have experienced many events in my life that I know were miracles to me personally.  Several times I have gone to a Grand Slam tennis event and could hardly walk for a week beforehand because my back had gone out, yet on the very day that I arrived and needed to go to the tournament to minister to others, the pain disappeared.

I have never seen a blind person healed, the deaf hear or the dead returned to life.  Does that make me have less faith?  No.  Does that make me to have been in the wrong location to see it?  Maybe.  Does that mean I do not believe?  No.  I earnestly desire to see such events.  What I do know is that, if I, my family, or my friend were deathly ill, I want to believe in miracles.  I also am prepared to move on if a miracle does not happen. You see, faith and prayer are ours, but the healing, or lack of healing, is in God's power only.

During Easter, Christians celebrate the fact that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead.  I have not seen it.  I have no proof outside of what is written in the Bible and have experienced in my own life. But I want to believe--that is called faith or as I well understand to an unbelieving world -- foolishness.  For me; I chose faith.