2015 was a fantastic year for me, and 2016 looks to be more of the same. I have made a conscious decision to invest and participate in things which I am good at and love to do, and it's an exciting way to live. We are all a heartbeat away from eternity, and I want to make the most of my God-given gifts and talents in order to have a positive impact on people. A couple of things I will continue to be involved in:
* Compassion sponsorship: my Compassion family is currently at 22 kids and there is a possible trip to Brazil and Honduras planned for September.
* Basketball coaching: I will be continuing with my Under 8 and Under 10 Heathdale Hornets domestic teams, as well as assistant coaching at Under 12 Rep level for the Werribee Devils. I love working with little people, helping them develop skills, have fun and enjoy the game of basketball.
* I will also be involved with the Werribee Devils as a statistician and Championship committee member.
As for the rest of the stuff, it's really quite up in the air. Gloriously uncertain.
It’s a funny place I find myself. Living between the intense desire to fight poverty and the alternative, to wrap myself up in the cosy, safe, secure lifestyle we enjoy in the wealthy, affluent countries of the developed world. At the core of my being, the thing I want to do most is use what God has given me to glorify Him and help others. That’s what I believe to be the whole purpose of my existence.
So far, the vehicle God has given me for living this out is Compassion child sponsorship (nine years, 60+ kids, 12 countries etc.) and He has given me teaching as a way for providing for me financially. As an aside, the unions don't agree but I fully believe teachers in my part of the world are more than adequately compensated for their services. Click here to view teacher salaries in Victoria, and anyone who thinks they can't live off these amounts needs to have a look at their lifestyle. Passive-aggressive rant over.
So I am single, debt-free and live a simple life (largely) free from the grip of materialism and the never-ending desire for stuff.
While I believe I am a capable and competent teacher, relate well to the students and create a fun, safe and engaging learning environment for them, I have never quite felt comfortable or secure in my own ability. I am unable to 'sell myself' in interviews like we need to in order to secure a job. This has resulted in much moving around and little stability, employment-wise. Fortunately I have found that there are always plenty of teaching jobs in my part of the world and God has always provided.
At the start of 2015 I took the first tentative steps toward pursuing a future in sports journalism. I love to write and I love sport, so why not combine the two? I enrolled in a couple of online courses with a long term goal of covering Basketball and Australian Football. At this point I see myself purely as a print journalist, majoring in match reporting. Nothing fancy. I don’t revel at the prospect of interviewing the stars, dishing the dirt on the latest sporting scandal or offering my loudmouth “expert” opinion on a panel show.
The year was amazing, but in short, I had achieved my long-term goals within three months. I ended up with over 30 articles published as the scribe for the Premier B section in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA) and the match reporter for the Werribee Devils in the Big V basketball competition.
For the VAFA I completed a weekly roundup of the five Premier B matches and this appeared in the VAFA weekly publication,
while eight of my Werribee Devils match reports were published in a local newspaper, the Wyndham Leader.
I also wrote my first feature article, interviewing Werribee player Andrew Johnston on his 200th game,
as well as my first media release announcing Michael Czepil as the new Werribee Devils coach in 2016. While both roles were voluntary, 2015 was about laying the foundations: I now have my name in print and have been read by thousands.
I received much positive feedback for my work, including this from an influential Werribee Devils figure: “I believe your match reports for us have been the best I’ve seen in my 35 years at the club, so well done and thank you.” This inspired me to take it further.
After completing my Bachelor of Education in 2007 I swore I would never study again, but I applied for a few University courses just to see what would happen. In November I received an early offer for my first preference, Bachelor of Media and Communication (Sports Journalism) at La Trobe University in Melbourne.
It’s fair to say I’m just a bit excited. While I have my preferences, the course covers all areas of journalism including radio and TV, so I will be out of my comfort zone but I know it will be a great experience.
Having said all that, I’m not completely throwing teaching out the window. The initial plan is to start the course part-time so I can still teach 3-4 days a week. My ultimate bottom line is still to glorify God and help others through Compassion child sponsorship, and teaching enables me to do that much more effectively than sports journalism ever will, so I guess I consider it more of an add-on: if I can make a bit of extra money by writing about sport in order to help more people, then why not give it a go?
I have to say, I love sport: I’ve played, watched, coached, refereed, written about it and felt all the incredible emotions that go with it. But here’s the thing: at the end of the day, it’s just sport. It’s just hitting, throwing, kicking, catching, running, tackling. Yes, it is a multi-billion dollar industry in this crazy, mixed-up world of ours, but in the end it is of little consequence.
My travels to the developing world with Compassion and my work at Ruel Foundation orphanage have given me perspective and through my blog and book I have enjoyed writing about things that matter. Eternal things. The impact of the church and individuals motivated by God’s love, transforming lives and giving people healing for today and hope for the future. When we are all standing before God and He is looking at the way we spent our lives, that is the stuff that matters.
However, the blog’s just a hobby and so far I haven’t made up my costs on the book, so I guess I’m “going where the money is,” as cynical and selfish as that may initially sound. I do love sport, but ultimately it’s a means to an end.
So there you have it. Keeping it real and holding nothing back. I am convinced that Jesus’ love is real, relentless and life-transforming, and I am devoting my life to helping people know this. If sport can play a small part in this mission, then I am more than willing to get all excited, passionate and act like it is the most important thing in the world. The next part of the journey begins in 2016.
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