The Hand-Off

January is not just the first month of a new year. In America, this is also the month for football playoffs and the Super Bowl! Here at the Café, we realize that we have a number of instructors, both male and female, who enjoy an occasional inspirational thought from the sports world. So, as an equal-opportunity blog, we want to share the following, especially for the athletically-minded men and women in our IOT family!

Being somewhat athletically challenged, however, we can’t take credit for the ideas in this article—they come from Stan Toler’s leadership newsletter. We have adapted his points to fit our ministry as IOTs. So, sports-lovers, read on!

In football a successful hand-off from one player to another could mean the difference between a win and a loss. As an IOT, mentoring your students gives you a similar opportunity and a similar responsibility. Someone needs your hand-off; someone needs the wisdom of your training and life experiences. What will you hand-off? Hopefully several things:

1. Faithfulness By choosing to cheerfully share your time and energy with your students, in spite of crowded calendars and pending duties, you will teach them that people are more important than projects.

2. Affirmation By accepting students for who they are rather than for what they should be, you will teach them that acceptance is a mark of leadership.

3. Patience By sticking with the game plan no matter how many times students fumble, you will teach them that a mistake is a bridge to improvement rather than a road to failure.

4. Encouragement By handing out some "Attaboys!" (or “Attagirls!”) to your students, you will teach them that appreciation is an important incentive to reach goal lines.

5. Openness By being honest about your students’ strengths and weaknesses, you will teach them that learning to accept yourself makes you more effective with others.

Leadership isn't just about Super Bowls; it's also about the playoffs. It's about successfully executing plays along the way. You're here, as an IOT, because someone made a good hand-off. And someday, someone will stop in the middle of their ministry and remember you and thank you for being their player-coach.

As we launch into another year of training teachers to reach and disciple children, let's be aware of our responsibility to hand-off what God has given to us. The Apostle Paul put it this way:

"Pass on what you heard from me . . . to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others" (2 Timothy 2:2 MSG).