Several months ago I received an email with the following information. I have edited it slightly and focused it for Father’s Day.
In May 2009, Brad McCoy, Colt McCoy’s dad, spoke at the Tuesday morning Dallas Christian Leadership Prayer Breakfast. The breakfast is an annual breakfast started by Tom Landry and other Dallas leaders over 40 years ago. Brad McCoy delivered a message about raising Colt and his other two sons. He said he and his wife raised their children according to four principles.
“Prepare your child for the path, not the path for your child.” The road is rough, narrow and often hard to find. We have a guidebook (the Bible), a map, and our God to help us. We must prepare ourselves and our kids for moments in life when doors open and close. Dads who are serious about fighting for their kids diligently prepare them.
“Prepare to be your best.” This was a McCoy family motto. “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” (1 Cor. 9:24). Brad would take his kids to school and as they exited the car, he would say to them, “Do your best and be a leader!” Citing Jim Collins’s book, Good to Great, McCoy reminded that good is the enemy of greatness. We don’t aim high and miss. We convince ourselves that we are aiming high, but we are afraid of failure. Most times, we aim low and hit the mark, and feel good because we are succeeding.
“Be a Leader.” We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses–great leaders we and our kids can draw from. We are all at the mercy of time and money. How do you spend your time and money? How we spend our time and money is a direct reflection of where our priorities are. McCoy shared a quote from Ghandi: “I will not let anyone walk through my mind with dirty feet.” He said that Colt turned this phrase into his own words: “Thoughts become things.”
“Prepare for open and closed doors.” Those of you who know the story know that what looked like an open door for Colt quickly became a closed door when he got hurt in the first series of plays in the 2010 National Championship at the Rose Bowl. After the loss, Brad went to his son’s room to cheer his son up. He entered his son’s hotel room to find Colt finishing a devotional reading: “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 whose trust is in the Lord.’” Trust in the Lord is the key to both open and closed doors. Help you children be ready for either.