Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Phil Farver has spent his coaching career of 39 years teaching and mentoring both boys and girls teams in football, basketball, golf, baseball, softball and a short stint with middle school volleyball. He played football, basketball and baseball at a small Bible college in Wisconsin. He has vast experience in working with young athletes helping them improve their skills, their lives and their teams. He says, "If I can help someone improve their life, then I have accomplished something." His experience in coaching and building programs and teams led him to author and publish a book in 2009 called, "FIVE SMOOTH STONES", a book outlining steps for success that he implemented with his team. Now he has developed another book filled with devotionals and motivational speeches to help other coaches as they prepare to build their teams and impact the lives of their players. The unique thing about this collection is that they can be used by anyone at any time. They are not just for use with athletic teams. They could be used in the corporate setting as well as in a daily personal journey of life. His personal faith has been the foundation upon which he has stood for his entire career. The ups and downs of losing and winning have given him an insight to being successful that he would like to share with others. Through it all, he has remained faithful to the principles that he believes in.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

FIVE SMOOTH STONES

AuthorHouse

Contents

Introduction............................1Biblical Reference......................5The Story...............................9The Giants..............................15The Team................................21Five Smooth Stones?.....................27The Plan................................35Stone # 1...............................41Stone # 2...............................53Stone # 3...............................61Stone # 4...............................67Stone # 5...............................73Conclusion..............................85Quotes..................................89Notes...................................91

Chapter One

My pastor loves to bring history and context into stories and events that he preaches about. It helps the common man, like me understand exactly what he is trying to say. I want to give you the Biblical account of this story and put it into context so that you understand where the book is coming from and the thoughts that are being expressed. The writer of this story certainly brings to life the setting for the reader by giving a brief background of David's life and how he came to be in the position of confronting the giant. The writer puts a huge emotional tag on the story, telling about a young boy seeking to take a stand for a strong cause, using only a sling and a staff for the battle. The story is used many times today in reference to the little guy overcoming the big guy: a real David and Goliath story.

In a nut shell, here is the Coach Farver paraphrase:

Saul was the king of Israel. He was made Israel's king at a time when the nation did not have a king and no longer wanted to trust in God as their king. The people wanted someone they could physically see, touch, and talk to. God warned the people about what would happen if He gave them a king: a king would levy taxes on them, create a burdensome workload for them, and take their sons off to war, but the people said they wanted a king anyway. Saul was chosen as a leader because he was strong, smart and good looking. In fact the Bible tells us that he stood head and shoulders over everyone in all of Israel. God was with Saul in the beginning, and everything looked like it would work out just fine. However, Saul, in his finite human wisdom, took some matters into his own hand and disobeyed God. God had told Saul to kill ALL the Amalekites and wipe them out of the land. Saul, instead, saved the king and some of the finer possessions. Because of Saul's disobedience, from that time on the Spirit of God was no longer with him. God instructed the priest Samuel to anoint another man as king. David was a man after God's own heart, and God saw in him a great leader who would one day bring the nation of Israel back to Him. Well, David was still a boy when he was anointed king, and at that time he basically had two jobs in life: to watch after his father's sheep and to play the harp for Saul, in order to soothe his troubled soul.

David's father, Jesse, sent David to the forefront of the battleground with some bread and cheese for three of his sons who had joined Saul in the fight against the Philistines. When David arrived at the camp, he witnessed something strange and contrary to the stories he had grown up hearing about the army of Israel. He saw the men in disarray, fearful and running from the battle. He saw a king who, instead of leading his men, was at the back of the camp cowering in fear himself. A giant Philistine, Goliath, had proposed a solution to end the battle quickly. He challenged the army of Israel to send out its best warrior to fight him. The losing side of that one-on-one fight would then become servants to the winners. There was not much bloodshed at stake with this simple solution. During those days many battles were decided this way. Therefore, the enslaved army would provide a larger work force. Goliath challenged the army of Israel twice a day for forty days. However, Saul and the entire army looked at how big the giant was and lost their focus on who they were, who they served and what they were doing there. David, seeing and hearing all this, became quite indignant and decided enough was enough; he was going to do something about it. He went to King Saul and volunteered to go and fight the giant. Saul, gave a little resistance at first, but quickly agreed to send David, since no one else would go. David tried to wear Saul's armor, but it wouldn't work for him, so he put it off and took the tools he understood: a staff and a sling. He went over to a nearby stream, picked up five smooth stones, put them in his pouch, and proceeded into battle with the giant. David took one stone from the pouch, loaded the sling, and twirled it rapidly above his head. In an instant he let the stone fly, hitting the giant in the forehead, and dropping him in his tracks. David stood over the fallen giant's body, took the giant's own sword from its sheath and cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their champion was defeated, they turned and ran. The army of Israel chased after them and claimed a great victory that day, with the help of David and his five smooth stones.

The story of David and Goliath has been told millions of times over the years. It has been used to capture the attention of people from around the world, young and old alike. There have been many applications of several individual aspects of the story. Children and adults who hear the story or see it acted out for the first time, sit in wide-eyed amazement as the story unfolds and they actually connect with the characters, the struggles, the emotions, and the final conquest of the giant. The story and the analogies drawn from it are not only recounted but used in churches, Sunday schools, and Christian school settings, but they are also used world wide, especially when describing a true underdog conflict of little versus big, weak versus strong, good versus evil or small business versus corporate America. David and Goliath befittingly displays for us the consummate battles in life of snatching victory, against all odds and defying common sense, from the jaws of certain defeat. It teaches us that with proper planning, the right tools, simple faith, and resolute strength of character, you can overcome just about anything in life and become a winner in the process.

THE GIANTS

I put giants as a plural because we are talking about giants in several different aspects. To define what giants we might be talking about, we need to understand them within the different venues we cover in this book. In general, giants would be anything that stands in the way of progress for growth, prosperity and success. Let's keep in mind that success can be defined in several ways and measured equally so. For our purposes and the purposes of relating the Five Smooth Stones within the different venues, success is more than the accumulation of money, power, or points. We find that you can have a lot of money, gain all the power you want, or score the most points and win the game, yet you may not be considered a success.

In his book, Success 101, John Maxwell defines success in the following manner:

Success is ... Knowing your purpose in life Growing to reach your maximum potential, and Sowing seeds that benefit others.

Based on Maxwell's definition of success we can then begin to define and describe...