TIMEOUTS ARE VITAL
TIMEOUTS ARE VITAL
Athletics prove time outs are critically important.
The mark of great coaches is having the skill to take the complex and make it simple. The mark of a gifted athlete is making a very difficult skill look easy to perform.
Taking time outs in sports is a difficult skill to master. Inexperienced coaches often fail to maximize the use of time outs. This hinders their team from being successful.
Smart basketball coaches save precious time outs for reasons like:
- The team needs a mind rest! Confusion, poise, or confidence needs to be restored.
- The team needs a special play in a crucial situation.
- The team is exhausted. They need a rest.
As a marriage and family counselor in the 1970s, Time Out Education was a key learning experience for my clients.
Families need time outs when:
- Communication is fueled by anger. Heartbeats exceed 84 beats per minute. Time to call time out.
- Exhaustion. Everyone is tired or hungry. A time out is in order.
- Confusion and chaos! Typically one person is better with words and quick responses while others need process time. I call this sword fighting with the tongue. The tongue master doesn’t want a time out. The other person needs a time out.
Life is hard. Illness, job loss, bad news, loss of life, etc. may need many time outs.
Unlike basketball games that have a strict time limit, the Crowells time outs are variable in length and have a few additional rules:
- If one of us calls time out it is the rule; no debate. Time is out, discussion ceases.
- The person who called time out is the person who calls time in. (May take from minutes to days).
- Mutual commitment to eventually resolve the reason the time out was necessary. Time in must be called at some reasonable point in time.
In John chapter 17 the Lord Jesus Christ offers His last prayer before the cross.
“Father the hour has come. Glorify your Son that I may glorify You….. I pray our followers will be one as you and I are one so that the world might believe you sent me.”
Our unity in the family, in teams, in businesses, and in the community give evidence to the reality of the Christ message.
Homework: Be a great team player today, starting with the most important team; home.
