I recently read “First Things First: The Rules of Being a Warner” by Kurt and Brenda Warner. Kurt Warner’s impressive football career and his proclivity for crediting all his successes to Jesus Christ has made him an interesting media figure.
This book has it’s roots in a popular 2008 New York Times article called “Rules of the Family” where author Karen Crouse lists the eight rules for being a Warner kid. Reader response was so positive that the Warner’s thought they’d elaborate on more of their family values, and First Things First was born.
I don’t typically buy biographies, but as a Cardinals fan (and specifically a fan of Warner and what he stands for), I thought I’d give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised at my level of enjoyment. The book is an open and honest look into the ups and downs of Warnerhood. From setting-straight the internet version of how they met, to learning to live a life of celebrity and influence, to stories of how they deal with everyday marriage and family situations, the book is excellent.
One recurring theme that I found particularly fascinating was how Kurt and Brenda differ when it comes to signing autographs away from the field. Even though both work hard to preserve their family time, Kurt tends to take the position that simply signing an autograph is quicker and easier than explaining that he’s with his family and that he needs to stay focused on them. Brenda seems to prefer that he do the latter, but Kurt generally does the former. Kurt also seems torn because he sees each fan interaction as a chance to influence that person for Christ.
This got me thinking about how difficult it would be to live a life where people are always interrupting your family dinner, your trip to the grocery store, your vacation, and even your small-talk with the auto mechanic. That has to get old. I also began thinking about how we as fans tend to act so selfishly with celebrities. Somehow, in our excitement to meet someone famous, we fall into a sort-of temporary narcissism that permits us to put our need for an autograph over all else.
Though I’m not a person who gets particularly star struck, I know that I have probably been guilty of approaching a famous person at an inopportune time. After reading this book, I’ll certainly think twice before interrupting someone’s dinner for my own benefit. I appreciated the chance to see the struggle that the Warners endure with something so seemingly superficial as signing an autograph. I can definitely see both sides of the issue.
What about you? Have you ever tried approaching a celebrity for an autograph on his/her personal time? What do you think you would do if you were in his/her shoes?
Some things in life seem like no big deal at the moment, but end up causing some complications down the line. This could easily become one of those things. Oh well, we can at least have a laugh about it now…
Today, I watched a video that not only made me cry, but that also made think hard about the finite time I have been given to be a daddy to Harrison. He is not yet two years of age, and already I have sensed myself taking our time together for granted.
I have been impatient when I should have been patient. I have sent him away when I should have scooped him into my arms. I have raised my voice when I should have spoken with loving authority. I have allowed the little things in life to be little things when I should be cherishing every moment.
How quickly we become dulled to the miracles of God.
Today’s post is one to help me remember the things I need to remember, and I ask for parents of any age (dads especially) to be a part of this. Please take a moment to write a comment telling about something in your parenting to which you wish you would have paid more attention, or something you always try to keep in mind as you raise your children. What things seemed like a big deal that really weren’t? What things seemed trivial that were actually more important than you realized? What’s one thing you would do differently? What would you do the same?
This weekend, Heidi and I took Harrison to Disneyland for the first time. We never planned on taking him as a one-year-old, but when the grandparents graciously offer to pay for your hotel and admission, how can you say no? We had a great deal of fun on this trip (though I recommend not going over Labor Day weekend), but I must admit that I was disappointed in some of the changes I noticed at the Disneyland Resort.
For decades, the Walt Disney Company has been the model for other businesses who want to create a wow experience for customers. Their theme parks have been the pinnacle of showmanship, and they have a long history of going the distance to create magical memories. The core of this magic has always rested in the quality of their employees — more commonly called “cast members”. In Be Our Guest: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service, the Disney Institute quotes past President and CEO Michael Eisner as saying,
“Nothing so visibly defines Disney’s parks as the warmth and commitment of our cast members over the years, and the appreciation that guests feel for the way they are treated.”
Unfortunately for Disney, our most recent visit was marked by a very apparent lack of “warmth and commitment” from cast members of all stripes.
Instead of attentive, cheerful parking attendants, I saw only disinterested, miserable people who could barely muster up enough enthusiasm to point to our parking space. I get more energy from the lot attendants at Cardinal’s games.
As we boarded the tram, I expected to hear the cheerful voice of the tram operator welcoming me to the happiest place on earth. Instead, I hear a barely intelligible list of rules barked out over the on-board speakers without the slightest hint of inflection. This is showmanship? Honestly, that experience was no more remarkable than listening to the guy running the DC Metro trains.
As we approached the gates, our bags are checked by the same impersonal robots who can’t even form a smile as they rifle through my son’s diaper bag. No, “Is this his first visit?” conversation, just a grunt and we’re waved through. Were these guys trained by the TSA?
The ticket-takers were not any more personable. The magical sound that the booth makes as I scanned my ticket was tarnished by the thirty-year-old booth operator named Marco who mumbles a depressed “next” to the rest of the line. Where’s the attention to detail?
Perhaps most appalling was the lack of showmanship I saw from the cast members inside the park. Most of the ride operators might as well have been Six Flags employees. The vast majority of them did not make any effort to create an experience — they just did their job. Oftentimes, they focused their attention on other cast members and chatted with each other as family after family passed them by. I even had a girl working the Fantasmic show interrupt me asking for help so that she could tell another passing cast member that she “got in trouble for talking to friends at work”.
Instead of coming to work to create WOW experiences, the cast members I saw this past weekend came for the sole purpose of punching a clock — and it showed.
I doubt seriously that anyone associated with the Disney Company will read this post, but if by some chance someone does, let me say this: I love Disney’s long and rich history of creating WOW experiences, and I want that drive to create magic to live on as my kids take their kids to your park thirty years from now. What I have seen in my last few visits is an obvious decline in the very heart and soul that sets Disney apart from other vacation destinations. If things don’t improve, then you will be relegated to the status of just another theme park — something that Walt Disney never wanted. I hope to see more effort from your cast members in the future. They will make or break your reputation.
What about you? Have you seen a decline in customer service at any of the Disney theme parks?
In a recent issue of Men’s Health magazine, I read a list they published called “23 Life Lessons to Teach Your Kids”. It had a wide variety of simple-but-sensible gems of advice for dads who want to pass a meaningful legacy on to their children. Number four on the list challenged fathers to give their kids “[a] team to love. It’s a durable pleasure, best passed from father to child.”
I agree, and can’t wait to take Harrison to his first Cardinals game.
Take a moment to read the complete list of 23 Life Lessons to Teach Your Kids — good reading for dads.
Sometimes things in life take you by complete surprise. I wasn’t expecting today to bring me an experience that I’ll never forget — I never thought that something so seemingly insignificant could bring me to tears. But it did.
I am not someone who cries easily (I rarely even tear up), but this evening as my little boy began to drift off to sleep in my arms, the tears began to well up in my eyes. I wasn’t crying because he was sick or injured, I wasn’t crying because I had to leave him for a week-long business trip, I wasn’t even crying because I was thinking about the emotional day we brought him home. It sounds so silly to say it, but I cried because he was there with me at that moment, and I was there with him. We just were. Together.
I’m sitting here now wondering how I can explain my feelings in more sensical terms, but I can’t. I’m not even sure why I felt the need to blog about it. I just want to remember how I felt tonight.
I love you Harrison.
Though our hearts have known him as our son since the moment he was born, on December 19, 2008, Harrison Michael Gray became our legally adopted child. As I look back on 2008 — a year that will be forever seared into my memory — I can’t help being floored by the vast debt of gratitude I owe to so many who were involved in this process.
God – Thank you for your grace. Despite our uncertainty, fear, anger, and impetuous desire to be in control of conceiving a child, you showed us unfathomable grace by giving us a better gift than we could ever have imagined or achieved on our own.
Heidi – Thank you for being faithful. No matter how hopeless things seemed, you never gave in to bitterness. Your ability to give things over to God both astonishes and encourages me. I am honored to call such an amazing and beautiful woman my wife, and I’m excited to see you now as the mother of my son. I love you.
Birth Mom – Thank you for your selflessness. I cannot comprehend the physical, emotional, and spiritual struggle you endured to make the decision to entrust your firstborn child to a couple you barely knew. Please know that we recognize the enormity of your gift and that we will strive each day to raise him to be a man who earnestly seeks the heart of God. We will never forget you, and we will constantly remind Harrison that you gave him to us not because you didn’t love him, but because you loved him so much.
Barbara & Frank – Thank you for your dedication. Without the two of you, this could never have happened. Barbara, your persistence, clear-headed guidance, and endless patience amazed me. Your ability to give so freely of yourself and ask nothing in return is a shining testament to the love of Christ that I know lives in you. Frank, your office made the call that started this whole thing — thanks for picking up the phone. Also, your expertise made it possible for us to focus on what was most important and avoid the hassle of all the legal mumbo-jumbo.
Family – Thank you for your support. You guys were the shoulders we cried on and the ones we called when everything felt like it was falling apart. Thanks for encouraging us and for fasting and praying for us day after day, hour after hour, minute after minute. We definitely could not have made it through this without you.
Friends – Thank you for your prayers. Whether you are close friends and co-workers we see on a regular basis, a friend of a friend of a friend who heard about our situation, or a guy who lit a prayer candle for us in Jerusalem, your prayers meant the world to us. Thank you for lifting our struggles and desires up to God. Thanks especially to those at Christ’s Church of the Valley, Palm Valley Church, Southeast Baptist Church, and Christ Presbyterian Church who gave so much of themselves through prayer, encouragement, gifts, baby showers, financial support, airline tickets, and about a hundred other generous things.
We are overwhelmed by the number of people who were involved in this process and will never forget the amazing out-pouring of support we received. We didn’t deserve what you did for us, but we will be forever grateful.
Thank you.
My youngest brother’s girlfriend Adrienne bought him the entire Guitar Hero: World Tour game for Xbox this Christmas. Needless to say, we rocked out to many-a-song in the days after Philip opened up that wondrous box of musical fusion.
Even though Harrison is still too young to play the game, he got into the fun in his own little way. Check out this video of our biggest fan:
I usually leave the family posts to Heidi’s blog, but I had to share another fatherhood first with you (if you don’t remember the first first, then click here to read it).
Sin-sen and I got to spend two entire days together while Mom was at a women’s conference. In addition to the usual fun we have during father/son time, we got to try a new dish for lunch and dinner – PEAS! Other than baby cereal, the only thing we currently feed him from a spoon is avocado and green beans. Based on past experience, a distaste for peas is part and parcel to being a child, so I wasn’t sure how this new culinary experience would fare.
When lunch rolled around, Harrison must have been extremely hungry because wasn’t even in the mood to play with his pre-meal toys. The initial bad mood made me wonder how this whole thing was going to end. Instead of boring you with words, I think I’ll just show you how it all went down:
I think the kid likes peas.
