By GARY ANDREWS
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Several years ago I had the opportunity of coaching a ladies softball team. This was a slow-pitch team and there were many good athletes on this squad. In fact, most of them had played ball in community college and just wanted to continue playing as long as they could.
We were a good team and won a lot more games than we lost. These ladies would get down and dirty when it came to running, fielding, and even sliding into base. They had winning attitudes and it bothered them when we did not win.
After each game, I as their coach plus many of the players, would analyze our play and determine what we could improve on. It always came back to the same solution. Did we do the little things right? Were we a team that perfected the basic skills of running, catching, hitting, and throwing the ball?
If all of us would stop and think about it our lifestyle, integrity, character, attitude, and discipline is defined by the same standard we used with this ball team. Are you doing the little things that really matter?
Some of the time we get so busy in activities and work that we forget about the small things that makes life better. On occasions we seem to get up on the ‘wrong side of the bed’ and our attitude suffers all day long. When this happens we forget who we really are and dwell on what we do, whether it is our job or some other facet of life. We need to always remember that God values us for who we are and not what we do or are known for.
Our character suffers when our attitude is misplaced. The people you meet wants to know the real you and not some off-base, off-color version of you. We need to always remember than others determine our reputation, but we determine our character.
None of us need to get caught up in worldly attitudes or situations. Only you can protect your integrity and honesty and when you do this everybody will take notice. Many times when we fail it is because we planned to fail and not succeed.
The ladies ball team that I coached was successful because they wanted to be successful. In their practice sessions we used game like procedures and I never allowed them to get lazy. The secret to their success was their discipline to do the basics and the small things right. All of us have to realize that to succeed in life our first step must be commitment and make up our mind to discipline ourselves. Each morning we are allowed to wake up we should get our frustrations out of the way before we go into the world. It is our decision to what attitude we will have each and every day and to make every day a success because we paid attention to the little things. We all need to heed what the Psalmist tells us in chapter 25: 21; “May integrity and uprightness  protect me, because my hope is in you.” (Life Application Study Bible).
When we put our hope and trust in the Lord and lean on Him for everything that happens in our life then we are going to be disciplined in what we do and make sure all of the small things are taken care of.
Prayer: O God I praise you for every thing. Your blessings are tremendous and I pray that I can be the person you want me to be. Amen.
(Suggested daily Bible readings: Sunday – 1 John 4:7-11; Monday – Genesis 22:1-14; Tuesday – Hebrews 11:4-7; Wednesday – Isaiah 7:1-9; Thursday – Luke 9:57-62; Friday – Psalm 31:3-8; Saturday – Ezekiel 22:29-31.)
Gary Andrews is the author of Encouraging Words: 30-days in God’s Word. To obtain a copy go to his website www.gadevotionals. com.