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Effective mentoring means being in it for the long haul. It means continuing to show up and pour into the mentee, even through the hard times, offense, and dry spells. It means doing whatever it takes to meet the needs of the mentee. Mentoring well means showing constant, sacrificial, self-less love for the mentee. But effective mentoring is also draining. Continually showing up like that can drain everything you have; especially when you don't feel like you're starting to see any fruit from your time with your mentee. That is why longevity in mentoring is important. It's how you can continue to press in when mentoring gets difficult. Coach and Athletic Director Lanny Williams joins John this week to talk about the mentors in his life, the lessons he's learned in mentoring about longevity, some stories of kids he's impacted reaching out years later to thank him, and how we, as mentors, can set ourselves up to be in it for the long haul.
Purchase John's Book:
Mephibosheth! The Search for Identity, Purpose, and Community
Purchase John's Book:
Mephibosheth! The Search for Identity, Purpose, and Community
Purchase the You Can Mentor book:
You Can Mentor: How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission, and Break Generational Curses
youcanmentor.com
Creators and Guests
What is You Can Mentor: A Christian Youth Mentoring Podcast?
You Can Mentor is a network that equips and encourages mentors and mentoring leaders through resources and relationships to love God, love others, and make disciples in their own community. We want to see Christian mentors thrive.
We want to hear from you! Send any mentoring questions to hello@youcanmentor.com, and we'll answer them on our podcast. We want to help you become the best possible mentor you can be. Also, if you are a mentoring organization, church, or non-profit, connect with us to join our mentoring network or to be spotlighted on our show.
Please find out more at www.youcanmentor.com or find us on social media. You will find more resources on our website to help equip and encourage mentors. We have downloadable resources, cohort opportunities, and an opportunity to build relationships with other Christian mentoring leaders.
You can mentor is a network that equips and encourages mentors and mentoring leaders to love God, love others, and make disciples in their own community. Learn more at youcanmentor.com or follow us on social media. You can mentor. Our main man, mister John Bernard has released a book entitled Mephibosheth, The Search for Identity, Purpose and Community. It's an amazing book and I know it will encourage you and your fellow mentors.
Speaker 1:While you're at it, pick up my book, You Can Mentor, How to Impact Your Community, Fulfill the Great Commission and Break Generational Curses. You can find both of these resources on Amazon or on our website. Lastly, follow us on social media. Listen to the podcast and share everything you find valuable with your mentoring friends. We're here for you, and we wanna add value in whatever way we can.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much. You can mentor. We here at You Can Mentor are toying around with the idea of having a mentoring gathering or conference where mentoring leaders can come, get encouraged and equipped as they lead their ministries. Our goal in this is to create a safe and fun environment where mentors can share stories of struggles and successes while bonding together with their mentoring team and other mentoring leaders all across the country. If you lead a team of mentors and are interested in learning more about this gathering, please reach out to us.
Speaker 1:We'd love to pick your brain on how to create a gathering that best serves you and your team. Since this is our 1st year doing it, we want as much input as possible to create the best experience as possible. Thanks. You can mentor. Mentoring leaders, are you looking for a place to discuss important mentoring issues with other people who are passionate about mentoring?
Speaker 1:If so, let me introduce You Can Mentored Learning Labs, a monthly call with other mentoring leaders to support each other as we lead mentoring organizations and other mentors. Each call will focus on a topic and allow you to share as well as hear from others on the struggles and successes they have had regarding this specific topic. To sign up, please reach out to zachkarza@zach@ukanmentor.com, or find us on social media. Thank you. Remember, you can mentor.
Speaker 2:Welcome. You can mentor listener. I'm John. I'm sitting down today with a good friend of mine, and I am so excited for us to have this conversation because we're gonna start off with, we wouldn't say that you have a bone to pick, right, Lanny?
Speaker 3:No. Not a bone. Not not a bone.
Speaker 2:Not an issue. But Not
Speaker 3:an issue.
Speaker 2:You've got something interesting to talk about, and that is because recently we had what I hope to be a really good series, which is gonna be mentoring at the movies. Right? Because there are all these great movies that have mentor components and mentoring in them. Yes. And so even though we're gonna get through kinda some of the obvious ones, there are some there are some that are kinda, like, subtle.
Speaker 3:Right. Right? Right.
Speaker 2:By what by the way, what's your when I just say, like, mentoring movie, favorite mentoring movie, inspirational, someone, you know, feeding into somebody else.
Speaker 3:Any movie with Denzel Washington in in it, I'm all I'm all about it. I mean, I just went and saw the last one. I'm not mad on fire.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's been some years.
Speaker 3:The name of the movie. I just went and saw it.
Speaker 2:Is it a more recent movie?
Speaker 3:It's a more recent movie. Equalizer. Equalizer.
Speaker 2:The Equalizer. Okay. The Equalizer. 3. I gotta I gotta admit.
Speaker 2:I was at the movie theater real recently, and I walked by the Equalizer 3 movie Uh-huh. And I was like, what happened to equalizer 1 and 2, though?
Speaker 3:Equalizer 1 and 2 were phenomenal. They were good. This one this one's like he's he's he's got a bone to pick.
Speaker 2:Was he in equal was he the equalizer 1 and 2? Yes. Okay. Yes. I don't know, dude.
Speaker 2:Maybe I maybe I fell off the the face of the it's like I I slept through
Speaker 3:the first 2. And this one this one was done in Europe, and it just made I mean, it was it was like it was just like equalizer 12 on steroids.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:It was I mean, he's 60 years old. He's just, you know, kicking the
Speaker 2:He's up the ante.
Speaker 3:He's he's up the ante. It's it's better I mean, if you makes training day seem like like like a PGV.
Speaker 2:Training day is a mentoring movie, isn't it? I mean, like, it's the anti it's the anti mentoring movie. It's what not to do. Okay.
Speaker 3:Yes. Yes.
Speaker 2:Don't get your minty under the influence. Oh, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah. He because he was a he was a mentor, but I don't I don't know if he was a great mentor, but he was he was a mentor. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay. Well, my goodness. Yeah. We're not talking about those in the world now. We're talking about dead poet society.
Speaker 2:Zach and I sat down and we're watching this film, and we pulled some components of mentoring. And here's what I love, Lainie, is that you reached out and you said, hey. I need to talk about this movie with y'all. And so I said, okay. Well, here's what we're gonna do.
Speaker 2:We're gonna have an episode, which is this episode right here, right now. Right. And it's gonna be a little op piece. Okay? It's gonna be I wanna get your take, Lenny, off of, the movie itself because you watched it again recently.
Speaker 3:I did.
Speaker 2:And I want you to speak in a little bit because as a listener of our podcast, I think it's important for us to have this community where we realize we're gonna we're gonna have interaction with each other. Right? So, Lanny, maybe just kinda start off. And by the way, I'm so bad at this. Lanny Williams.
Speaker 2:This is my friend, Lanny Williams, is here. And so I'm gonna say your whole name now, and we're gonna get into your story a little bit here in a in a little while, Lanny. But but right now, let's just talk about this movie. Alright? Why don't you why don't you kind of remind me take us back to when you were listening to our episode and you began to think or feel something based on what what Zach and I said.
Speaker 2:So just kind of start that conversation.
Speaker 3:I'll start off by saying this also. It's Lanny Williams like Danny with an l is what I tell everybody.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Because when I say it, they're like, Lanny. Like, I can't believe your name is Lanny. I'm like, Danny with an l. They're like, oh, Lanny. So I had to throw that in.
Speaker 2:How many times have you probably had
Speaker 3:to say that in your life? No idea. So I'm like, they'll call me Randy, Lonnie. I just I just go with it sometimes. But when I'm serious about it, I'm like, it's Lanny.
Speaker 3:Yeah. With an l. And they're like, okay, I get that. So that's good. I wanted to help you out with it.
Speaker 2:Thank you for doing that.
Speaker 3:And I'm terrible with names. I'm going to tell you. I'm going to let let you let right now. Like, I am the worst with names. I know faces.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:I'm not. I'm not a good name person. I will remember you or remember something about you even about this movie, Dead Boys Society. I'm gonna be I know who Robin Williams is. I don't remember the name of this character in the movie.
Speaker 3:But so back to the movie while we're here. I was listening to your podcast. You and Zach were talking. And I will say this after after I listened to them, watched the podcast or listened to the podcast of the movie, I went back and I think I was listening to the episode of the the 200th episode between you and Zach. And I was good.
Speaker 3:So I got a different perspective on on on him. But nonetheless, as I was listening to the the your podcast on dead poor society, and and one of the comments that you you guys talked about was about mentorship about the teacher with a student. Mhmm. And there was a there was a comment that was made about that, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I felt like either you or Zach were saying how mentors should never go against what the parents want when it comes to the kids. Like and and I was just and so I was I was chewing on that a little bit.
Speaker 3:I'm like, but what if but what if what the parents are saying is dead wrong?
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:I mean, goes against biblical principles, goes against so what if it's bad? Right. When does a mentor step in and say, okay. I think this is bad.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. Mhmm.
Speaker 3:So that's kinda where I was coming from on that end because there's times and, you know, as as an educator, I've always told kids that there there are gonna be times in your life where people who have poured into you as a young person are gonna tell you things that that they feel are gonna be truth. But as you get older, you're gonna find out that that was not right. Mhmm. Like, I forgot my my oldest daughter told us one time, like, you guys made me believe that there was, like, in this oh, I don't I forgot what Britney told us, but she says, you guys told me when I was young that if I did this, that something bad was gonna happen. And she says, I believe that.
Speaker 3:And that is, you know, if you pull your tooth out, you know, something crazy. I forgot what it was. But but there are times when you're when you're young that maybe your parents or people that love you are gonna tell you something when when you're a young person that you're gonna realize when you when you get older that that wasn't right. Mhmm. And it's happened before with me, you know, with on on different issues and things like that.
Speaker 3:Not that they didn't love me.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:They were just wrong with how they felt about a situation, about a thing. Sure. Yeah. And so so even in
Speaker 2:the film, right, we're talking about I remember that me and Zach were watching this movie. And I think when you grow up and you had watched Dead Poets Society, you're kind of like, oh, man. Robin Williams is so hilarious and, like, so out of the box, so creative, tearing up that textbook, standing on those desks, right, and really trying to get these guys to live their life, you know, at a 100% carpe diem.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Right? And then we remember that the dad of kind of what we could maybe call the main character of the film who ends up taking his own life. So this is, you know, that's probably the the saddest and and kind of the most regretful part of the movie. I'm gonna
Speaker 3:tell you, I was crying. Right. When I when I watched the movie on Monday, I'm like, I I am I'm balling at that. When the mom said to the dad, tell me he's okay. And just the feeling that you could feel from it from a parent's perspective of just you witnessing that I've had a good friend of mine that is his son committed suicide.
Speaker 3:He walked in right after it happened. And I just went back to that moment like, oh, so mighty. Just the the feeling that you can have as a parent to to to go through something like that. And then it just it broke my heart at
Speaker 2:the time. So nothing we're snide on as a parent, for sure
Speaker 3:or not.
Speaker 2:So we kinda talked about, hey. We we're kinda siding with the dad on on this. Right? And so, again, we're I don't think that it's important for us even today with our conversation to really speak out against or I just what I'm really excited about, Lanny, was that as you listened and as you were thinking, oh, you know, what you guys talked about kinda made me think about this. And then that led to you calling me that I thought gave us a really good conversation that made me think, Lanny, you and I need to sit down and and have this conversation because you are so qualified in terms of your your past and your present even, which we're gonna get into, which I'm excited about.
Speaker 2:But also just so that we take note and and remember that we really wanna have this podcast to be something that is accessible between myself and Zach and those other contributors. And anytime that I interview someone, I hope that it kinda makes you think, oh, I wanna check out that author or got to do something really incredible with in the past with another coach, coach John Mosley as we had. And I just think that you guys as coaches, by the way, have such an incredible opportunity to minister to and impact lives that I just think, you know, we need to have our own our own coaches section.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. Well, I'm I'm all for that. And and I do I mean, I've you and I visited, I think I think it was last summer about some things about even, you know, you need to write a book, you know, and I'm like, I'm like, what? And so I'll tell you that that's been on my mind. Good.
Speaker 3:I mean, I've even got the title down. It's just the fact of sitting down on my computer and just putting things together, you know? So I do think that, you know, those things are important, you know, moving forward. But but yeah. And and once again, you know, as far as the movie's concerned, I I have I have to remind myself it's just a movie, but a lot of this does play out in real life.
Speaker 2:Oh, sure. Absolutely. No. I think that's really good. Now, again, in rewatching this in terms of the character who was there, you know, that Robin Williams character, do you think that he you know, what kind of grade do you give him in terms of of maybe being what we would call, like, healthy mentoring in that?
Speaker 2:Do you think that he did a pretty good job?
Speaker 3:I think he did a great job. I give him an A. The situation, the whole circumstance, you know, you made the comment about I think the comment was about, well, you know, as a mentor, you should always reach out to the parents. Well, we have to I was reminded that the parents dropped their kids off at the school. It wasn't like the teacher was able to see the dad often.
Speaker 3:Mhmm. And so the parents expecting, you know, the school to be a certain way. You know, you have this teacher here that that is new to the community as well. He's just being himself. He's just being what he felt like he needed to be and really trying to dig in deep to each and every student about, you know, man, find your passion.
Speaker 3:Find what find what what God created you for. And it may not be what your parents want you to be. And that's the thing that I that I got from it, you know, that that he was just really just pulling out of all the kids what was inside of him, allowing them to see things from a different perspective. I think sometimes we want to keep people in a box and say, think of it in these terms. But I think as an educator, even as a mentor, our our jobs are not necessary to lead anyone in in a certain direction.
Speaker 3:We just say, hey. You know, you know, the Robert Frost poem, you know, 2 2 roads diverge in the woods, and I traveled the 1, you know, however that goes, less followed or whatever. But you have to, you know, create your own path in life. And sometimes, you know, I'll say this. I thought that one of my daughters should be a teacher and one of them should not be teaching, and both of the opposites just happened for them.
Speaker 3:But but I saw one of them as one, and I didn't see the other one as one. And the one that is one is a very good one, the one that isn't. You know? It's but what we expect, our our job as parents is to get them to where they can lean on the heavenly father and not necessarily anyone else. But in life, as you will find out through my life, that people come in at different times and moments, and they prod you in certain directions and certain things.
Speaker 3:And maybe that's just God's way of saying, you need to hear this now, and that's good. So Absolutely. And and so I didn't I didn't think the teacher was was did a bad job. I I thought he did a great job. I I do think the institution itself didn't allow a lot of outside thinking when it came to what they were doing.
Speaker 3:I think they wanted everyone to you know, everyone's supposed to go to Harvard. You know, 75% of the kids are gonna go to Harvard or or some Ivy League school. Great. But but what about the other 25% that wasn't going? Where were they gonna go?
Speaker 3:You know, what were they gonna do? You know? So that's my thoughts on that. Like, there was there's another percentage that didn't go to Harvard. So what was their path in life?
Speaker 2:No kidding. No kidding. No. I mean, I hear you. Now you're preaching here because, again, even with what I get to do, you know, with the creative kid, right, the skater, the musician, man, those kids.
Speaker 2:I think organized sports is really an incredible thing, right, to begin it to get into at a young age, especially. So you mentioned Denzel Washington even last night with my teenagers. Mhmm.
Speaker 3:I was watching remember
Speaker 2:the titans in the years because it's the quintessential, like, youth ministry trip movie. I don't know if you knew that, but back in the day, you couldn't get on a bus to Colorado ski trip and not watch. Remember the titans. No. 5 times on the way there.
Speaker 2:Right? So funny. You know, all those all those little teachable moments, Denzel Washington being Denzel Washington, of course. But, like, the beauty of organized sport is that it shows someone who they are, and it shows them what they're to do, and it gives them automatic community. Right?
Speaker 2:I mean, you're identified as a as a as a player, offense, defense, whatever your role is, that others are depending on you. I mean, you learn all these really important things about life through organized sports, but we don't all respond to organized sports either. And so we don't we don't kinda have those coaches. Now, Lanny, let's you and I kinda take a a turn in our conversation. Tell me about, you know, when did the mentor start making a difference in your life, whether it was a teacher or a coach?
Speaker 2:You know, I know that you you have been an athlete your whole life. Why don't you just start telling us what it looked like for those people that that were starting to invest in you and to kinda teach teach you how life is supposed to be lived?
Speaker 3:Yeah. And I would have to say growing up in in in an east Texas town, Mineola, parents were divorced at a young age. And and it wasn't just me. It was it was a group of guys in in my hometown that this group of coaches came in. And and I will always talk about, you know, for for moments in time.
Speaker 3:So I do feel like that God in my life has placed people there in in really peculiar times for a moment, and then they're gone. Not gone, but but but it's just like it's the season
Speaker 2:beginning of the season. Yeah.
Speaker 3:It's like it's like here now going later. So, you know, in Miola, we had this group of coaches that came in. We had coaches that were there that were phenomenal as well, but they really poured into us. And this is my first time I've ever heard about FCA. Never heard that before.
Speaker 3:And so we got involved with that
Speaker 2:fellowship of Christian Athletes,
Speaker 3:which is still around the day, still still a big entity in in a lot of public school settings and in private school settings as well. So I had a group of coaches that came in and really poured into some young men that really needed it. Guys that look like me, guys that that that had situations like like mine, that my parents were great. My parents loved me. But but as a young man and and when you when your parents are divorced and you made a decision to stay with your mom and don't go with your dad, you know, I'm sure my mom was afraid of, man, who's gonna be the who's gonna be who's gonna be influential in my son's life.
Speaker 3:And and and not not that that was a that was a that bad of a deal because my dad was still there, but on a day to day basis, these men just just really just put these coaches poured into us and really showed us there's a lot more about sports outside of sports. And this is where becoming a coach, wanting wanting to be like them, wanting to be become a coach like them. You know, this is this is kind of what I want to do. And it was so great. And then from from that point on, I got a chance to go play professional baseball, got drafted.
Speaker 3:And then during that time, had a situation happen where where a coach made me feel a certain way about being a made me feel weak about being a Christian ball player. So I questioned whether or not I was I was I was a Christian in playing baseball because of what he said about how he didn't like Christian athletes that they were weak. I think, well, I'm not weak, so I must not be a Christian. But then during that time frame, a guy by the name of Sean Collins came in, who was who was a a very strong Christian baseball player and showed me that you can do this and be a, you know, a a Christian guy playing baseball. So I struggle with that, you know, with that aspect of it.
Speaker 3:And then as as a coach, when when I moved to Brenham where I met you, Greg Jerkins, you know, was was a guy that we I learned how to play guitar with with you and him. We all got together, and he was just an older guy that came into my life and meeting with him, you know, all the time along with Troy and Casey. Mhmm. We ran together and did those things. It was like we were there.
Speaker 3:And all of a sudden, you look and Greg passed away, you know, a few years back. And, you know, Casey and his family moved to up north. And then we move away. And it's like it's like what you thought you needed that you're going to have for the rest of your life. Like, this is going to be my huddle.
Speaker 3:All of a sudden it becomes like and then they're gone again. So there's been these moments in my life and time where people have just poured in, and then, you know, they've been gone. And and and I'll say this, John, and I mentioned this to you earlier, I've always been a receiver. I've never been, like, a giver. I've never been I've wanted to, like, find someone to, like, mentor with and really reach out to, but I've been one that's been more of receives it than I have been or seek a person that says, hey, I wanna mentor you.
Speaker 3:I want us to sit down and go through these, you know, this 12 step book together. I've never and for me, it just feels awkward, but I've learned that through my teachings, through my coachings, through all that, I have been a mentor without even really trying to be a mentor. Mhmm. But
Speaker 2:So, Landon, let me stop you just for a second because I think you raise a really good point. And you and listener, as you know, you know, we both you kind of shot through your life in in a way, which is good because we only have so much time when your life is very full.
Speaker 3:Minutes is what you told me.
Speaker 2:You've got you've got some great experiences under your belt. And and, again, you know, to hear stories about what it what it meant to be an athlete, I think it's incredibly interesting to think about whether it was a coach or someone above you that kinda questioned the connection between being a strong believer and and then being an elite athlete and how Mhmm. Those 2 don't work. I mean, I we could have a podcast just about that alone, I think. Yeah.
Speaker 2:But to set to to share that timeline of understanding that you and I'm sure you identified very quickly how these people made a great impact in your life. And you were it sounds like you probably just understood that for these seasons, you would you'd kind of mine what you want, you know, or get what you'd get from these people, the characteristics, the the these role models where you said, man, I really like how these guys are living their life, and I like how they speak, and I like how they re react. I mean, that's the dream when we think about what a mentee should be picking up. Right? Like, if saying, oh, wow.
Speaker 2:I really I'm getting a lot from this person as they live their life. Like, that's how I wanna live my life. Right. We always want a mentee to point to their mentor saying, they get it, and I want to try to figure out what it takes to be like them someday. Right?
Speaker 2:And so now at this point, though, you know, you you make an interesting point to say that and I this is kind of what here's my question going a long way just to ask this question. What what do you think has has made it what made it awkward for you maybe to be apprehensive about pursuing a more formal mentoring relationship to somebody who you'd say, hey. I wanna I wanna kinda pour into you even if it is for a season, but for us to maybe have these times together that we meet and then we just kinda share life together. What what
Speaker 3:I think I think the imperfectness of me. Okay. The the part of me the part of me that knows me, the part of me that knows that maybe I feel like I'm not worthy of mentoring someone. But as I've as I've hammered through that and as I've had had had a struggle with that, I've no. You recognize that people are people.
Speaker 3:My mentors had issues. The people that that really poured into my life, they had problems also. Now my thoughts were I perceived them as this perfect person knowing that they're not. They all had struggles.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:But it was just one of those things where I'm just like, am I worthy of even saying, hey. And do you say to someone, hey, I want I want to be your mentor? Is that how this works? Or is it does it just organically happen to where you say, hey, let's let's go out and hang out and just want to get I want to invite you over to do this, to hang out with the family, or or let's go catch a you know, let's go go to Topgolf and hang out. You know, it's it's it's and and I'll say this.
Speaker 3:Greg, Sean, coach Sherman, coach Hughes, Troy, Casey, I think Troy and Casey, we were the only ones that really where we said that we're going to run together and we're gonna pray together. There was only there was only one we had not rules, but there was only one set of where I felt like that we had mentors, where we strategically set out to do certain things. Mhmm. The other ones is just it was just, hey. You wanna go fishing, you know, with Greg?
Speaker 3:Yeah. And, you know, I remember Greg and I have a conversation about I wanna learn how to play an instrument. He said, man, I've been thinking about that also. What about we we get together with with Mhmm. Booker, guitar, and let's get together, and we we we sought out you.
Speaker 3:And and Yeah.
Speaker 2:So no one maybe no one let Lanny, in in your experience in your life, are you saying that no one really kinda cornered you and said, listen. No. We're gonna start a 6 month program where we meet on Tuesday mornings at 2:30, and I'm going to feed into you.
Speaker 3:It was never like
Speaker 2:that. Instead, it was organic. Yeah. But and yet there was probably some intentionality in it when you kinda realized, hey. Let's let's just kinda spend some time.
Speaker 3:I think the intentionality came from God. Mhmm. I'm not gonna say it. I would love to think that Greg Jerkins sought me out. I would love to think that I would love to think that Sean Collins sought me out.
Speaker 3:Maybe God placed it on their heart to say, hey. This brother right here needs some help. You know, may maybe that's what it was. But I think that once again, my heavenly father knowing me, knowing what I needed at that time Mhmm. This person was a good fit for me at that time.
Speaker 2:Sure. Yeah. And that's the beauty. That's what I love about mentoring is that it's not a one size fits all. I love the fact that there can be different personality types that address it in different ways.
Speaker 2:I think that there are those that are on the one end end of the spectrum to say, I need this to be highly organized. I I need this to be a program. Right. I need a start date and an end date, and then all the way at the other end of that, you have those who say, you know what? I just kinda wanna spend some time with this person.
Speaker 2:Right. And whether you're a mentee that that even you know, I can kind of attest to that too, Lanny. There have just been men that I've met who I've thought there's something about them. They just kinda get like, they they seem to have an in a way kinda what I want, like, in terms of character development and just personality. And so, know, to say, hey.
Speaker 2:Can we just spend some time together?
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:And, again, not knowing what you're gonna glean or or how that's going to end out, I'm not even gonna know what the end is looks like. I just want to, for this time, know that that us spending time together, that us sharing in life, that us fishing, going out to eat a meal together is going to be of of mutual benefit.
Speaker 3:I mean, John, a a a great example of of that for me is just you and I. Mhmm. I mean, you you were the youth minister at our church. I I don't think I came to to hang out with you because I knew that you could help my kids out by being I mean, you were doing your job. And for whatever reason, I remember hearing you give the word at church, and and, I mean, I was I was telling Vic and we talked about this.
Speaker 3:I said, John is just such a a breath of fresh air. He's just like a nice cold flowing water over you every time you talk to him. And you and I haven't really, I mean, connected. Once you left for him with the Belleville, we stayed in touch. But it wasn't like we connect and you came to Waco.
Speaker 3:And I think I reached out to you here. We went and had a meal. And it's like it was like the time it was like we just saw each other yesterday.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. Mhmm.
Speaker 3:And I feel that every time we meet and we don't meet, I mean, maybe once a year. I mean, you were with my motorcycle one time. I spent the whole day with you there. And it was just it's just one of those things where where where I don't think anything was scripted.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:I just think it just happened.
Speaker 2:You're right. I think our friendship, it you you wouldn't look at us on paper and say, like, these 2 guys Right. Are gonna be really good friends together. And that's that's the beauty of, I think, the Lord. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Honestly, that's a beauty. There's an
Speaker 3:arm wrestling thing in there too that well, why you would say that wouldn't happen as well. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So That's also gonna be
Speaker 3:a front
Speaker 2:of their episode. Yeah. You That's on my that's on my arms sports podcast, Manny.
Speaker 3:That is great.
Speaker 2:Oh, man. For sure. Again, that's that's what I love about the church. Yeah. You know, honestly, it's it's because of our faith that that we are friends.
Speaker 2:Now it's also because we're both incredible athletes. Yeah. And I think that people realize that enough in terms of in terms of me. I think I read something that Deion Sanders says that the hardest thing in sport is to hit a baseball. Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Is that true?
Speaker 3:Absolutely. And maybe to beat beat John Bernard in arm wrestling is probably the second one.
Speaker 2:You're right. You're right. You're right up there. Yeah. I challenged never mind.
Speaker 2:I was about to just put the call out. It was gonna turn WWE right now. Yeah. Yeah. What what what put a word out.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry, listener. I almost got Lanny almost pushed the hot button with me, and I'm sorry about that. When was it for you? I just just for sport, we're gonna go a little bit into this. Okay?
Speaker 3:Good.
Speaker 2:Because sports has played a major role in your life. I mean, again, we can't even talk about anyone investing in you and and what you invest in others because mainly it's been through that through the way of sports. When did you make the decision of baseball is your main is your main sport in terms of your coaching?
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:You're a state champion coach. My goodness. And when was it, though, that you kinda had to be standing at the at the at the crossroad? Okay. Between football and and baseball, am I right in saying that?
Speaker 2:Right. And then you you chose baseball.
Speaker 3:It's funny. I mean, that's that's a great question. And the answer is this, that that I felt like that my college coach, Sporty Carpenter, when I was recruited, told me that I could do both in college.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry. Did you say Sporty Carpenter?
Speaker 3:Carpenter. Yes. Exactly right. He's a he's a Henderson State ready. He's an he's an icon there.
Speaker 3:So Sporty Carpenter told me when on the recruiting trip, you can do both at Henderson State. So I go to Henderson Okay. Play football my freshman year. Came time to go to baseball, he says, you need to make a decision. And and I was like, well, I thought we made decision.
Speaker 3:I was gonna do both. He says, no. You need to make a decision if you're gonna do football or baseball. I was like, okay. Then I'm I'm gonna choose baseball.
Speaker 2:So And and what what helped you
Speaker 3:make that decision? It's it's what I wanted to do. It's it's what I it's it was just in me. I just I just love the game of baseball. I I like football.
Speaker 3:Football was I mean, you look at me and you think he's a football player. You don't see a baseball player. But I'll just there's there's something beautiful about the game of baseball for me. It's fast. It's slow.
Speaker 3:You have to think a little bit. It's I feel like it's just me all wrapped up in the one. There's there's these high moments, these low moments, these these moments of, you know, dullness and there's these high peaks, these low peaks. So I really liked it. Football is just, you know, just baseball can be long.
Speaker 3:It can be short. It can also be very, very long. It's very long. There's no time limit on it. Right.
Speaker 2:There's time to eat in baseball. This is what I like. This time
Speaker 3:we have conversations. Yeah,
Speaker 2:you're talking. Exactly. You're looking over. Yeah.
Speaker 3:But there was something about it that I just liked. So when when he made the decision and I say he did when I felt like he gave me the drew the line in the sand, said, okay, this is what I'll do then. And so I did that. And and I felt that I've been blessed by that decision to do that and glad that maybe he did challenge me to say, you need to make a decision. Yeah.
Speaker 3:And I think this is the path that God wanted me to go on. So I did that and really got a chance to play for some amazing coaches, some amazing managers, and then became became a coach myself. And baseball was my main sport. And when I went to Burnham, I went there and I went there as a to interview for a baseball job. Football just happened to be the second thing that I wanted to do or that I did there.
Speaker 3:Enjoyed football. Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed the kids that I coached and coached a lot of great athletes, but baseball is where my heart was.
Speaker 2:Sure. Sure. Yes. So when talk talk about, you know, how did you know that it was tried it was time to maybe turn that corner of taking the focus off you as an as a player, as an individual, and understanding that you wanted to really point your career even as one who would be investing in others as a coach and an educator.
Speaker 3:The beginning was hard because making that transition from, you know, I just got done playing professional baseball in 96, teaching and coaching in the spring of 96 was done playing baseball. The fall of 96, I'm teaching and coaching. So that was very hard because you only saw yourself as an athlete. And then I think as you start teaching and you get away from the sport a lot, you move away from that and you're in the classroom and you're teaching kids, you see, okay, here's this is kind of like the purpose just all of a sudden comes into play. And then I enjoyed teaching geography.
Speaker 3:I mean, it's one it's one of the coolest classes. I mean, it's the best thing about geography is that it doesn't it doesn't stay in a lane. Geography, there's so many rabbits you can chase in geography because it changes. Everything changes. It's not like world history or math or geography is ever changing.
Speaker 3:So. Yes. Yeah. Very. It's always courage.
Speaker 2:So it's always changing.
Speaker 3:You can always look back at the past. Look at look at the present and see and you can try to predict what the future is going to be about. So it was a cool class to teach and I enjoyed doing that. So I really enjoyed teaching just as much as I did coaching. But I applied both in in both jobs.
Speaker 3:I applied the passion that I have for coaching in the classroom while I taught, and I also applied the teaching as a as a in in geography as a baseball coach in the and really just be try to become a really good teacher there and really break things down and simple and let kids understand the reason why. And I I felt that I was very good at both of them. I felt that I was very good educator and a very good coach because of because of what both gave me in the other aspects of
Speaker 2:it. Sure. Sure. And a great opportunity to influence literally hundreds of lives over your career. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Thousands even. So then you made the decision to become an administrator. Part. How tell talk us just a little bit about some of that.
Speaker 3:It was you know, it's it's one of those things, and we moved to Cedar Park to become a coach there, baseball coach. But part of the tie with Cedar Park was that I had to be a football coach, which straight. And I say had to be and I don't mean in a negative way. It's just that part of the baseball job was tied to a football job. Great.
Speaker 3:Loved it. No big deal. We were successful there on both ends. But there just came a point in time where in Cedar Park, like a lot of towns, you can't necessarily live inside of Cedar Park. You have to live out.
Speaker 3:So we were living out and they worked out in the morning. So I'm getting up at 3:15 in the morning to go to football practice. And I'm the head baseball coach. And and just, you know, I remember Vic telling me one time, man, you look tired. And I was tired because you want to be good at both.
Speaker 3:And I'm not the kind of person that can slack on one to make sure that the other one is great. I'm going to be a great football coach and be a great baseball coach and give my time to both. But because that's the way that I'm wired, it was just taking a lot of time. And so I just I wanted to I wanted to get away from the football side of things and just do straight baseball. But they have rules.
Speaker 3:And Leander as this is, you can't just do one sport. Great. No big deal. So I made a decision, prayed about it. And this job opened up in clean as an athletic director, assistant athletic director.
Speaker 3:And I said, you know, let's just see what happens. And there's another cool story behind the boss that I work for now. But because of that is where I am now. The the the crazy story about that, I will share this real quick, is that he saw me as a he came to a game. His son played baseball at Harker Heights.
Speaker 3:He saw me did know me. I don't know. I didn't I didn't know Mike at the time, but he saw me at the umpires meeting, saw me coach my baseball team, and he said that he said that day he said that if I ever have have an opportunity to hire that guy, I wanna hire that guy. And this was a year before I got the job at at Killeen. Okay.
Speaker 3:The next thing you know, I fill out an application for Killeen, and he's a guy. He's just like, this is crazy that you're the guy that I said that that I wanna reach out to if I ever have an opportunity to. So it's just it's just crazy. Yeah. Crazy how God works, man.
Speaker 3:So cool story.
Speaker 2:Man, that is good stuff.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's a reminder, I think, for us to understand that, man, hopefully, you know, in all things professionally, personally Right. That we're living our life in in a way Right. That someone would say Right. If that person ever becomes available Right. I wanna I wanna hire them.
Speaker 2:I mean, that that speaks to your character, and and it's just a good reminder.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:Blaine, I think that you have so many good stories you even shared, and I hope that you're gonna maybe share those stories even now as we think about the influence that you've had as one who invests in others. Mhmm. And, you know, we always say you never really get the opportunity or some people will go their entire life and never even get to kinda hear some of those those stories of how they impacted or or what good they have done because mentoring is farming. Right? It's it's every day, and and it's unpredictable, and it's full of drought, and it's full of too much rain, and it's full of whatever else.
Speaker 2:And, oh, how the locusts come in the fields. But it it's also a reminder that that there is God at work, first and foremost, that he is sovereign, and that also there are things that our mentees or our students are seeing that we may never hear about. But every now and then, we do get that. We do get that opportunity to hear about that. So, okay, I'm going to put you on the spot, though, just in terms as we wrap up to kind of talking about your career.
Speaker 2:I mean, you're no spring chicken. All right. You're well, you're going to have to retire eventually.
Speaker 3:Well, I mean, if I told you my age, you'd be surprised. But but if you saw me, you'd be like, you're that old. Yeah. So I get right. Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's true. People are always thinking that you're you're probably in your mid thirties.
Speaker 3:I'll be I'll be honest, Sean. There there are times when I wake up in the morning, I'm thinking I feel like that 18 year old kid in Manila and look in the mirror. I was like, you're not that 18 kid in the you look in, you know, like Right. But but I do I do I feel good. You know?
Speaker 3:I do. And and go through these moments of just, you know, the the age creeps in. But I try to eat good when I can, try to stay very healthy, try to work out as often as I can and just be mindful of what God gave me and just be the best version of of of me that I can be when it comes to that.
Speaker 2:You've been kind of a mentor to me because I'll hit you every now and then. I'm so inconsistent when it comes to Mhmm. Diet and Mhmm. And even working out. But, you know, as as I age, I've hit you up with some questions Yeah.
Speaker 2:From time to time, and that's always been really helpful. So tell me this, though. You're gonna eventually retire.
Speaker 3:Correct? Eventually.
Speaker 2:Okay. So once you eventually once you eventually retire, Lainie, how do you think that you're gonna have you thought have you given any thought to it? Like, how are you gonna kinda itch that scratch scratch that itch, maybe? I think that's true.
Speaker 3:That itch. How are
Speaker 2:you gonna scratch the itch of as you have been one that has spent really the majority of your life up to this point investing in others. Mhmm. How do you see that kind of
Speaker 3:remaining? That's the you know, honestly, John, that that's a great question. It's one. It's just it's just a relevance piece. Like, how do you how do you remain relevant?
Speaker 3:And and that's the it's probably the thing that I mean, I was praying about that just this morning just like, man, it's like, what what do you what do you want me to do? Like, do you want me to stay in clean? Do you want me to become a head athletic director somewhere? Do you want me to retire and take on another job? And and it's it's the question that I have, you know, like like, you know, because I wanna be I wanna do what he wants me to do, not what I wanna do.
Speaker 3:Sure. And scary that I'm saying that because I know he was like, really? Okay. Let's just see if we will.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And it's recorded now.
Speaker 3:Yes. It is. Yeah. So it's true. You know?
Speaker 3:But but those are my those are my thoughts. I want to be financially sound. Like, I'll say that as well. I'm not ashamed to say that because when it talks about your legacy and your family and what you wanna leave behind, I I do want I do want that to be a big part of it as well. But part of me is just like, man, how do you remain relevant, you know, as you do get older?
Speaker 3:You know? Because I think a lot of people struggle with that. You look at professional athletes that that are no longer pros anymore, and they're just like Mhmm. The cheers are gone. Like like Mhmm.
Speaker 3:Then what? You know? So so that that's that's a great question. I don't have an answer, to your question. It's something that I'm constantly seeking.
Speaker 2:You're gonna own a Chick Fil A?
Speaker 3:On a Chick Fil A. And then I would I would love to own Chick Fil A. That'd be great if we could. But who knows? Who knows?
Speaker 2:Awesome. Awesome. Well, that's the beauty of this, Lanny, is that is that you understand that you have been fed into well Yeah. And that you have spent you have been, you know, well done, good and faithful servant. Right?
Speaker 2:You've been living obediently every step of the way when god gives you a new circumstance or a new opportunity. You walk through that door, It's scary. Right. But it's been neat to see as a friend that you accomplish much and and do that. And and to know what you do that you do it well.
Speaker 2:I mean, you mentioned earlier, you're not gonna do a thing if you're not gonna do it to to the best of your ability. Right. And so I think that's a good reminder for us as well. Would you just take a minute to share 1 or 2 of those stories from you you I think you just had a a really great story for us about someone that you had some influence on that that did come back and and mentioned to you in a text.
Speaker 3:And and I've had I've had several things like that that occur. You know, when you're in it and and and you think you're doing the right thing. And and I remember one time as a teacher in Burnham, I was so mad. You know, you you have these classes of kids, man, that she's like, and if you if you never taught before, you won't get this. What if you have, you'll get this like, I don't like this class, right?
Speaker 3:Like, for whatever reason, we're not jobbing like me and this me and these 7, 12, 14 kids. But I like
Speaker 2:the other class. History of the room is
Speaker 3:just not right. And I remember one time in class when I was just so mad because I was pouring my heart out into him and really being, you know, loving on kids like like God's told
Speaker 2:me to. It was standing in delivering them. Right? It was leaning on me there.
Speaker 3:It was it was that moment. And but they're not getting it. And I'm and I'm like, man, what is the deal? I remember I was having these kids do test test corrections one day, and I've never done. I'm not a test test correction kinda guy.
Speaker 3:I don't like giving points away just to for you to say, oh, here's the right answer. So I wasn't big on that, but that's it. With these with these kids, I'm gonna do that. So I do it, and and I'm like, okay. You know, do your test corrections so you can get points.
Speaker 3:And and I looked up, and this kid, he's not he has nothing. He doesn't have the test at all. He's just he's on this he's writing a letter. And I'm like and and I wanted to, like, rip it on my no. I'm not going to.
Speaker 3:I'm just whatever. He don't want it. He doesn't want it. So he he he gets some of the letter. He puts it on his desk, and, he decides to to get the test corrections out.
Speaker 3:He makes 1 or 2 of the bell rings. He leaves. He puts this letter on my desk, and the letter absolutely blew me away because at that moment in time, I was like, I need some help on how to reach these kids. And he says to me in the letter, I know that you pour into us every day, and I know that you think that we don't listen to what you tell us. But I want to tell you I've never had a man talk to me the way that you do, and you appreciate it.
Speaker 3:I know that I don't do right by you all the time, and I'm sorry, but I wanna thank you for being the man that you are for me. And so I'm just sitting at my desk, and I'm just crying because I'm thinking it's not about as a teacher, you always think it's about the a's and the b's and the c's. And sometimes, man, it's just it's just what you say. You know, I've had moments where I had a kid in my class that I shared with you earlier that was a freshman. He left and went to Burton after his freshman year, and he became a coach 10 years later.
Speaker 3:And he he finds me on Instagram and says, hey. I wanna let you know. And now he he didn't play baseball for us except for 1 year, and he wasn't with me because I was a I was a varsity coach at the time. But he sends me this letter, this this message on Instagram. His his name is Billy De Ramos, and he just said, hey.
Speaker 3:I wanna let you know that I haven't talked to you in a while, but but I've taken the job, accepted the job as a head high school baseball coach at Brian Rudder. And I wanna thank you for everything that you've done. In the interview process, they asked me, you know, why do you wanna become a coach and why do you wanna do this? He says, and my answer was you. And now, John, I had no direct influence over this kid.
Speaker 3:We didn't talk all the time. We didn't we didn't we didn't chat. I mean, maybe he likes something on his Instagram every now and then he put out there. He's just a he was a bullpen catcher. I don't say just a bullpen catcher.
Speaker 3:He was a bullpen catcher at A&M. He wasn't one of these flashy kind of kids, but he sends that to me. And it's just, you know, it was God's way of saying, man, sometimes mentoring isn't what you think it is. It's not what it's not the go to the coffee shop. It's just living your life out in front of people and allowing me to water what you plant, things like that.
Speaker 3:Amazing. Moments like that. So Totally true, Leni. So I
Speaker 2:think I think a major pull away from our conversation today is that we're doing a lot more mentoring than we're even Oh, yeah. Aware of. Right? That it's just happening left and right. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it can, you know, it can be bad if we're if we're not really aware, consciously aware of of how we're living, what we're saying, how we're responding, you know, even just what our face looks like. Right. Right. When we're when we're responding to to someone not knowing. But, man, aren't they just kinda always watching, and aren't they always processing?
Speaker 2:That's what we always wanna talk about. You know, the life of MNT is one that they're they have no idea what you're going through because they don't care because their world is Right. Their world. And yeah. And so if we have a bad day, it could it could really they can personalize that so so quickly.
Speaker 2:But I I love to hear those stories that that you share and just the the knowledge that there are those times when when they will come back and say, hey. You you didn't even know it, but, you know, again, I'm basing my entire career on the fact that you had an influence over me over semester and what a joy that was
Speaker 3:to be
Speaker 2:a part of. Well, Lanny, I kinda wanna land the plane on our conversation, which I think has been great. And it's hard to, because I wanna keep talking, but, you know, I value for in many ways for many things. But as we kind of just wrap up our our talk, I wanna just focus again back on our our mentors who are listening, and I want them to be equipped and I want to be them to be encouraged. And when I look at your career, your mindset, your obedience to the Lord, it's it's been it's been rich, and it's been fruitful.
Speaker 2:Can you just maybe share a a lesson for longevity? I mean, what what is it? I know that you're gonna say it's obedience to Christ. Right? But they're just you know, if you could if you could have these listeners here in this room to maybe spur them on, what would you what would
Speaker 3:you be And and I'm glad you asked that question. 2 things come to mind. You know? It's the, you know, the when when Christ was asked by the Pharisees, you know, what is the greatest commandment out of out of the 10? And and it was just like, you know, love the lord with all your heart and love your brothers yourself.
Speaker 3:And my whole my whole I don't wanna say mantra because it because it takes away from what he said, but love God, love people. I think that if we can stay in that lane, then everything else will take care of itself. And I want to tell you, I'll be the first to tell you that I've messed up a lot. But I my intention is for that. Love God, love people to stay in that lane as much as we can.
Speaker 3:And when when you do that, you know, I I can't respond to how people respond to me. Sometimes, how they respond has nothing to do with me. It's just that, man, they're in a bad place in their life. It's just a bad day.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:But, you know, my heavenly father says, you know, love on them, love God, love people, and let let everything else be where they make us. If you do those 2 things, it's very, very hard to break any of the other any of the other things if you just stay in that lane. I've missed the mark. You know, I'll be the 1st to admit that. And I think anyone could say, I mean, I haven't always loved God and love people all the time, but these are the things that I that I definitely try to live with now.
Speaker 3:And, you know, the other thing is a prayer of Jabez. You know, God bless me indeed and enlarge my territory. Place your hand up on me and keep me from you. Will that I may not harm anybody, You know? And that's every night when I lay down, that's that's my prayer.
Speaker 3:It's just, man, you know, bless me indeed, enlarge my territory, place your hands up on me, keep me from evil, that I may not harm anybody. You know? So that's that's where I am. Everything else anybody else that comes into my life, man, I just try to I try to just show them something greater than me when I come in contact with them. Haven't always been that way.
Speaker 3:Hasn't always been right. But as I've as I've seasoned in my life, I'm learning more and more. You know? To the dead poor society, I will say this, seeing the movie today as a 54 year old man versus seeing it back in 87 or 88 or 89 as a as a 19 year old man at 2 different 2 different aspects of the movie. Mhmm.
Speaker 3:You see it from a different perspective with a lot that's going on inside of that. But I appreciate you giving me the opportunity to come here and and and just have a conversation with you about it, man.
Speaker 2:Same here, man. Same here. Thank you so much for speaking about these things. And so I hear you love God, love people. It's as if it's as if we're in the locker room.
Speaker 3:And, you
Speaker 2:know, you're you're deciding did you ever get a chance to kind of decide what what, like, words would be over the door, you know, as you as you go out or, like, the the team? Did you or did you get did you get to inherit that? You know, was that already in the program? You know, the clear eyes? Yeah.
Speaker 2:Pure hearts.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah. My my my biggest thing is probably do life with good people. You know, just if if there was a mantra.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. If there was a if there was a thing, there was
Speaker 3:a slap on the way out. Do life with good people.
Speaker 2:That's it.
Speaker 3:No. If you if you can do that, it's it's all gravy from there.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. You got most of it taken care of. Love God, love people. That's for sure.
Speaker 2:Well, again, Lanny Williams, thank you for taking the time to speak into this. Listener, I know that you've gleaned some gold because I just I love having the opportunity to sit down with those who've lived some life and who especially have committed their life to, you know, this daily act of, Lord, I I surrender. I deny myself. Right? I don't I don't wanna do what I what I wanna do today.
Speaker 2:I want and I want to take up that cross, and I wanna follow you. Lanny, you've always been an example of that. And and also that, you know, even as you speak, you you share, hey. I don't always get it. And I think it's I think if that's a that's a good quality to have that humility.
Speaker 2:But the beauty of it is is that we understand too. We don't have to always like, we're not expected to always get it even too. Right? Even so, mentor, you are what you are in spite of and even maybe because of Right. Because of your flesh.
Speaker 2:You know? Because of the need that we have for for Christ. Because thankfully, he is faithful in spite of our being unfaithful, and so he is good. So, Lanny Williams, thank you for the reminder.
Speaker 3:Gentlemen, Art, thank you very much.
Speaker 2:Hey. You always have a place here, man. So I hope this isn't our last our last formal conversation even on this podcast.
Speaker 3:Not at all.
Speaker 2:Alright? I'll I'll be be coming to you, you know, maybe around World Series time. You
Speaker 3:know? Hey. It's it's the Astros we're well, that's that's gonna be okay. I mean, hands down. I think we can just we can just stop right there.
Speaker 3:That's right. Like, we're
Speaker 2:excited about the Astros right now because We've been very
Speaker 3:we've been excited about the Astros. Not just now, John. Not just now. Let's just let's keep it real. Let's keep it, you know, let's real talk.
Speaker 3:This this this the Astros has been about the Astros. And it always will be. It always will be.
Speaker 2:The no. Not the alpha moon, mate. That's something different. Listener, thank you for sitting down with us today. Please remember that you can mentor.