We have had four terrific Summer Fun Nights. At our first one, the women’s softball game, I asked a lot of the players if they had a "side hustle." I think of a side hustle as something you do on the side that earns you a little bit of money. A couple of my favorites were pickleball paddle sales and hosting a wedding photo booth. My side hustle is delivering Amazon packages. Usually once or twice a week I pick up about 20-25 packages in Hazel Park and deliver them all over Metro Detroit wearing my blue Amazon vest.

My wife has had a side hustle for many years that has turned into more of a part-time job; it’s a small online business that I think she is really good at. She spends time purchasing, prepping, photographing, and posting items for sale. Most of the time she is selling things regularly; she loves doing it and fees good about contributing to our family's needs. But then she will hit a slow couple of days or weeks, and she starts to feel down about it all.

I coach basketball at our kids' school. Over the last six years, I have coached junior high boys for four years and varsity boys for two more. I really enjoy basketball (and so do our boys) and so it is a convenient way to stay involved in the life of our boys and their friends. My coaching record hasn’t been that great. In fact, last year after losing by two, three and four points in three consecutive games, I wondered if we would lose our next game by one. We did. Losing more than winning causes me to doubt myself and to lose focus. It starts to take the joy out of something I love.

The other day my wife was in the middle of one of her "sales famines." She was feeling down about it and so I asked, “What’s the difference between your lack of sales, and my basketball coaching losses?” When I'm feeling down about basketball, my wife reminds me that what I am doing with these boys is about more than just winning games. She helps me remember that the outcome is not completely under my control. When she is feeling down about her business, I remind her that all she can do is her best. The outcome is not under her control. I struggle when we don’t win, forgetting that we play games against another team that is also trying to win the game. I fall into the trap of thinking it's "win or else." She forgets that sales are not completely up to her. She needs others to like what she has and buy them. In both cases, when we rely on others for our satisfaction or our definition of success, we are regularly disappointed.

Is it reasonable to be disappointed when things don’t go our way? I think the answer is yes. But is it right to allow the world to define our success, and to let others control our satisfaction? I think we all know the answer to that.

Moses was described as faithful in Hebrews 3. Matthew 25 describes the servant as “good and faithful.” Colossians describes Onesimus as “our faithful and dear brother.” In I Peter 5, Silas is described as a faithful brother. Throughout the Bible we are called to be faithful, not to try to control our circumstances. God doesn’t guarantee us earthly results, but he does guarantee a reward in heaven for being faithful to Him. My wife needs to do what she can faithfully with her business and trust God for the results. I need to coach my players as best as I can and trust God for the results. What do you need to be faithful to do today? Will you trust God with the results?

Dave Kaynor

Administrative Pastor

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