Two Dozen Basic Management Principles -- Pt. 20

Chapter 18

Graduation

The biggest moment of Lopez life did not take place in Beijing. His greatest moment came true nearly three years after the 2008 Beijing Olympics. To fully appreciate why December 16, 2011 was the greatest moment of his life, you must go back with him to Kimotong (Sudan) and Kakuma.

His village in Sudan was and is very poor by American standards. No one owns a car. No one has electricity. And there is no school in Kimotong. Very few people can read and write because there is no place to learn and no one there to teach them.

When Lopez was a boy, his father occasionally talked about sending him to Kenya for school – but that required money. Even if they had, Lopez would have only gotten a basic high school education.

Lopez arrived in Kakuma poor and hungry. It was there, that by God’s grace, he started school. There were no books, lessons were sung, and sticks and dirt served as pencil and paper. Encouragement came in the form of swats with a stick. Even after ten years of school, he wrote and did math at a first or second grade level. Never once did Lopez ever think that one day he would move on from the camp and go to college.

Thus, the greatest moment of his life came when he walked into the Sky Dome on the campus of Northern Arizona University carrying the banner of the W.A. Franke School of Business.

Jeremiah 29:11 says: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’” These words sound like God wrote them specifically for Lopez. He lived through disaster. He lived through hardship and death. Yet God never left him. He changed Lopez from the lost boy into Joseph. And just like Joseph in the Bible, He took what was once intended for evil and transformed it into good. Receiving his college degree along with the future that degree represented the ultimate expression of God turning disaster into a future and a hope for Lopez.

Management Lesson # 23 – In God’s Hands

Lopez’ path to obtaining a degree was neither easy nor direct. Yet, it was ordained from a sovereign God who is wiser than us. May we understand that all things happen in order for us to grow in dependence upon Him and in order for us to grow in Christlikenes.

Two Dozen Basic Management Principles -- Pt. 19

Lopez thought he was nervous when he spoke to the Dream Team. He was really nervous when it came time to put on the strap for the flag and walk out into Beijing’s Olympic Stadium. The flag was huge, and the wind whipped down the tunnel where he waited for the signal to start walking. “Don’t let that flag touch the ground, buddy,” the President had told him. Lopez thought it would not be hard. With the wind blowing, he was not quite so sure now.

 

Lopez took a deep breath and said a quick prayer. The official in charge of the order of the teams looked up at Lopez, “Okay, it’s time, he said. A Chinese girl with a sign that read “United States of America” took her place in front of Lopez. They took off walking.

 

He stepped out of the tunnel and a million camera flashes went off at once. The crowd cheered. Lopez walked down the track, his grip tight on the flagpole. He looked up at the giant Jumbotron. There on the screen, he saw President Bush, standing, saluting the flag. They then split the image in half. On one side was the President, his hand over his heart. On the other side was Lopez Lomong, the lost boy carrying the flag of his new home. He was no longer a lost boy or an orphan. He was an American.

 

A full week passed between the opening ceremonies and his first 1500 meter heat. He needed that time to come down out of the clouds. His adopted parents, Coach Paccia, and Tom Carraci (his best friend from high school) all came to watch him run.

 

He finished fifth in his first race but his time qualified him for the semifinals. Unfortunately, that race didn’t go quite so well. His normal strategy worked until late in the third lap when the field starting kicking at 500 meters to go! Lopez normally starting kicking at 300 meters. Lopez could not believe his eyes. He tried to keep up but his right leg would not respond. He came away with his worst time of the year, a full five seconds slower than his time in the quarter-finals.

 

His Olympic dream of winning a gold medal had come to an end. But his dream, first voiced in a refugee camp in Kenya, of competing in the Olympics for the United States of America had come true.

 

Management Lesson #22 – Don’t Quit

No matter how difficult your challenge. Never, never, never quit. Failure is not an option!