Dear Derek,

Today is the day you leave for college. As I pen this letter, I am confident that you are still asleep. I’m up early again, as usual, but my thoughts are on you, and I felt led to write them down.

As you take this next step on your journey I wanted to share some insights that might assist you along the way. I’ve heard it said that life is to be learned backwards and lived forward. My goal is to be transparent and share what I’ve learned through both my successes and failures. It is the desire of my heart, son, that you realize all your dreams as you live life forward.

Life is a lot like dominoes. Our small decisions often lead to rippling consequences that we never expected. We tend to think single, small choices are stand-alone decisions and that they won’t affect our futures. Over time, though, these decisions lead us to make other decisions just like them and eventually result in either tremendous negative consequences or outstanding positive patterns.

While my family was close knit group, Christianity wasn’t part of our upbringing. During my junior year of high school, though, I was introduced to the Lord. Learning about Jesus Christ was empowering, and it transformed my life.

“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you…” – James 4:8

Last season, TCU Head Baseball Coach Jim Schlossnagle was honored by the NCBWA as college baseball’s coach of the year after leading the Horned Frogs to their first College World Series. With plenty of postseason experience under his belt, Schlossnagle is hoping to lead his team to Omaha again this season, and, even more importantly, impact lives for Christ in the process.