Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Kristi Overton - In His Wakes

Kristi Overton began skiing at the age of 4 and held the women’s slalom world record for 18 years.  After retiring from competitive skiing she wanted to find a way to give back to the sport that had meant so much to  her.  She started an organization called In His Wakes.  She sponsors Days To Remember for kids who wouldn’t normally have a chance to be exposed to water sports. 

Watch this video to see some of the awesome smiles that water sports can create.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Fugees in Clarkston, GA

I met Luma Mufleh in the Dallas airport on the way home from our annual meeting.  Luma was born in Jordan and came to the United States to go to college.  She also loves soccer.  After graduating, she found a job in Clarkston, GA.    One day,  after making a wrong turn, she came across a group of kids playing soccer in the parking lot with no shoes, makeshift goals and a worn-out ball.  The next day she returned with a new ball and was suddenly the best friend to this group of children.  Luma learned that they were all refugees from other war-torn nations.  They were poor and had very low English language skills.  Luma recognized that soccer might be the bridge that would get them from poverty to a better place, so she formed a soccer team called the Fugees (short for Refugees).  She was their coach.  Her love for the children grew, and she soon recognized that they were being left behind in their current school settings.  Some had received A’s and B’s on their report cards but still could not read.  That is when Luma went from being their soccer coach to their Principal.  She quit her job  and using her own money and donations from others, opened The Fugees Academy for the children.  The children ride their bikes 10 miles to and from school, with a Clarkston police escort.  Well, Luma wanted to be  closer, so she has purchased 19 acres to build a new campus for the children.

It wasn’t pure coincidence that I ran into Luma in the airport.  She had been recognized earlier that day at the Keller Williams inspirational breakfast as someone that dreams big and then does what it takes to make her dreams come true.  Keller Williams then gave her a school bus to make it easier for the children to get to and from school, and a check to help with the construction of her new academy.  I came to Keller Williams for the training and support, but I stay at Keller Williams because these are the kind of people that run our company and these are the kind of people that we are trying to become.

Watch the CBS news piece at this link and contact me if you would like to help her make dreams come true.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Welcome to Getting Deeper with Tom

If you clicked on the GettingDeeper link looking for the SpotOnTheLake Water Depth Guide, this ain’t it.  You can find that information here.   This is the first post of what I hope will be weekly posts, that gives our lake community, and anyone else that might be interested, a chance to share ideas about things that matter.  I know a lot of people don’t have much extra time, but I hope that there are some that do.  Here’s the way it will work,  I will share an idea, a link or a story about something that happened in my week.  You can ignore it, read it, respond privately or respond publicly.  Please know that I am a believer and a blemished follower of Jesus, so you might see or hear about Him.   If you are not a follower, I hope that some of the ideas might still be helpful or interesting to you, and I would be interested to know what you think.  If you are a follower, I look forward to hearing from you, too, but I am more interested in hearing about you and what you think, than being preached to.

Getting Deeper - Week 1


I am blessed to have work that I love, but I feel like the blessing is sometimes a curse.  It seems that I want to work all the time.  While I may not be in the office or with clients 24/7, my phone is on 24/7, and my phone is really good – too good.  I can do almost everything from my phone – text, email, facebook, search listings, get access to any written agreement in Dropbox, take pictures, find out what direction a house faces, shine a light in a dark basement, find out what year Kristi Overton held the world slalom ski record and oh yeah – sometimes even make a phone call.  It’s interesting though that around the lake, making phone calls is the thing it does the worst.   This week my Team Leader at Keller Williams encouraged me to watch a video of Andy Stanley from North Point Church talking about Breathing Room.  Breathing Room is something I haven’t had much of recently, and I think my relationships have suffered because of it.  Those would be relationships with my clients, my family and my friends.  Andy talks about how by not scheduling ourselves to the limit, or to our full capacity, we can actually be more productive in the time that we do commit to work.  I am starting with a half day with the phone off this week.  I will let you know how it goes.  The video is 45 minutes.  I hope you can find time to watch it.  Breathing Room.