{"id":303936,"date":"2016-03-31T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-31T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/growing-up-the-zeller-way\/"},"modified":"2025-04-16T16:14:59","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T20:14:59","slug":"growing-up-the-zeller-way","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/growing-up-the-zeller-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing Up the Zeller Way"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Steve and Lori Zeller reminisce about their days spent as high school sweethearts and eventually marriage. The Zellers remember the fun of raising their three boys, who would all eventually go on to play in the NBA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Steve and Lori Zeller reminisce about their days spent as high school sweethearts and eventually marriage. The Zellers remember the fun of raising their three boys, who would all eventually go on to play in the NBA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"%%post_excerpt%%","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2016-03-31.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"27.44M","filesize_raw":"28775752","date_recorded":"2016-03-31 11:00:00","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2850,2835,2806],"tags":[2209],"podcast_series":[8133],"cwp_profile":[9423],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-303936","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-character-development","category-raising-boys","category-spiritual-development","tag-parenting","podcast_series-raising-boys-the-zeller-way","cwp_profile-steve-and-lorri-zeller","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/303936\/growing-up-the-zeller-way","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/303936\/growing-up-the-zeller-way","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"H0d1IFrmPb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/growing-up-the-zeller-way\/\">Growing Up the Zeller Way<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/growing-up-the-zeller-way\/embed\/#?secret=H0d1IFrmPb\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Growing Up the Zeller Way&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"H0d1IFrmPb\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg",508,508,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kfairris@familylife.com","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/kfairrisfamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Steve and Lori Zeller reminisce about their days spent as high school sweethearts and eventually marriage. The Zellers remember the fun of raising their three boys, who would all eventually go on to play in the NBA.","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2016-03-31.pdf","transcript_content":"<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>Steve and Lorri Zeller have raised three sons who have all gone on to play basketball in the NBA\u2014Luke, Tyler, and Cody Zeller. Lorri says there were not a whole lot of rules around the Zeller home, but the rules they did have were significant.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lorri: <\/strong>Steve was working a lot of hours, and he would go to bed at a decent time; but I was always kind of the one who was awake at night dealing with them if they were going to hit curfew \/ if there were going to be any issues or anything. So, the first rule is: \u201cI don\u2019t do anything that will cause me to wake Steve.\u201d\u00a0 The second rule is: \u201cIf you have any questions, refer to rule number one.\u201d\u00a0 [Laughter]<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>This is <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> for Thursday, March 31<sup>st<\/sup>. Our host is the President of FamilyLife<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>, Dennis Rainey, and I\u2019m Bob Lepine. We\u2019ll talk to Steve and Lorri Zeller today about what it takes to be the parents of three outstanding young men who have all gone on to compete at the highest level in their sport.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ll talk about that today. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n<p>And welcome to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. Thanks for joining us. Well, just about everybody is paying attention to basketball this time of year.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dennis: <\/strong>Just about everybody.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>Yes, just about everybody [Laughter]\u2014and anybody, who is <em>not<\/em>\u2014ought to be paying attention to it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dennis: <\/strong>They should.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>This is a great time of year for basketball.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dennis: <\/strong>It is a great time of the year!\u00a0 We\u2019ve got a great pair of people to talk to. Steve and Lorri Zeller join us on <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. Steve, Lorri, welcome to broadcast.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve: <\/strong>Glad to be here\u2014thank you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lorri: <\/strong>Thank you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dennis: <\/strong>They\u2019ve written a book called <em>Raising Boys the Zeller Way<\/em>, and let\u2019s cut to the chase: \u201cWhat do your three boys do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lorri: <\/strong>They have all been in the NBA\u2014either currently there or they have played in the NBA. They\u2019ve been blessed with height\u2014they\u2019re all about seven feet tall. They\u2019re basketball players on the court, and they are great people off the court.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dennis: <\/strong>Well, let\u2019s go back, Steve, to where you started out.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You learned a little bit about sharing, as a boy, growing up because\u2014<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve: <\/strong>I\u2019m the youngest of twelve\u2014I have five older brothers and six older sisters. We grew up in Iowa, and it was a small farm house. There was actually only a four-bedroom home, and one of those bedrooms was Mom and Dad\u2019s. The rest of us split up the rooms.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>So, how many brothers were in the bedroom with you?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve: <\/strong>Four boys\u2014myself included in the one room. So, it was\u2014you learned to share.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dennis: <\/strong>Lorri, what about you?\u00a0 What kind of family did you grow up in?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lorri: <\/strong>I grew up in a very calm household compared to the Zeller household. I had two older brothers who were ten and twelve years old than myself. So, I obviously was the only girl. I was kind of the baby of the family, and I was in kindergarten when my eldest brother left for college. We were that far apart in age that we kind of grew up differently but in the same household.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dennis: <\/strong>Steve, your dad was a <em>giant<\/em> in your life, just in terms of impact and influence.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Share a little bit about who he was and how he impacted your life.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve: <\/strong>Dad was\u2014had somewhere south of a sixth-grade education\u2014but one of the smartest guys I knew. He left home\u2014he was the oldest of six\u2014left home and had to be able to give money back each week when he came home for the weekend to be able to pay for things at that time because it was during the Depression. Then, he went off to the service, fought in World War II, and came back. He was a no-nonsense\u2014showed very little emotion\u2014he was a man\u2019s man.<\/p>\n<p>I always tell everybody that he never said, \u201cI love you\u201d; and it was something I was raised at. But one story that I always tell about my dad is that one Christmas Eve\u2014one of the traditions\u2014if you can imagine twelve kids in a small farm house\u2014we always had it at Mom and Dad\u2019s. As soon as we got done opening\u2014we went off to play with our toys and stuff\u2014he would pick up everything in a trash bag \/ all those wrappings in a trash bag.<\/p>\n<p>I was about six years old.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I decided, \u201cHey, I\u2019m going to go see what he does with that!\u201d\u00a0 So, he goes out, and it\u2019s a cold night in the middle of the winter in Iowa. He goes in behind the garage, and we\u2019ve got a burn-barrel back there\u2014we burn up the paper. And he would put that paper in there, and he\u2019d get it just right.<\/p>\n<p>I realized my hands were starting to get cold; and he finally lights it, and the flames start building up. There are oak trees up above, and I start noticing that those oak trees\u2014that light starts dancing back and forth\u2014it\u2019s kind of neat. Just then, I noticed \/ I felt warmth of that hard, calloused\u2014he was a farmer\u2014reach down and grab my hand, and he just held it for that moment. I know that he never realized how important that moment was to me; but at that point\u2014and at many other times\u2014I just knew that Dad loved me even though he didn\u2019t say it. And yes, he did a lot for us\u2014a man of few words but the word he said were worth listening to.<\/p>\n<p><strong>5:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>There were character issues, for you, growing up. I mean, he and your mom, both in this environment, made sure that you boys knew right from wrong \/ your sisters knew right from wrong. You were raised with an expectation that you were going to be honorable young men and women; right?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve: <\/strong>Absolutely. That was the most important thing to them\u2014was that we were honorable men and women and that we had high character.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>And there was a spiritual element in your home as well; right?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve: <\/strong>Yes. We were raised Catholic, and we went to church every Sunday. When Lorri and I met, and we sat down and talked about: \u201cOkay, she\u2019s Lutheran \/ I\u2019m Catholic. What religion are we going to raise our kids?\u201d because there was no question we were going to raise them the same religion\u2014just which one. We ended up choosing the Lutheran end of it, and it was important to us because of the background.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>And Lorri, you grew up in a home, again, spiritually-focused \/ spiritually-centered. Character was an issue for you\u2014really similar to what Steve grew up with; right?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lorri: <\/strong>Yes, very similar. We went to church on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p><strong>6:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Every Sunday, you get up. If I ever tried to give my parents the line like: \u201cOh, I\u2019m too tired. Just let me sleep in,\u201d my mom would say, \u201cYou can take a nap this afternoon, but you\u2019re going to church this morning.\u201d\u00a0 [Laughter]\u00a0 So, I borrowed that. I used that on our kids too. [Laughter] Our household was just different from Steve\u2019s household in that my parents did say, \u201cI love you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dennis: <\/strong>How did you two meet?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lorri: <\/strong>We were high school sweethearts. I was a year ahead of him in high school. He will tell you that I invited him to my junior prom.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dennis: <\/strong>So, you asked him out?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lorri: <\/strong>I did. I had to because he was a sophomore, and sophomores couldn\u2019t go to prom unless they were invited by an older classmate. So, yes, I had to ask him to my prom.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dennis: <\/strong>And your dad hadn\u2019t read my book, <em>Interviewing Your Daughter\u2019s Date<\/em>; [Laughter] but he knew how to protect his daughter; didn\u2019t he?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lorri: <\/strong>Oh, he did. He was\u2014obviously, I was the only girl. When Steve came to pick me up for a date\u2014there was a time when I was still upstairs getting ready.<\/p>\n<p><strong>7:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Steve sat across the room on the sofa. My dad was propped back in his recliner, and he had just finished a can of pop. He had it sitting on the arm of his recliner. My mom said something, and my dad acted like he was mad. He took his finger, and he pung the can. It flew across the room, and it landed at Steve\u2019s feet. My dad, also a farmer, was <em>immensely<\/em> strong; and Steve\u2019s only words were, \u201cSir, what time do you want your daughter home?\u201d\u00a0 [Laughter]<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>Well, he did catch you pitching woo one time; didn\u2019t he?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve: <\/strong>He did.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dennis: <\/strong>Well, now, wait\u2014what\u2019s pitching woo?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>Oh, come on!\u00a0 [Laughter] You didn\u2019t grow up in Iowa; did you?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dennis: <\/strong>I didn\u2019t. [Laughter]\u00a0 There are a lot of people who didn\u2019t, Bob!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve: <\/strong>Dennis, we were making out.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dennis: <\/strong>Yes; okay\u2014got it!\u00a0 [Laughter]<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve: <\/strong>It was late at night. We had kind of a system down, where we would be able to kiss on the couch. It happened to be\u2014we were lying on the couch, watching <em>The Tonight Show<\/em>, back then.<\/p>\n<p><strong>8:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>\u2014which we do not recommend\u2014<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve: <\/strong>Don\u2019t recommend.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>\u2014and you don\u2019t recommend. And you would not have let your boys do this.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lorri: <\/strong><em>No<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve: <\/strong>No. But we could hear her dad\u2019s knees crack when he got up. [Laughter] It happened to be that he walked through. I had taken my glasses off. As he walked through, he went to the restroom\u2014we did not <em>hear<\/em> him this time. Of course, we responded\u2014we had sat up \/ I had the glasses on. As he walked back through, all he said was, \u201cA lot easier to see that TV, Zeller boy, with those glasses on,\u201d\u2014all he said as he walked back through. [Laughter]<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dennis: <\/strong>So, how did you end up proposing?\u00a0 Who gives the juiciest side of this story?\u00a0 You\u2019ve got a big grin, Lorri. I think I\u2019m going to get a better story out of you.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lorri: <\/strong>You know, nowadays, proposals are well thought out, and very romantic, and usually the boy goes and asks the dad for permission. Steve and I\u2014it was just a natural progression. We dated in high school, we were through college, and we just\u2014we always knew, for several years, that we were going to get married.<\/p>\n<p><strong>9:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>So, I kind of picked out the ring. Steve was working\u2014he made payments on it. The jewelry store held it until it was paid off.<\/p>\n<p>One spring break, Steve was just supposed to go pick up the ring for me so we could be engaged. That particularly day, he walked in. He had an end table\u2014and we were starting to collect furniture\u2014and he had an old end table from his sister. He said, \u201cHey, what do you think about this end table for the house?\u201d\u00a0 I said, \u201cWhat about the ring?!\u201d\u00a0 He said, \u201cOh, they didn\u2019t have it ready yet.\u201d So, I kind of look at this end table and pull open the drawer; and there is the ring inside the drawer. It was not real romantic, you know\u2014it wasn\u2019t anything elaborate.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>Lorri, you had played college basketball at Coe College in Iowa. Steve, you had walked on at Iowa State, trying to play football\u2014<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve: <\/strong>Yes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>\u2014and found out there were bigger boys at Iowa State than where you\u2019d grown up playing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>10:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve: <\/strong>Bigger and faster.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>Right. So, both of you had had athletics as a part of your life. When you got married and started having boys, did you think, \u201cIt\u2019ll be fun to have the boys involved in sports\u201d; or had you\u2014I mean, was that intentional that you were going to grow them up playing sports?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lorri: <\/strong>You know, we wanted them to experience a variety of things. We wanted them to play sports, but we also wanted them to\u2014you know, two of our boys played the piano\u2014we really wanted them to be well-rounded boys. We didn\u2019t know what sport they would play; you know?\u00a0 We had no idea that they would grow to be the height that they are today. I think the growth kind of naturally progressed that, \u201cHey, you\u2019ll be a basketball player,\u201d\u2014but they played football, and baseball, and soccer\u2014a lot of sports, growing up. Then, even in high school, Luke ran cross-country; and Tyler and Cody played tennis. So, they did do a variety of sports. We didn\u2019t peg them to:<\/p>\n<p><strong>11:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaybe, they were going to be a piano player when they grew up.\u201d\u00a0 We just wanted them to do something that was fun for them and something that they enjoyed.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dennis: <\/strong>Well, as they began to excel, I know, Steve, you began to press into their ability to perform sports and actually had a God-moment, where you felt convicted you were overdoing it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve: <\/strong>Yes; it was, actually, Luke, our oldest son, when he was a sixth grader. Luke was tall for his age\u2014over six feet\u2014so, he ended up playing in the AAU. I was doing the father-thing. I was making sure that I had the right AAU team. I did all the research, interviewed coaches, tried to do everything I could to make sure he was in the right spot.<\/p>\n<p>Ended up\u2014in my infinite wisdom, I chose Fort Wayne, Indiana, which is a four-hour drive from Washington to Fort Wayne. If you can imagine on the weekends, what we would do is\u2014I would get off work early. I\u2019d pick up Luke right after school.<\/p>\n<p><strong>12:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019d head that four-hour drive up to Fort Wayne. We\u2019d play one game on Friday night, stay overnight in Fort Wayne, play three games on Saturday, and stay overnight. This particular Sunday was the tournament, and we ended up losing early. We headed back home. On the way back home, I\u2019m doing the parent-thing\u2014telling him all the things \/ reliving each one of the plays that happened that weekend\u2014and \u201cWe should have done this,\u201d and how \u201cWe should have done that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I ended up pulling into a McDonald\u2019s<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> in Spencer, Indiana, which is three hours from Fort Wayne. As I pull in there\u2014I\u2019ll never forget the moment\u2014I looked over at that big frame \/ that tall sixth grader. He\u2019s looking down at his shoes on the passenger side of the car. He says, shaking his head, \u201cWas there <em>anything<\/em> I did right this weekend?\u201d\u00a0 At that point, I realized that I had chewed on the kid for three total hours\u2014<\/p>\n<p><strong>13:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u2014told him everything that he had done wrong.<\/p>\n<p>With that, I ended up making a pact with myself\u2014I said, \u201cOkay, as soon as the game is over, I\u2019ll say one positive thing. Then, I\u2019ll wait for them to ask before I tell them any criticisms back.\u201d\u00a0 They never failed me\u2014they always asked. With the different personalities of the boys\u2014Cody and Luke would always ask sometime on the ride home. Tyler would ask five minutes before I was ready to go to bed\u2014so he knew he was only going to get five minutes. [Laughter]<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dennis: <\/strong>So, what would you say to a dad\u2014or for that matter, a highly-competitive mom\u2014who is really pushing and pressing their daughter or their son to really excel and to move to the next level?\u00a0 This can happen in all kinds of sports\u2014soccer, football, basketball, baseball, gymnastics\u2014doesn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve: <\/strong>Wait until they ask because, once they ask, they\u2019re willing to listen. The other thing I would advise is: \u201cBe careful of the car rides because you have their undivided attention.<\/p>\n<p><strong>14:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the worst things you can do is make that car ride, to and from, miserable.\u201d\u00a0 But as far as pushing them to the next level, just spend time with them. Go there and let them <em>see<\/em> how much you enjoy just being with them. Just give them the support and let the coaches do what they need to do\u2014and that\u2019s really the bottom line.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>We\u2019re talking with Steve and Lorri Zeller, whose sons, Luke, Tyler, and Cody, either are playing or have played in the NBA. They have written a book called <em>Raising Boys the Zeller Way<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Lorri, I\u2019m just wondering, \u201cHow much of the basketball desire in your sons came from them, and how much of it came from the two of you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lorri: <\/strong>I think the desire to play came from them because basketball has always been something for them that is fun. It wasn\u2019t something that we made them do. We did put them in the right places, but we were also careful about some of the parameters that we put on that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>15:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We\u2014you know, they weren\u2019t on big, high-powered teams that flew somewhere every weekend.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>Did any of them ever come to you, at any point during their growing up, and say, \u201cI\u2019m not sure I want to play this year\u2014maybe, just take a year off\u201d?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve: <\/strong>Yes. Like I said earlier, Luke was very tall in the sixth grade. Tyler was 5\u201911\u201d going into his freshman year\u2014<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>\u2014in high school?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve: <\/strong>\u2014in high school.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>Okay.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve: <\/strong>If you can envision all the accolades that Luke was getting in\u2014up for Mr. Basketball, McDonald\u2019s All-American, being recruited by Division 1 schools. Tyler wasn\u2019t getting any interest at all. With that, he got to the point where he wasn\u2019t very excited about basketball. He got cut from the JV team\u2014played the freshman basketball. During that freshman year, he grew from 5\u201911\u201d to 6\u20197\u201d. So, he went right from freshman to varsity in his sophomore year. He started varsity in high school.<\/p>\n<p><strong>16:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>Did he keep playing because you urged him to; or did he ultimately say, \u201cNo, I guess I do want to play this year\u201d?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve: <\/strong>What we would do is\u2014we would go over\u2014Lorri was secretary of the athletic director. So, she had the keys to the gym. We would go over\u2014and there were times when Tyler would not go with us\u2014which was fine \/ that was his choice\u2014but he went enough. To this day, he\u2019s really glad that he did go enough to be able to keep it going. [Laughter]<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dennis: <\/strong>Lorri, Steve talked about something that was significant as he raised those boys. Was there a point that you had a take-away that was a major component of how you would be a mom to three high-performing young men?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lorri: <\/strong>I think it was just the consistency of being there for them. We\u2019ve talked a lot about unconditional love. You know, if you\u2019re a parent raising kids, it\u2019s a roller coaster\u2014you know, parenting is a <em>tough<\/em> job.<\/p>\n<p><strong>17:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I think it\u2019s just that consistency and showing them that you are there for them\u2014you support them unconditionally.<\/p>\n<p>For me, it was just\u2014I\u2019m a really organized person. I was kind of the traffic controller that kept everybody on schedule and going in the right direction. That was kind of my role.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>You had two simple rules for the boys. Tell our listeners what those rules were.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lorri: <\/strong>The first rule was: \u201cDon\u2019t do anything that will cause me to wake your father,\u201d\u00a0 [Laughter]\u00a0 because Steve was working a lot of hours\u2014and he would go to bed at a decent time, and he would get up real early in the morning\u2014but I was always kind of the one who was awake at night, dealing with them if they were going to hit curfew and if there was going to be any issues or anything. So, the first rule was: \u201cDon\u2019t do anything that will cause me to wake Steve.\u201d\u00a0 And the second rule was: \u201cIf you have any questions, refer to rule number one.\u201d\u00a0 [Laughter]<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dennis: <\/strong>As I was looking at your bio, Steve\u2014<\/p>\n<p><strong>18:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u2014I thought: \u201cThat\u2019s interesting. He worked for Oscar Mayer. He made hot dogs for Oscar Mayer and turned out three of them for the NBA.\u201d\u00a0 [Laughter]\u00a0 I love it!\u00a0 I thought that was really good\u2014a couple\u2014or three \/ a trio of 7\u2019-NBA stars.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>And I think it\u2019s important to say\u2014not only are they NBA athletes, these guys were straight-A students; right?\u2014all of them?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve: <\/strong>Yes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>And they had other interests. It wasn\u2019t just such a lock-downed focus on basketball at your house that nothing else mattered; right?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lorri: <\/strong>Yes. And Luke was a four-point student. He was our valedictorian\u2014gave a speech at graduation. Tyler saw that; and he said: \u201cYou know, I don\u2019t want to give a speech at graduation. I don\u2019t want to be the number one or number two.\u201d\u00a0 So, his freshman year of English, he got an A-minus first semester and second semester. It was enough to give him a 3.97 at graduation\u2014<\/p>\n<p><strong>19:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u2014third place \/ didn\u2019t have to give a speech.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>Let him off the hook for the speech. [Laughter]<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lorri: <\/strong>Yes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>But he\u2019ll do the post-game interview today if he\u2019s called out a star of the game; won\u2019t he?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Steve: <\/strong>Absolutely; absolutely.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lorri: <\/strong>Yes. So, they can speak.<\/p>\n<p>And then, Cody came along and thought Tyler was pretty wise. He was going to do that same thing. So, Cody got an A-minus, and Cody ended up with a 3.99, which would have been good enough for third; but he happened to tie for second. So, he was also a salutatorian\u2014had to give the speech.<\/p>\n<p>But they did really well in academics, but that was something that we really emphasized,\u00a0 growing up\u2014was: \u201cYour academics come before sports. So, if you don\u2019t have homework done, you\u2019re not going to practice.\u201d\u00a0 We were really strict about things like that, and it paid off. They really did well in college as well.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dennis: <\/strong>I think one thing that you all model\u2014that you talk about a great deal in your book\u2014is you modeled the component of character\u2014talking about doing what\u2019s right and being God\u2019s man.<\/p>\n<p><strong>20:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I think today, more than ever, parents need fresh reminders of what that looks like in a very tough culture to raise children. And I think your book, <em>Raising Boys the Zeller Way<\/em>\u2014certainly, isn\u2019t a recipe for your kids to be 7\u20190\u201d tall and play in the NBA or the WNBA\u2014but it is a great exhortation to equip parents to be better parents in a time when we need great families.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Bob: <\/strong>Well, the book tells some great stories, but it also includes some great counsel \/ some sound advice for parents who are raising kids\u2014whether they are athletically-gifted\/ academically-gifted. If there is some pressure in their life\u2014because of what they\u2019re good at or if they\u2019re going to be recruited by colleges \/ if you\u2019ve got some of that stuff going on\u2014this would be a good book to read just to learn how you guys did the job as you were raising your three sons. And again, all three of these boys have gone onto play in the NBA:<\/p>\n<p><strong>21:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Luke and Tyler and Cody Zeller.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve got the book, <em>Raising Boys the Zeller Way<\/em>, in our <em>FamilyLife<\/em> <em>Today<\/em> Resource Center. You can go online at FamilyLifeToday.com to request a copy; or you can call 1-800-\u201cF\u201d as in family, \u201cL\u201d as in life, and then the word, \u201cTODAY.\u201d\u00a0 So, again, the website is FamilyLifeToday.com; or call 1-800-FL-TODAY.<\/p>\n<p>And for fathers raising sons\u2014we talked about this a little bit\u2014your [Dennis\u2019s] book, <em>Stepping Up<\/em>, and the video series that goes with that book\u2014that\u2019s great for fathers and teenage boys to go through together\u2014maybe, a group of dads and teenage sons going through the video series \/ going through the book together. You can find out more about the <em>Stepping Up<\/em><em><sup>\u00ae<\/sup><\/em> series at our website as well\u2014FamilyLifeToday.com\u2014or again, call 1-800-\u201cF\u201d as in family, \u201cL\u201d as in life, and then the word, \u201cTODAY.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now, I don\u2019t know if you remember where you were on this day, back in 1995\u2014<\/p>\n<p><strong>22:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u2014but I know our friends, Jeffrey and Christine Magness, in Bentonville, Arkansas, remember because it was 21 years ago today that they looked each other in the eyes and said, \u201cI do.\u201d\u00a0 And guess what?\u00a0 They still do! They are celebrating their 21<sup>st<\/sup> wedding anniversary today, and they have signed up to go to a <em>Weekend to Remember<\/em><em><sup>\u00ae<\/sup><\/em> this spring. We just want to say: \u201cHappy Anniversary!\u00a0 Enjoy the <em>Weekend to Remember<\/em>. Hope you guys have a great weekend. Enjoy your getaway.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Here, at FamilyLife, we are all about anniversaries. We want to see couples celebrating more and more anniversaries, year in and year out; and we want them to be happier anniversaries every year. We are the Proud Sponsor of Anniversaries<sup>\u2122<\/sup>. We\u2019re celebrating our 40<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary this year, and we\u2019re doing it by stopping to thank God for all of the anniversaries that He has allowed us to be a part of in the 40 years that <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> has existed.<\/p>\n<p>So, let me say a quick, \u201cThank you,\u201d to those of you who partner with us and help make all this ministry possible.<\/p>\n<p><strong>23:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re grateful for your financial support. We\u2019re listener-supported; and without your joining with us, <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> would not exist.<\/p>\n<p>And if you can help us with a donation today, we\u2019d like to say, \u201cThank you,\u201d by sending you a copy of the book, <em>Becoming a Spiritually Healthy Family: Avoiding the 6 Dysfunctional Parenting Styles<\/em>. It\u2019s our thank-you gift when you go online at FamilyLifeToday.com to make an online donation or when you call 1-800-FL-TODAY\u2014make your donation over the phone and request your copy of the book\u2014or mail your donation, along with the book request, to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> at PO Box 7111, Little Rock, AR;\u00a0 our zip code is 72223.<\/p>\n<p>By the way, we\u2019d love to send you some ideas on how you can make your anniversary celebration even more special this year. If you\u2019ll just let us know when your anniversary is\u2014go to FamilyLifeToday.com and give us the anniversary date or call 1-800-FL-TODAY and leave us the date\u2014<\/p>\n<p><strong>24:00<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u2014then, about a month before your anniversary rolls around, we\u2019ll send you some ideas on how you can express your love to one another in some special ways during your anniversary this year.<\/p>\n<p>Now, tomorrow, we\u2019re going to continue our conversation with Steve and Lorri Zeller as we talk about what it looked like for them to raise their tall sons, who all three played in the NBA. Hope you can tune in for that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, along with our entire broadcast production team. On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I\u2019m Bob Lepine. We will see you back next time for another edition of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas. Help for today. Hope for tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We are so happy to provide these transcripts to you. However, there is a cost to produce them for our website. If you\u2019ve benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?<\/p>\n<p>Copyright <sup>\u00a9<\/sup> 2016 FamilyLife. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/\">www.FamilyLife.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>1<\/p>\n","theme_header_position":"Sticky","post_header_is_sticky":"default","is_header_overlay":"0"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/303936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/podcast"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303936"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303936"},{"taxonomy":"podcast_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast_series?post=303936"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=303936"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=303936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}