Did You Hear?

It's come and gone again! Christmas for us is a lot different than it used to be. Our titles have changed from "Mama" and "Daddy" to "Nana" and "Papaw" and we are reconciled to the fact that we are no longer the integral part of our children's lives that we once were. They still call on us occasionally for this or that, we still see them once in a while, they still like Nana's cooking and always take the left overs home with them, and we know they still love us even though they really don't have time to be with us much.

I must admit that being a grandparent has a few perks.  You can pick up grand kids most any time, keep them till they wear you out, then take them home to their parents! If some are far away, travel opportunities abound! They often confide in you things that they might not want to share with others..the list goes on.

I do not begrudge my children's status as joy bringers to my grandchildren. It is their rightful place just as it was ours with them, but one never forgets the wide-eyed excitement in the eyes of his children, the fun of picking their brains to determine what they wanted Santa to bring, the family dinners at various relatives' houses, the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, and just the general noise a big family makes when all are in the same house.  We miss all of this terribly.

There is a saying that "What goes around comes around!".  As it was when we first married, we had a quiet Christmas eve, not silent mind you, just quiet compared to years past when the house was filled with the sounds made by small children in anticipation of the big event on Christmas morning. Mama and Daddy (now Nana and Papaw) were just as excited for the pleasure of seeing the focus of their love, their children, happy, healthy, and thriving because of their effort to provide for them...the wonder of it all given by God Himself!!

Yes, it is now a quiet holiday season for us, but it will never be silent. The love of family resounds throughout the heavens and earth whether we are gathered together or separated far apart. We love our family...hear it loud and clear!

Happy New Year from the Old Coach's bunch....well...'bout half of 'em anyway!

The One that Haunts Me

Two very good high school teams had made it to the South State Championship game that year. We were fortunate to be one of them. That particular group of young men were exceptional in that along with being talented, they were also very coachable.  We were downright undersized by today's standards, but every one of those kids had worked very hard in the weight room and had made themselves strong.  I remember in one playoff game, we were taunted during warmups by the opposing team as being a " junior high" team because they were so much bigger than we were. Well..they WERE bigger, but, they found out that they weren't stronger!  We whipped them that night on their own field...made them cry! This was the team we had that year, not overly talented in any area particularly, but, solid in all areas....enough so that we believed we could be state champions.

The team we faced that night was no different...we were outsized again, and this team had some very talented players. As a coaching staff, we had decided early on that we would not be out coached, and the plan we had for this game was the absolute best we could do. The guys executed it very well and with little time left in the game we were leading 7-0, but facing a punting situation. The ball was punted and rolled dead deep in our opponents territory.

Sometimes in spite of having the correct defense, an athlete can simply out maneuver the defenders and this happened late in this game. Somehow one of their athletes got loose and ran the ball through our defenders from around his own 20 yard line to inside our own 10 yard line.  With time running out and a couple of plays later, they scored to make the score 7-6.

There may have been a few seconds left on the clock or maybe time had run out, either way, the extra point would be the play of the game, and, it is the one play that haunts me to this day. I don't know if the opposing coach knew how exhausted both teams were or if he had no confidence in his kicker, or what else went through his mind, but, he elected for a 2-point conversion. Once they lined up for the play we called time out to set our defense. From my vantage point on top of the press box, I relayed the formation and suggested that it would probably be a running play. Our defensive coach adjusted his 5-3 allinement, moving the linebackers up close and having the linemen close every gap inside.The plan was to make the ball carrier bounce to the outside where we had the advantage with speed and quickness. When the play was set, they lined up in a pro I formation with a slot to the left. They snapped the ball and ran a fullback lead toward right tackle....exactly what we expected. Our linemen did their job closing the guard and tackle gaps and our end took on and stuffed the fullback forcing the tailback to bounce outside. Our outside linebacker had read the flow perfectly and was able to square the ball carrier up...looked like game over! I don't know if what happened next was planned or just an act of desperation, but, the ball carrier while in the process of being driven back and tackled was able to twist so that his back was to the tackler allowing him to hoist the ball over his head and toward the end zone. There was a mad scramble of course and one of their linemen came up with the ball. The officials did not call the illegal forward pass nor incomplete forward pass, nor lineman down field....they let the play stand! I was flabbergasted as was everyone in the stadium who had eyes to see.

That one no-call cost us not only the South State championship, but probably the State Championship as well because the team that got by us dominated the north team the following week. We protested the call as much as we could, even sending film to the state association for review, but, to no avail.

A lot of things happened during my career as a player and coach, both good and not so good, but this is the one play that makes me feel disgusted every time I think of it. Those kids deserved to win, they played their hearts out!

Approximately $4.50...

I have found that in today's market, the human body is worth approximately $4.50. That's a pitiful amount, barely enough to buy a Big Mac, a couple of gallons of gas, maybe a gallon of milk. Is this all we're worth? I suppose if a person wanted to sell each organ individually he could get much more, but, not a very practical option for obvious reasons. There are people who have accumulated a lot of wealth and we say that they are "worth" whatever the total of that wealth might be, but, truthfully our bodies are all worth approximately that same, almost nothing, $4.50.

Of course, the value or worth of our bodies to each of us is priceless. There are some lines of thought, even by Christians, that project that in eternity we will not need our bodies. Some believe that we will be spirit entities not housed in flesh and bone. The Scriptures teach us differently.  The resurrection of the dead does not involve the soul really, it is the reformation of the body! Not only is our body important to us, it is very important to others as well. When a person that we love dies, we do not mourn the soul for the Scriptures tell us in II Corinthians 5:8 that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. We mourn the absence of the body before our eyes. We can no longer see, touch, or hear the body of the person we loved, therefore, we grieve the loss of it.

There can be no doubt of the value and importance of the body to God. We were wonderfully and fearfully made by Him. The evidence is clear beginning with Enoch. Genesis 5:24 states "Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.". God took Enoch body and all...He didn't leave the body and take only Enoch's soul. So it was with Elijah...2 Kings 2:11, "And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.". Lazarus was reunited with his body when Jesus called him from the grave. What do the Scriptures tell us when Jesus was crucified?... "And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose.", Matthew 27:52. Jesus himself appeared after the resurrection to the disciples in His body, inviting Thomas to touch Him to dissuade his doubt. In Jude 1:9 we see the angel Michael confronting the devil over the body of Moses. As the jewel of His creation, God places great value on a person's body.

It may be asked, "Will a person whose body is in the grave have a body until the final resurrection of the dead?"....well...Moses appeared in bodily form on the Mount of Transfiguration. We don't know what type of body it was, but, it was certainly recognizable to Peter, James, and John as they witnessed the event (Matthew 17). I think we will have some type of body during that time, fit enough to house our spirit until that great day of resurrection of the dead, and then, the actual bodies we inhabited here on earth will be resurrected and changed in a way that would suit them to spend eternity with God in Heaven.

It may be true that the value of the trace elements and skin that make up our bodies are worth a measly $4.50, but, in essence it is our most valuable possession. For Christians, the resurrection of the body is the basis of our hope and faith and as we approach the Christmas season, let us not forget that Jesus sacrificed His body on the cross for each of us that we might receive the greatest gift of all....Merry Christmas!