Football Fever

Football season has officially begun.

Now for those of you who may not have noticed, I use alot of exclamation marks when I type. Notice there is NOT an exclamation point after that title statement. That is because I am NOT excited about football season, AT ALL. Not pro, not college, not high school, not even a pick-up game of football in the backyard. I do not enjoy watching it sitting on the couch or in the stands or on my back porch. I just don't like the port. My prejudice against football started around age 5 and continues (obviously) to this day. However, something changed when I moved to the strange state of Texas. Yes I know I said strange and not great because for someone who lived most her life on the East Coast it is strange!! You see, there is a statewide Football fever that starts in, well it starts when you are born into a family in Texas and ends once you are 6-feet under (and even with some I'm not sure it'll end then!) It is, in my opinion a strange phenomenon that really dictates the schedules of the majority of Texans. There are rebels, I know, but most sleep, eat, and work around football. Now I know there are avid football fans in every state, great NFL and college teams with thousands upon thousands of fans all across the states, and around the globe. But none like Texans. They have something a little unique: they are know for there High School Football OBSESSION!! (by the way, if you hear on the news later about a woman in Texas being stoned to death by angrey Texas football fans, it'd be me!)

I moved to Texas in June 2007 and shortly after met a man who had lived in Texas more than half his life. I started dating that man. During our courtship I spent every Sunday sitting on his parents couch or on my parents couch taking a Sunday afternoon nap while he watched FOOTBALL. This was not by choice, the sport just bored me so much I'd enevitably fall asleep! I never wanted to end up in a marriage where I lost my husband to football every Sunday afternoon and Monday night, and anyother time the game was on. I never verbally said anything about this because I never wanted any guy to change for me because they will just go back to their natural habits after marriage, I wanted to know I was getting what he was selling, so I just continued to observe his charcter to see was he someone I could live with forever (there is so much more that could be said on all the ins-and-outs of coutship but not in this post.) One time while on a date there was a FOOTBALL game playing on the TV set behind me in perfect view for him to watch. I asked him a question and got no response. As soon as he realized the distraction he stood up and sat next to me in the booth (I promise I didn't make him) He told me "Kelleigh, I will never put a football game before my wife or my kids. I will always be wiling to turn it off for what is important!" I thought maybe he was just trying to make sure this wasn't the last date we went on, but I gave him the benifit of the doubt. The very next month that man asked me to marry him and I did...and do you know what? He wasn't lying! He would turn off any game for me or cancel plans to go to a game if I didn't want to go or had something else planned. This was a turning point for me and football, I'll explain....

Brian has totally proven his willingness to put me above the sport, and any other earthly thing or earthly relationship for that matter. In turn I have been wiling to make sacrifices and learned to enjoy (pretty sure I gritted my teeth as I typed that) football, or at least a good Lindale Eagle's football game!!

Last year I was off every Friday and Saturday and even thought I destest football on any level I would go with Brian to the high school football games as often as I could muster. He went to every single game he could and I went occassionally just to be with him. I'm about to admit something that I'm a little ashamed of... There were a few time last year I opted out of a football game because I felt like Brian would ignore me because he was always talking to someone else and looking for other people to talk to. He wasn't ignoring me I was just looking at it all wrong. Brian and I enjoy each others company, no matter where we are or what we are doing, but he doesn't go to a football game to be completely absorbed in me the whole time, he goes for the community and the ministry and of course the (horrid) sport. Which finally brings me to the reason I decided to jot all this down....

Tonight, as I looked at all the Lindale peeps facebook status reflecting the fact that tonight is the first home game of the season, I thought "oh great, here we go again. All anyone in Texas will be talking about is FOOTBALL." Then I stopped and thought back over last season and all the games I went to and I was convicted. I had been so selfabsorbed that it took me over half the season to wake up and recognize the access I had to our community with-in those stands. Brian had been taking advantage of every opportunity to cheer on the players and to catch up with people, listen and interact with everyone he had a chance to. Brian is naturally a people person and can start and hold a conversation with just about anyone on just about any topic. I naturally am good at correcting people and judging them, and frankly have never enjoyed crowds...but he challenges me and encourages me and never lets me make excuses. I'm thankful for that. So as I sit here tonight realizing for the first time that I will not be able to attend a single Lindale Eagle's football game I'm sad. Don't get me wrong, I still can't stand the sport, but I will miss watching my husband.

I just got off the phone with Brian and he is at the football game. I could hear the excitement in his voice, he loves it. He doesn't just love the sport though, he loves the people. I know he'll be at every game he can, and he'll be there for the players. He cares about those guys and takes a serious interest in their lives. Win or lose he is there to cheer them on and tell them they played well , and encourage them if they didn't. He loves the people in the stands too and he takes any opportunity to reach out and minister in any way.....You know, he has his priorities in line, that great man of mine!!! It's not about football it's about people. He doesn't just go for the sport he goes for the relationships. I'm pretty sure he isn't the only Texan who thinks that way....there is always a strong sense of community and comrodory at a Texas High School Football game!

Here's to transitions, and here's to you kid!

Transitions.....There are so many in life and they come in many shapes and sizes!

For example: there are small transitions, like changing the topic of conversation and changing your clothes, then there are mid-size transitions like going from black to blonde (don't do it) or switching from At&t to Verizon, there are big life-changing transitions like asking someone to marry you (or saying yes to the person who asked), having a baby, or recognizing your sinful nature and your need for salvation and in turn making the most altering transition of all-going from death to life!

For some people change is frightening, for some it is exciting, but for all it is enevitable. We make little transitions everyday and we all experiance those transitions that are life-changing.
Recently, Brian and I have made a huge decision and are currently going through the required transitions, both little, mid-sized and a few very big. This decision is the fruitition of the vision we both had for our life together, yet we were not planning on it at this time, but He was. This transitioning has caused a mind shift in us forcing us to rethink every decision a little differently (from the things we talk about and pray about, to the cell phones we carry, to how we will raise our children and beyond!) But all that isn't really what is on my mind right now, although all those changes are never far from it. What I have heavy on my heart and mind now is a major transition happening in the life of someone I love A LOT.

My "all-grown-up" baby sister Emma Elizabeth.

You see, Emma is getting ready to go through one of those "life-changing transitions" (not small, not mid-sized, but BIG). Next week she is moving out of our parents home and starting life as a college student! ***side note: The following is an accurate and unbiased opinion coming from someone who used to terrorize the subject of this post. You see, Emma was one of the second biggest transitions in my life. Tim and Jake had already come along and taken away my status as only child replacing it with big sister, but when Emma came she took away my status as only daughter along wiht the time of my friends who wanted to constantly hold her! I'm way over those bitter childhood feelings, but the poor girl had to live with my annimosity for a loooong time. I'm pretty sure she has been super cool from the beginning and I wish I hadn't been too stuck on myself to notice. I am thankful to be her big sister and hope that somewhere along the line she has learned half as much from me as I have from her!! that being said....
I am so excited for her. I am so nervous for her. I am SO excited for her!!! When I say I'm nervous for her, maybe I'm a little more nervous for those at Pensacola Christian College. You see even though I met some pretty legit people during my college days there, I don't think PCC has seen anyone like Emma. She's pretty much the most remarkably spectabulous person I've ever met and here are just a few of the reasons why I think that:






1.) She is a leader in following

Emma is a true follower of the ONLY One worth following.
She delights herself in His law and puts first those things which are important to Him. She seeks fist His Kingdom and does not follow after the things of this world. She let's Him direct her steps and through Him gains the strength she requires to accomplish each one.




2.) She is terrific with tikes

To say she is great with kids would be an understatement

I've never met a kid that didn't just LOVE Emma...

And not matter the kid (sweety or stinker) Emma LOVES them!

She will be obtaining a degree in Early Childhood Education

Which is perfect for her...


















3.) She is a servant, willing to go anywhere and do anything

She went with the youth group on a MT to Galveston

TWICE

(I really like the story behind this pic->)

She also went with Global Expeditions to help out in Haiti

See, even the kids there LOVE her

She even "adopted" one of the little girls in the orphanage, giving monthly to meet her needs










I've notice her do "without" so she can have!

4.) She's pretty much a beast! Not afraid of getting dirty and can endure much

Last Fall Emma not only participated in an Emmotionally Streaching Opportunity of A Lifetime, but she COMPLETED ESOAL

This summer she went went her fellow graduates on a backpacking trip in Colorado

She'd rather get out there with the guys
than
Cheer on the sidelines with the girls

She is a big help everywhere she goes, which is why I like to have her around!

5.) She is a big sister

She loves her little sisters and brothers and even if they have their moments where she'd rather not be around them and they bug her anyway, they really get along great. She'd do anything for them and is proud to be their big sis and friend! Being a big sister to four people has helped her understand more about responsibility, sharing, caring, putting others first, the importance of being teachable and being a role model. It has also made her appreciate things like privacy and alone time much more!

6.) She is a little sister

Even if she sometimes carries the weight of her older siblings, she knows that they will always have her back...


...that they are there to offer a listening ear or a word of advice and will never (ok rarely) steer her wrong...

...and that they will always be her best friends and biggest fans

7.) She chooses her friends wisely and keeps good company

"Bad company corrupts good character" and Emma has had her fair share of experience in that, but when I look at her friends I see young men and women who are wise and sincere. They know Who they are living for and it isn't for self.

They also know how to have a good time. I know she will choose friends not based on outward appearance or others opinions but based on their character. She understands that "as iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend."

8.) She is a woman of her word.

She might sometimes have a hard time saying no when people need her help, but she won't hesitate if she knows she won't be able to follow through. If Emma tells you she'll be there, she will. If she says she'll help out, you can count on her. She doesn't make excuses once she's given her word, she is committed!

9.) She doesn't live to please men, she swims against the current.

If you haven't realized it by now, Emma is not a conformist. Sure she might wear the latest fashion trend, and better than most, but she doesn't give in. If she doesn't like it she isn't going to pretend she does. She doesn't do something just because "everyoone else is" and she doesn't mind admitting if she is into something no one else seems to like....

10.) She is just Emma....

Take it or leave it, she is just the way she is, and I think she's pretty great!

She can't be tamed....

and

<-this->

is why I'm a little nervous

It's the little things...

What is better than a much needed rain?

Getting to enjoy it cuddled up with your love and a good book or long movie!

Our days are full of SO MANY little things that make them great....and then there are those things that make them WONDERFUL! Like sunshine through the rain (I LOVE those kind or spring time rains, don't you?) or a cool breeze on a warm summer night.

We are ALL different and so are the things that make our days brighter! So I thought I would take time to jot down some of the little things that are like little rays of sunshine in my life.

Below are some things that make my ordinary days great. They are things that I know the Lover of my soul gives me to brighten my day....and sometimes He works things out and something that is great turns into something WONDERFUL

Great is: Hearing my favortie song on the radio

Wonderful is: Going home and downloading that song for my ipod

Great is: Getting to enjoy a Starbucks Carmel Frappuccino

Wonderful is: Sipping on a Starbucks coffee while enjoying the company of a good friend

Great is: Every light turning green on my way home from work so that I get home at 11:20pm instead of 11:27pm

Wonderful is: Every light turning green on my way TO work so that I get to work at 2:55pm vs. 3:02pm

Great is: Anytime I get permission to go shoe shopping

Wonderful is: BOGO!!!

Great is: Having time to read a good book

Wonderful is: Having time to finish that book

Great is: Spending time with friends

Wonderful is: Anytime I get to spend with family

Great is: Being able to sleep in on a week day

Wonderful is: Getting to sleep in with my husband

Great is: Going home everynight to my husband

Wonderful is: Arriving home to find he has waited up for me!

And these are just a few of the little things that make my ordinary days brighter!

God, Family, Job

In college I had a Criminal Justice teacher, Mr. Darrell Pope, who would always put these words on the chalk board:

God

Family

The Job

I now have a supervisor who has frequently told me that in his life he puts "God first, then my health, then my family, then church, then my job." He says the only reason he puts his health above everything else is because he wants to make it a priority to take care of what God has given him, and without his health he can't care for his family or do his job. Even though my supervisors priorities are a little more detailed they both have the right idea!

We all have so much going on in our lives, at least I know I do. Sometimes it gets hard to juggle all the responsibility and to find time for all the people who want or need a little piece of our 24/7. Some days I feel like I am not getting accomplished the things I know I need too and when I get overwhelmed I remember "God, Family, Job" and I stop and check my priorities. I start by thinking how my day started. Did I jump out of bed worrying about what I had to get done at work? Did I neglect to take care of my husbands needs because I was too focused on my own? Did I neglect my time with the Lord because I was more focused on getting in the morning run (unlikely)? I normally find that my day started with me being more focused on, well, me (anyone surprised?) So I stop and take care of what really is most important, and determine to do right in the mornings to foollow. Before I know it, that determination turns into a habit and it becomes a little easier to get out of bed with a joyful attitude, thankful He has given me another day of life. Waking up focused on Him and spending time with Him before anything else (besides perhaps a cup of coffee) allows me to more eagerly help my husband. I can meet the needs of my family with a happy heart rather than doing it begrudgingly out of duty. When my #1 relationship is in fact #1 then, and only then, my heart is in the right place. When I am in that right state of heart I am able to respond to my husband respectfully, with joy and love. I can take care of the needs of my family and household with excitement rather than dread. When things in my home are running smoothly and husband and I are enjoying one another I have more energy and confidence in my career. I am able to go to work knowing that my most important relationships are strong and healthy and my home is well managed. Knowing this gives me the courage and confidence to tackle the tough tasks awaiting me at the office. I am in a position where it is my job to help kids "get back on the right track." Helping them figure out where things went wrong and what can they change to make it better. Showing them the life lessons in their mistakes and giving them the tools they need to make better life decisions in the future. Who am I to tell these young adults how to live their life if I'm not following my own advice? It's a daily reminder to me, not unlike the one I saw on the chalk board everyday in college:

GOD

FAMILY

JOB

We are all busy. Life is full of distractions that vie for our attention. We can give in and lose sight of our priorities, or we can "stay on track" and discover that when we put Him first everyday will be a productive day, lived to the fullest. Even the days I don't get the laundry folded...