While watching football with my dad, I learned a lot about life. When I was little I would dance around the living room and get excited when "all my rowdy friends" came on Monday nights. My dad taught me that on game day, it's anybody's game, but hard work and good decisions come out with the win. He taught me to keep my eye on the ball until it is in my hands, because if I look away even at the very last second, I'll drop the ball.
He said, "Do you know why a pro receiver misses a perfectly thrown pass? Because he gets worried about the 300 lb defender getting ready to clean his clock, and just for a split second, he takes his eye off the ball. Always keep your eye on the ball. Just go for it. Reach out and pull it in." My dad taught me that if I wanted to throw a football and make it spiral through the air, I need to make sure I plant my feet on firm foundation, and follow through.
That all rings pretty true throughout life, too. It's all about a solid foundation, hard work, good decisions, and following through. This year has been the best and the hardest, but regardless of what life serves up, I'm grounded in my faith, family, friends, and in the way I was raised. When life gets crazy, it's still hard to lose perspective from a dirt road.
Thanksgiving was perfect: It was about family, football, and faith that moves mountains (or takes you back to one). "It's a three hour flight to Denver to CA...the truck's a Ford and the tractor's green, and amazing Grace is what we sing." When we got up the mountain and down the gravel road, my grandparents where waving from the porch. My feet hit the dirt and I realized how much I needed that road all these years, and how well my time on it has served me, when my heart and my home was far far away.
I made a little backwoods Thanksgiving video dedicated to my family, for this year more than ever...teaching me that humility wins, and love wins.
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
His faithful Love endures forever.
{Psalm 136:1}
