Thursday, August 27, 2009

Friday Night Lights are Here!

I've always loved football. But as I've grown older I've really come to realize that for me, college and high school football is so much more fun to watch than the NFL. Why? Because the kids playing on the college and high school football fields play focused on the true love of the game, their community and their school. The main focus isn't the money, sponsors and celebrity.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that all NFL players are focused on the "greedy" aspects of football, but a majority of them just don't play with the same heart as the kids. There are some great NFL players that do seem to play with heart, set good examples and help the less fortunate. But so many just seem to be mostly concerned with the mullah and fame.

I would rather watch a low scoring, slow moving football game where the kids really put there all into it and played with heart and good sportsmanship, than watch a high scoring game where players are showing off and fighting.

With this being said, I'm excited to attend my first high school game this season! Nic, Larry and I, along with about 15 of our friends will be at Radford High School Friday night, watching Radford play Pulaski for the first time in 30 years. They are expecting over 15,000 people in a stadium that only seats 6,000, but I'm sure it's going to be tons of fun! I've never lived in an area that brought the movie "Friday Night Lights" to life like this area, and I love it!

See you under the lights!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Finding Peace and Happiness

I was overcome by an urge to share this. It hit me the other night. Even with all I have going on, even with stress and concerns, I feel more at peace and more happy than any other time in my life. Why? I make time. I make time everyday, no matter what, to pray and read the Bible and my devotionals. Now, before you think I'm getting up on my soapbox and beating my Bible preaching fire and brimstone....fear not. This blog is not about that.

I have just found something in my life that really brings clarity and peace and wanted to share in the hopes that it helps someone else. At first I didn't notice a huge difference, but after a while, I really started to notice an inner peace. The longer I have been doing this, the happier and more at peace I feel. Every night, after Nic is in bed, after I have had a shower, before drifting off to sleep, I take at least 20 minutes to be by myself, just me and God. I pray, read devotionals, look up scriptures. It doesn't matter how tired I am, it doesn't matter how late it is. I do this EVERY NIGHT. It has become such a part of my nightly routine that I don't think I could sleep without doing it. When I started doing this, I just wanted to say a prayer and give thanks to God for his blessings. Then I realized that there is a lot in the Bible that can be confusing or hard to understand. I wanted to make sure I was interpreting things correctly and doing the right things. I wanted to make sure I undestood, so I can help my children to understand. So I started praying for understanding and clarity so that I could be sure that I'm living the life I am supposed to live and help others that may need it. I started reading devotionals, which were VERY helpful. I started discussing what I was learning and reading with my significant other and found we both could learn a lot from each other.

Then, I really saw God working. I read Nicholas a Bible story every night from his Children's Bible. Believe it or not, this has really helped me as much as him! One night I will read a story about (for example) Saul and then when I pick up my devotional before bed, will find that my devotional is talking about the same scripture! A coincidence? Then I'll go to church on Sunday and each Sunday, there is a sermon, a hymn, or something in Sunday school about one of the scriptures I had been studying that week!! Another coincidence? I asked God to help me with understanding, and He has provided. Everything I pick up and read ties together, even what we learn in church on Sunday. Gaining this understanding and clarity has helped me find peace and happiness. It all started with making sure I took the time everyday.

So take time, be still, learn, grow, pray and worship. You will be amazed at what just 20 minutes a day can do for you!