Sugar Bowl 2015: Going Back

It was Christmas Day 1977. As I opened my presents that morning, I got what may have been one of the best surprises of my life. My parents had bought me tickets to the Sugar Bowl.

One week later, my sister Kim and I were sitting in the lower bowl of the almost new Louisiana Superdome. It was a spectacular sight, my first indoor game ever. Coach Paul Bryant was roaming the sidelines minus his famous houndstooth hat - because his mama had taught him not to wear a hat indoors.

And Alabama was playing one of the great names in college football tradition...the Ohio State Buckeyes. It was my very first bowl game.

I will never forget that night. It has been a springboard for a lifetime of memories with families and friends watching Alabama play in bowls. There have been seven more in the Superdome. And now there will be another.

Against Ohio State. For the chance to play for the national championship.

That will be an intense, competitive night. There will be a lot on the line for our team. I'll be focused. I'll be wearing my game day Bama cap (forgive me, Coach Bryant.) But I'll also take time to pause and remember the night it all started, and I may be a little misty. Remembering when Alabama played Ohio State in the 1978 Sugar Bowl, and I couldn't believe I was actually there.

Alabama vs Ohio State. 2015. Bring it on. Roll Tide! 

Time out

Sometimes you just have to call a time out.

Today, August 15, is a regular time out for me. Today I step away from work and from my everyday personal life. I will spend some time alone, and it will help me refocus on what's really important.

As many of you know, today is my late sister Kim's birthday, and 18 years ago today there was a terrible accident that claimed her life. Because of that, I have chosen today as a personal memorial day for all those I love who have gone ahead of me. But you know what? I have written about these things before, and I think the best way to share my heart is to point to these previous posts. So here are links:

Today I remember (a tribute to my sister)

An annual reminder (an explanation of why I take this day)

No more night (A reminder that death is not the end)

If you have the time, I ask humbly that you click on these links and do a little reading. If you do, I pray that you catch a spirit not of sadness, but of rejoicing in the memory of great lives and the hope that we have in Jesus.

Remember those that you miss. Remember the love. Remember the joy. And thank God for their time with you.

God bless.....

Heirlooms

I love Christmas music, and even 30 years after it was released, Amy Grant's A Christmas Album is still one of my favorites. Great songs:  Love Has Come is a simple yet powerful presentation of the incarnation. Little Town introduced me to an alternate tune for one of my favorite hymns. Emmanuel proclaims with authority who Jesus is. Tennessee Christmas grabs me with its simple message that is basically the same as that from The Wizard of Oz - there's no place like home.


And then there's Heirlooms.

I was driving around today listening to Christmas music, and there it was. Hitting me broadside like it always does.

This powerful and emotional song wraps together the two most wonderful things about Christmas - the coming of the King and the importance of family. I've got to confess: If I hear it and tears don't come to my eyes (along with chill bumps on my arms), then I'm only half listening. After all this time, it still gets me. It did today. Take a listen:



Can you listen to it without thinking of your family? Of countless Christmases with them, days gone by with your parents, and new memories being created with your current family? I can't. It's so vivid.

And then, as it moves to the second verse, I love the parallel she draws. Yes, my family is precious and the memories are irreplaceable. But an even greater treasure came into the world 2,000 years ago, and that is what we are celebrating. There are all sorts of heirlooms lying around my house to remind me of good times with family. But the greatest treasure of all came as a baby, and brought life.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I was especially susceptible to the emotion of the song today. Seven years ago today, my wonderful mother went to be the Lord. And so the song today - uniquely today - brings together two of the things I love the most. The memories of time with my mom, and the fact that I know she is in the hands of the Savior who was born in Bethlehem.)

Yes,

All that I come from (thank you Mom and Dad),
All that I live for (thank you Father God)
And all that I'm going to be (thank you Lord Jesus)…

Not heirlooms. Life.

And that's cool.

More dashboard

But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)

Life has its phases. I began going to Alabama football games with my parents and sister at the age of eight. It's been a family thing for me all my life, a chance for us to do something together. Ten years ago, it entered a new phase: the era of road games with some or all of my nieces. Oklahoma 2002. Really? 2002? That long ago?

The pace picked up at the gals entered college. Many times with Haley, Macy, and Brooke...

And other times Haley and Macy...

I've been thinking alot about these good times this week. There are so many amazing memories, so many funny stories, so many goofy things I did, and yes...so many great football games.

What do I do with those? How should I look back on my history, good and bad? As a Christ-follower, what is the right mix?

Believe it or not, it wasn't a Bible verse that brought a proper perspective (although the one at the beginning of this post is a good one). It wasn't words of wisdom from a godly friend. It wasn't a book. Instead it was...

A tweet.

From a freshman football player.

Amari ‏@amari_coop2

Less rearview mirror and more dashboard.

Tell it, Amari Cooper! Six succinct words that mesh perfectly with what Paul was saying in Philippians. Now sure, Amari was thinking about his football team (roll tide) needing to look forward to the task ahead instead of dwelling on past accomplishments. But his words cover so much more than that. They cover life. And this is already one of my favorite all-time quotes.
________________

So what do I do with all the memories I've accumulated? I will rejoice in the awesome ones like those shared here. I will look back to the hard times and maybe even get sad at at times. But I won't - I can't - live my life looking backwards. There's too much at stake. There's a Kingdom to spread. There are people to love. And there's a crown to claim.

Less review mirror and more dashboard.

Googling the brain

Olivia: "I'm missing something; I know I am, Walter."

Walter: "Then I suggest you sleep on it. The brains are remarkable instruments. They can process evidence even when we're not conscious." 

 -- Fringe, Episode 4.18, The Consultant 

I had a strange dream a few nights ago. I'm not sure why I was dreaming about this, but I was in a conversation with a friend about music and we got stumped to remember a song. It was something like, what is the name of the last song on that album? (What album? Not sure - you know how dreams get fuzzy with time.)

Anyway, in the dream, I did what the 21st century man always do when we can't remember something; I pulled out my iPhone to google it. Now here's the interesting part. In real life, I would have sone a search on the album, seen the song list, and voila! The answer. There is almost nothing we can't look up these days.

But in the dream, my iPhone browser failed! No matter what I did to try and find the answer, it was unreachable. I could not find it. When I woke up, my only conclusion was that the answer to that question was buried so deep in my subconscious - or just plain lost - that it could be retrieved even in a dream. Even using Google.
________________________

There is a theory that we never lose memories. That they are all in there, waiting to be unlocked. In the above quote from Fringe, it was reflected in the idea that if you just sleep on it, you can process the answer. In the movies, hypnosis is sometimes used to try and pull them out. And it almost always turns out that if the hypnotist gets into the object's dream state, the memory can be pulled out. Many a fictional crime has been solved this way. An maybe some real crimes.

But I'm not so sure. Because in my dream, the iPhone should have been a tool to pull out what was "on the tip of my tongue". But it wasn't. Something I knew in real life - and had forgotten - was really gone. Couldn't even pull it out in a dream.

What does all this mean? I'm not sure. The question fascinates me, and I would love an answer. I have mostly bought into the "deeply buried" theory of lost memories. I have tended to believe what Walter said about what the brain is capable of while we sleep.

But now...who knows? What do you think?

"Desperation Block"

Boy, do I have a story to tell! This has already been one of the wildest I can ever remember in terms of constantly changing situations and plans. Flexibility has been the key to surviving as Macy, Haley and I have made pour way to State College for the Bama game.

But that story will have to wait for another day...mainly because it isn't over yet.  We're still hear, there's still flooding and we may end up making even more adjustments. So when it's over, a story for you.

In the meantime, I can't help but think back to 22 years ago and my last trip to Happy Valley. It is a sweet memory because it is the only football road trip I ever took with my mother - just her and me. It was so cool spending time with her in that way. So as I sit her in my hotel room on the eve of the game, I am do missing her.

She would love that I'm here with two of her granddaughters though, and that makes me happy.

I still remember the sheer joy on her face in the moments after Thomas Rayum blocked a chip shot filed goal, preserving the Tide's undefeated season to that point. And on mine, not just because we won the game, but because this special trip with my mom was ending so well.

So in memory of her and that trip, I close with this clip of the decisive moment in that game. Mom, I love you.

Here it is: