THIS is what it's all about

I went to the first football game this season at our school.

As I see it, these are the highlights.

When JG is down on the sidelines, screaming with horrible cramps, as the medics are trying to find an illusive vein to IV in something to help with his dehydration, 6'5" 320 lb, TM takes off his helmet lays hands on him and prays with fevor right there in front of God, the players, and the stands full of fans.

When another boy is down on the field with a tail bone injury, and the players on the field take a knee, it is obvious to those of us in the stands that some player leads the whole team in prayer right there on the field. I look, and TM is on the sidelines. I later find out that it is another senior who took the initiative to lead, WM.

The grandparents who are raising their grandson cry when I tell them how I had prayed that God would make a way for him to attend this school again this year although there were health and financial issues in the way. And she kissed me on the cheek and said that she loved me.

And the boy who I have prayed for so much that I feel like he belongs to our family. We have invested a lot in him and love him dearly, although he sometimes he has a hard time loving himself. He is the one reason I am at the school. God has put me here for perhaps other reasons, but he needs us, and he needs to know that he is worth something and we believe in him. After the game, instead of rushing home or hanging out with the guys, he sought out my husband to sit and talk to for a long while about nothing really. They just hung out.

The lost coin...

A few years ago, H was collecting money for Speed-the-Light missions. There was a contest at church, and the youth pastor suggested checking the car, couches, etc. for loose change.

H was determined to find every silver or copper piece in the house.

We had bought a new living room set a few years earlier, and had moved the old green one upstairs into the playroom. H was determined that the old sofa had to be full of money.

She began by removing the cushions. Nothing. She thought that she had remembered a "jingling" sound when we moved it, so she KNEW there was money to be found.

I kept telling her that it was a waste of time. She kept looking. She turned the sofa on end. She ran her hand along the edge as far as it would go. She even tried to remove the board at the bottom. She wouldn't give up. She just knew there was money there.

Soon she smuggly came to me.

"So, did you find any money?" I asked.

"Seventy-five dollars," she replied.

I stopped what I was doing. "You're lying! SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS?"

"Yep." (She's very pleased with her I-told-you-so self). "In a wallet."

"WHOSE?"

She brought me the wallet. It seemed that a friend who had visited us from North Carolina several years earlier had LOST HIS WALLET IN OUR COUCH.

We found the money, credit cards, drivers license, and photos. So my husband called him. HE DIDN'T REMEMBER LOOSING IT. How can you loose something like that and not even remember? His wife, however, did remember, because she was the one who made all the calls canceling accounts, etc.

So, we mailed the wallet to him, $75 and all.

There was no other change in the couch.

This is why I'm here

The school year has not yet started, but last night the phone rang. It was a student of mine from last year.

"Mrs. B., I need to talk to you about something..." And so he speaks, for probably thirty minutes or so.

I said very little. Mostly I listened. Asked an occasional question for clarification. Asked about him and God. Reminded him that he is way too hard on himself. Let him know that I still pray for him. Daily, about specific issues in his life. And listened some more.

"Thanks," he says. "I knew I could count on you."

A Pig's Tale

We have had some interesting animal encounters where we live.

While we do live in rural Mississippi, we still live in a neighborhood. We are by no means in the boonies. However, occasionally we are visited by some unexpected creatures.

When my daughter was less than a year old, a peacock used to visit us. Sometimes it would stand on the patio by the french doors, and sometimes we would see it perched on the house. It delighted H, but after a few months it disappeared as mysteriously as it had appeared.

One day, I looked out my front window to a mama pig and five babies rooting around my yard. After watching them tear up the flowerbed, I tried to scare them away, but the mama pig did not like me and seemed to be pretty protective of her little ones. I called my husband at work to see what to do.

After suggesting a meal of ham and bacon, he suggested that I call the sherrif's department and ask them what to do.

I called them and they told me that right now animal control did not even service us in the county and to call 911.

I called 911 and explained that there was no emergency, but there were pigs in my yard that I wanted to be rid of. They said they would send an officer right out.

Sure enough, a patrol car pulled up in my driveway. The deputy scratched his head and asked for a broom. He yelled and chased the pigs with the broom until they ran up the front hill and into the neighbor's yard.

He walked back to the house, returned the broom with a satisfied smile, and declared his work complete. I told him that I thanked him, but I doubted that my neighbor would.

About the time he got to his car, from the woods behind my house a man on a horse rode up. I assume that he owned the pigs although he did not say a word to us. He herded them up by yelling SUEY and chased them down the road.

I am not making this up. Wouldn't it be a great episode for a sitcom?

Is this what I think it is?

I spent the day with my mother today and had a wonderful time. It made me think of a story about her.

A few years ago Mama was babysitting the girls while M and I went out. When we returned, she met me at the door.

"You'll never guess what I found," she said with a shocked, I-can't-believe-you tone of voice.

"What?" I asked.

"This was just LYING on the kitchen counter!" she gasped. "I can't believe you are so irresponsible!"

She tossed me the item that had upset her.

"Is this what I THINK it is?" she asked, visibly upset.

"I don't know. What DO you think it is?" I asked.

"A condom!" she hissed.

I looked at the item in my hand and laughed.

"It's a Glade PlugIn refill packet," I replied.

First boyfriend

A few days ago, my younger daughter came to me and told me that a boy, T, told her that he liked her.

I asked her what she said, and she said that she told him that she liked him too, but it didn't matter because he had to TALK TO HER DADDY FIRST.

First of all, although the daughters are in the 10th and 11th grades, this is the first time that "boyfriend" has come up. Both of the girls have A LOT of boy FRIENDS, but no special ONE.

Secondly, my husband and I have never discussed what would happen when they DID like someone because, um, maybe they would never grow up, you know what I mean?

So the very fact that R took the initiative to refer him to her daddy is huge to us.

I asked her if she wanted me to give her dad a "heads up." Nope, she said. Talking to him would be good for T.

You have to understand that my husband is not the kind of person who needs to be faced with such an unexpected request cold turkey. So I asked R if she really wanted Daddy to be surprised and put on the spot.

Well, maybe you should talk to him first. And I did. He was clueless and confused. No, she can't date. She is just shy of 15. Why is she interested in a BOY anyway? What does he WANT?

In the meantime, said boy is seeking counsel from a friend of my husband who advises him in the proper terminology ("hang out," not "date"), goes over some possible questions that my husband might ask, and instructs him on his behavior.

My husband and I came up with a list of questions that I discussed with R and he asked T.

• What attracts him to our daughter?
• What boundaries is he willing to place on the physical part of their relationship?
• What happens when they no longer "like" each other?
• Is he basically asking permission for them to be recognized as a "couple"?

Then, WE set the boundaries. Basically, no dates, even with parents at this point. They can hang out, etc, but no physical contact. I told R to think about whether or not different behaviors would be appropriate for me to do with a man other than her daddy...pats on the back--ok; squeezing leg or backrubs--not ok.

T was understandly scared to death, but I must say that both he and my husband held it together. He asked permission to "court" her. After the talk which took place in the car in the church parking lot, as they walked toward the building, T jokingly asked my husband if he could carry him the rest of the way in. His knees we about to give out!

Both T and R were all smiles for the rest of the night.