Our family went to UCF’s basketball game this week, where UCF easily beat Tulane–a decent team that beat Auburn, Georgia, and LSU, not that those 3 are any good.  Still, I thought it would be a close game.

Anyway, halfway through the playing of the national anthem, Evan had a question:

“Daddy, whose fight song is THIS?”

Not too many football coaches quote Irish poets, but I’ve recently come across 2 quotes by former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr while reading leadership articles.   He seems like an interesting man, though I never followed him much as a coach, and rarely if ever root for the Wolverines.  Both the articles and the quotes show that he spent his time reading more than just playbooks.  Here’s one quote.  I’ll have to go back and look to find the other one…

“Thirteen years ago, when I was named the head coach,” Carr said at the press conference announcing his retirement, “I took as my guide the words of Pakenham Beatty. He said:

By your own soul, learn to live.
If some men thwart you, take no heed.
If some men hate you, have no care.
Sing your song. Dream your dream.
Hope your hope and pray your prayer.”

Evan, just before Christmas (and his 5th birthday):

“Daddy, do you want to watch some TV?  It’s like a book……..that talks.”

Or should I say the year that wasn’t…recorded on this blog.  The one-year anniversary of my last post seems like as good a time as any to add to the random postings on this site.

So what has happened in the last year?  Let’s see…seems like it was a year on the go.  In March it was international missions–all the way to Ocala for a week of Spring Break, where a bunch of us organized, sorted, and loaded a huge semi-trailer container of medical supplies headed to Honduras on a boat.  April’s highlight was getting frequent flyer tickets at the last minute so the whole family could go to Turkey for a month, which we did from mid-May to mid-June.  I’m kind of sketchy on what happened in July.  Blame it on jet lag.  August was a week at Ridgecrest, always a good time.  Late September-early October was a trip to Boston and New England–an unforgettable fall trip after a long hot summer.  In late October there was a trip to Nashville that will mostly be remembered for the fun we had watching a certain college football game that took place just 150 miles north of Orlando.  November and December brought trips home to Georgia for the holidays.

It didn’t seem like so much at the time, but looking back, that’s quite a bit of time away from home–especially when you throw in a few trips that I’ve left out.  This year, things will be different.  The pace will be slower. 

Probably not.

ps.  Tonight Amy and I went to see UCF play bball in the new Arena, thanks to tickets from a friend and former student who now works in the athletic department.  The Knights made 15(!) 3-pointers and won 110-75 over East Carolina, who played a close game against UCF earlier in the season.  It was the most points in a game by UCF in almost 20 years.  Amy and I are taking most of the credit, and expect the basketball program to recognize our contribution soon. 

Mike Licona was on campus Thursday night and presented some excellent info on the historical evidence for Christianity. 

There are those who say apologetics no longer carries much weight in our postmodern world, but that certainly hasn’t been my experience on the university campus over the past 8 years.  While there are certainly many who say “that’s fine and I’m glad it works for you,” apologetics can still be an important element in answering skeptics and shoring up the faith of believers whose faith is constantly challenged in and out of the classroom.

Here’s the link, with lots of good info–articles and videos–on a wide range of topics:  www.4truth.net

Christianity Today has posted a list of The Ten Most Redeeming Films of 2006.  Not being the big moviegoer, I’ve only seen one of them. I took Evan to see Charlotte’s Web while Julie and Amy and Andrew went to see Eragon, and it was much better than I expected. 

My favorite thing about the movie:  Evan sat in my lap the entire time.  I couldn’t help but think that I wouldn’t have that opportunity many more times.

My favorite quote during the movie:  When it became obvious that Charlotte wasn’t going to be around much longer, Evan snuggled up close and said, “My eyes are watering jus’ a little bit.”

Everyone familiar with what Colts’ coach Tony Dungy went through last year with the suicide death of his son was impressed with the grace and dignity he showed in tragedy. His faith was evident, and even the most hardened unbelievers were impressed with his strength and his confidence in God. It was an amazing testimony. I hope he wins on Sunday, but here’s a great column about both coaches.

As another column said, “not only are they the first black coaches in the Super Bowl, Dungy thinks their shared faith in Christ is also important. ‘He’s going to get there with a lot of class and no profanity,’ Dungy said about Coach Smith. ‘We can show that not only can an African-American do it, but also Christian coaches can do it.’”

Character, not color, defines Dungy, Smith.

Andrew at bedtime a month before his 3rd birthday:

Andrew:  “Today at church we talked about grumpy Jesus.”

Daddy:  “Andrew, Jesus wasn’t grumpy.”

Andrew:  “Yes he was…because they killed him…but then he came back alive and he wasn’t grumpy anymore.”

Somehow I don’t believe that’s what they taught him that day in Sunday school.

There are 109,000 people in the US with the name Brad; 204,000 Crawfords; and 74 Brad Crawfords.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 74 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

After you’ve gone 4 months without posting on a blog, how do you get started back?  4 months…went by like 4 weeks.  School started, and then….wow.  So now I face the question of what to write in my first post back, knowing that I should do it now…especially since a link to it has been posted on our new website.  So here goes…

I’m blessed.  Last semester I taught through Ephesians on Thursday nights and there was a phrase from the book that I walked around with for most of the semester.  It was never far from my mind, and it came to me over and over again.  But as the semester ended, Christmas came and went, and another semester began, the phrase just eased its way out of my consciousness, and I haven’t thought specifically about it until this past week. 

This is it:  in Christ, we have been given every spiritual blessing. Paul says at the beginning of the letter:  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. . . . In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us.â€?

So when things get hectic and life gets busier than it should be, it would be wise to remember that we’re already blessed in Christ. Only then can we rest deeply in His comfort and His goodness, and see our life and our work through fresh eyes. And because we’ve been given every spiritual blessing in Christ, we don’t have to work to make God happy.  Instead, we work because God is already happy with me in Christ.

Every spiritual blessing.  Available in Christ.  Blessed beyond imagination.

As if hurricanes weren’t enough.

 

One of the legends of Georgia football died today.  The story is here.  If you took a poll he’d easily be the most beloved Bulldog assistant ever.  Erk Russell coached Georgia’s defense from before I was born until I was in my mid-teens,  and when I think of him I always think of waiting for the team buses by the railroad tracks before they enclosed the East end of the stadium.  He was the one coach who was unmistakable:  completely bald with a face that looked like Georgia’s mascot.  He’d get off the bus to the cheers of the crowd with his game face on and looking like he’d kill somebody if they’d let him suit up.  As an 8-15 year old he scared me to death and I never got within 20 feet of him.  He was famous for butting heads with the players in pre-game; they’d have helmets and he’d have a bloody head.

 

After beating Notre Dame to win a national championship at Georgia, he became head coach at Georgia Southern, starting the program from scratch and winning a handful of national 1-AA championships.  The stories by and about him are legion, but the funniest one I’ve heard is one he told in a book.  He was recruiting in this small town, and came to a light where an old lady in front of him had a bumper sticker that said “honk if you love Jesus.”  Erk said “I do so I did.”  He said she got out of her car and started walking back to his, and he thought, “This little old lady’s going to thank me for loving Jesus.â€?  He rolled down his window and the old lady said “You bald headed so-and-so, can’t you see the light’s red!!!â€?

Today begins the best season of the year, which is of course Georgia football season. Other schools are beginning their seasons today as well, but these are of considerably less importance. 

I must say I’m a little annoyed at UCF, which should be in Athens today to play the defending SEC Champs, but cancelled out a year or so ago. O’leary was scared.  Scared I tell you.  So the school paid Georgia a considerable sum of American dollars so they would not have to play the Dawgs.  Now, instead of being in Athens watching my favorite team play my adopted 2nd favorite team, I’ll be watching Georgia on TV, then going to the Citrus Bowl (for the last season before UCF’s stadium opens!). UCF-Vanlillanova. Now that’s exciting right there, I don’t care who you are.

The Blessing.
Pu Yi Restaurant.
Me, Evan, Amy.  Memorial Day Weekend.

God, can you make the world nice like it was?

(OK, this is an unusual start for a 3-year-old’s prayer, but I must say it is solid.  He recognizes the effects of the fall and looks forward to the promise of a new heaven and a new earth.  Excellent.)

And can you make some more pretty flowers that make blooms and more flowers.  Thank you for those.
 

(Again, this is good.  Our little tyke recognizes the imprint of God’s hand in all of creation, sees the beauty around him, and thanks our Creator for it.  Our son is a budding theologian, and I am a good and proud father.)

And can you make da dog poop stay in da dog’s bottom?  Can you do dat too?  Amen.
 

(Sometimes the hardest job of a parent is not to laugh when it is inappropriate and would lead to more inappropriate-ness.  And sometimes you spew Coke into your Chinese food after the blessing.  Try explaining that.)

The latest from my favorite hurricane watching site.  Never thought I’d have a favorite hurricane watching site.

 

 

Classes kicked off Monday at UCF, and to celebrate the occasion a major campus traffic artery was roadblocked so that it could be re-routed sometime this decade. Apparently someone decided a week or two ago that this (and not May, June, or July) would be a good time to start a large and disruptive campus road project. The resulting chaos is pretty predictable.

As I see and meet freshmen this time of year, I always think back to my first few days at UGA. I remember standing on the bridge looking into the football stadium and thinking of all the games I had seen there as a kid, and what a big deal it had always been to make the trip to Athens on Friday or Saturday for a Bulldog game. And now I was a student there…finally!

What were you thinking the first week of class as a college student?

Title this one “how close to the line can I tiptoe and not get in trouble?” 

Andrew, when he was 5, eating a hamburger (and lots of cheese) on the patio.  His response when told he could not under any circumstances have any more cheese:

“What if I just open my mouth and some cheese falls in it?”

 

Mike is a friend, former student, and local law officer. He was hit and critically injured yesterday on the job. You can read about it here.

Mike is one of the friendliest and most helpful people I know. He fixed my car! He helped me put down tile in our master bath a few years ago, and I still remember our conversation about a girl he was interested in and just beginning to date. They’ve been married for a couple of years now.  

Several large rooms at the hospital were filled last night with family and friends, officers and church members, as we prayed together and waited for news of his condition. The presence of so many of his co-workers from the Orange County sheriff’s office was impressive. The presence of so many church members and friends was encouraging. The presence of faith in God that was so evident in his wife and parents was inspiring.

Please pray for Mike.

[UPDATE:  Mike died at 7:25 Wednesday night.  The full story is here.  Please continue to pray for Vicki and the family.  Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary’s final words to the large group gathered for the announcement:  ”It’s a family of incredible faith.  We could all learn something from them.”  Amen.

Evan, told this week that he couldn’t play a certain computer game because he couldn’t read:  “Yes I can too read!”

“Really?  Then what does g-o spell?” 

“Rabbit.”

Close.

 

I can’t even begin to list the number of reasons this picture cracks me up.

 

(Click pic to enlarge)