Football, seminary, and rednecks

Imagine, if you will, going to Wal-Mart at midnight. Take all the parents that are in the process of beating their children as they purchase their third carton of Marlboros in the past two days, and you will have the entire parental make-up of Jack's football team and a good portion of Sam's. I wish that I were exaggerating, but it really does seem like the entire cast of "My Name is Earl" shows up to each game.

Example: The other night we went to Jack's game. A man that resembled Dog the Bounty Hunter, wearing a "wife beater" t-shirt and cut off jeans, was painted up for the game. What part of his face not covered with hair, looked as if it had been painted by a drunk girl practicing for her cosmetology exam. The drunk girl in question may have been his sister. She was shouting obscenities at the referee, whom she obviously disagreed with. I think she said something like “@#*! Can’t you see anything out there! How much did the other team PAY YOU!”

Not to be outdone, the young lady's husband, or quite possibly just her baby’s daddy, began hurling his clever insults at the refs. They entailed questions of the legitimacy of the ref's parentage and the social status of the ref’s mother.

Throw in the grandmother with the oxygen tank and lit cigarette, lots of men with mustaches and poor grooming habits, half of the team playing in the dirt on the sidelines, one mini-sumo wrestler of a six year old sitting on the chest of a member from the opposing team while reigning punches down on his helmet, and you start to get the picture. Loads of fun.

In other news, I still don’t have a job, we are applying for Medicaid for the kids today, Brandie isn’t incredibly happy with her job, and I have been up till midnight every night reading about metaphysics and the Judean society of the New Testament!

You know, in all of this, God is at work and God is GOOD! There is a peace and underlying joy in our lives that in the midst of the chaos and uncertainty, we are truly happy. We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are where God wants us, for our sake and for the sake of His Kingdom. Even though our heart aches for Georgia and we miss all of you, we are embracing the moment that God has us in now. It’s an adventure and we are stepping out and taking risks. Except for sitting next to the smoking grandmother with the oxygen tank. We sit where we won’t be blown-up.

In Him,

Joey