I had a great weekend culminating in my preaching two sermons (morning and evening) at Southside Baptist Church in Newport on Sunday.
On Friday night, SMA, DBN, and I went to Knoxville Catholic High School where we watched the Fighting Irish (the Irish Times Pub is a sponsor) defeat the Webb School Spartans, 20-16. Why? I honestly do not know. We wanted to see a high school football game as we had not done so in years. We chose this game over the Farragut-Bearden rivalry game. The irony is that DBN actually attended Farragut and SMA graduated from Bearden. We had no ties to this game but chose well as the alternative was the Admirals’ 48-10 blowout victory.
We parked at DBN’s nearby Fox Lake apartment and walked to the game. High school football has far more pageantry that it did when we attended. (That really makes us sound old.) We were especially surprised at how many souvenirs were sold. We paid $6 for a ticket and then a one armed ticket taker ripped their tickets. (Could they have not found a better job for him thatn this?) Actually, this process was rather slow so I forewent the ripping process. Since the ticket is generic, I suppose I could reuse it. I don’t have any plans to return, however.
We got great seats as you can see. We sat directly in front of the press box on the 50-yard line. The heat was unpleasant and the seats were hard but we still had a good time. Thankfully I could not hear the comments DBN was making about underage girls as SMA sat between us. I could get the gist of the conversation based upon the facial expressions of the mother sitting in front of him.
We came rooting for no one in particular. The Catholic fan sitting directly in front of us made us Spartan fans quickly. He was not only ignorant but voiced his ignorance authoritatively. The John Chavis lookalike at one point asked loudly and repeatedly, “How can a defense hold?” When his team scored late to accrue a three-point lead he pleaded for them to go for two. If you know football, you realize that taking the more certain extra point prevents a field goal from tying you. We may not have had a preference on the field, but we wanted this guy to lose. Naturally, his team did not.
The game itself was entertaining. It paced itself like a prize fight. Both teams played conservative in the early rounds before letting it out later. Catholic, the #2 ranked team in class 3-A, prevailed in the second half.
Not that we are scouts, but we were all most impressed by Catholic’s 6'5" senior tight end Daniel Hood. Evidently, we are not the only ones. He runs a 4.9 40-yard dash and according to Scout.com is the #19 tight end in the country. You can read his profile here. He had visits scheduled to Georgia Tech (September 20th), Auburn (September 27th) and Ole Miss (October 4th). Tennessee offered a scholarship earlier in the year.
The most impressive performance on this night came from a Catholic High School majorette. She worked alone (Catholic did not even field a full band). Her ability made her stand out as much as the pink outfit she wore. She performed to Michael Buble’s“Crazy Little Thing Called Love” (covering Queen). She was phenomenal. She recently placed nationally in the 58th annual NationaL Majorette Contest at Notre Dame.
After the game, SMA and I picked up a pizza from Pizza Hut. The manager (and only cook on hand) cut her staff on a Friday night. Suffice it to say, we waited awhile. We may be able to explain this decision based upon this advertisement in the store. Evidently, Pizza Hut is seeking to hire crazy people...
The night ended eating, and hanging out with DBN at SMA’s house. DBN is well. He is contemplating another job change. He has had three job interviews with Frontier Communications. Should he get the job, he would be stationed in Cookeville, Tennessee. He is not overly happy with his job at AT&T and this job would have both an adequate salary in addition to the potential for substantial commission. He has told the company he is available as early as October 1st. His wife is happy with her job and as they just moved home has made DBN promise to commute 6-8 weeks to insure DBN likes his job. I cannot say that I blame her. Please keep DBN and his family in your prayers as they make decisions about the future.
I spent Saturday watching the Bring It On marathon on ABC Family. No, not really. I peripherally watched football most of the day while finalizing my sermons for the following day.
I did stop by MoFoS and visited with JTH and TK. Evidently, the landlord called about the previous Thursday’s shenanigans. JTH and TK have resolved the issue. They have bought a broom and decided to destroy all property facing east as this will reduce the area that must be cleaned. That sounds like good thinking to me.
JTH was not supposed to work on this day but NHH called in on his first day on the job. This surprised absolutely no one. He cited a family emergency. I am sure it was merely a coincidence that this was the day of the first home football game of the season. Based upon past experience, I theorized that this emergency in some way entailed picking up his grandmother from the airport. (He used that excuse so often in his past stint at the store that his grandmother likely leads the nation in frequent flier miles.)
In other Saturday news, my father called from Providence, Rhode Island, from the First Baptist Church in America. As its name suggests, it was indeed the first Baptist Church in this country. It was founded in 1638 by among others, Roger Williams. To be honest, I would have thought that after a week in Rhode Island, they would have exhausted all things to see. Evidently not.
On Sunday morning, I drove to Newport where I spent the day preaching at Southside Baptist Church. (Note: My grandparents’ car is pictured, parked where it is every Sunday morning.) I last preached there June 8th. Their pastor (and my friend), CWB, was preaching the homecoming service at Point Pleasant Baptist Church elsewhere in the county in the morning and attending the Tennessee Association of Housing and Redevelopment Agencies (TAHRA) annual meeting in Nashville that evening. I resisted the urge to have a cliff hanger ending in the morning sermon.
I preached the morning service on Exodus 14:19-31, the parting of the Red Sea. I was pleased with a well researched sermon that tied the passage with the use of the passage in the American Revolution and the Christian’s freedom from the bondage of sin.
I arrived to find that the church wished me to preach a children’s sermon. I gave an extemporaneous discourse on fear. After the service, I received numerous compliments on the sermon - the children’s sermon. Neither the irony nor the lesson was lost on me.
After the service, I ate with my grandparents and my aunt and uncle at Shoney’s. It was strange not eating at the Holiday Inn. In fact, I instinctively drove past the Shoney’s. I think my subconscious was telling me that I needed their pie. While the tradition of eating at the Holiday Inn was broken, the family tradition of snapping photos with mouths full persisted. Thanks for my meal, Uncle Eugene!
The Holiday Inn will actually be changing names soon as a Holiday Inn Express is being built nearby and they are disbanding their present franchise. The buffet will be owned and operated by the same staff, but they are saddened by the name change after forty years in the same location.
After eating, I visited Union Cemetery to see if my grandmother’s tombstone had been placed. It had. The good news is that is matches by grandfather’s. The bad news is that (as you can see) it got very dirty during the installation process. I will return and clean it when I am not dressed to preach. What were the odds of my formal attire preventing me from doing something?
I then went to Goodwill where my childhood babysitter DLB serves as manager. I asked why every Goodwill in the foreseeable area has a near infinite supply of the Van Helsing Junior Novel. She did not know why but acknowledged that she has boxes full in the storage room.
DLB will be in an upcoming episode of Outsider’s Inn. The episode “Night on the Town” airs on September 26th. The Goodwill she manages is next to one of the locales in the show. Two of its principle characters get dates with the shows stars (Maureen McCormick and Carnie Wilson) and shop at her Goodwill to procure the proper attire. She was directed only that she should not give the duo a discount. In the segment, the two rural characters attempt to barter for clothes.
While I have not watched much of the show due to its portrayal of my hometown, DLB insists that the “Outsiders” are the ones that are poorly portrayed. There were eight episodes filmed for the first season and it is doubtful the show will be renewed.
In other news, her nephew and my friend JTG was slated to graduate from the police academy that Friday, September 19th. He has always dreamed of being in law enforcement. In his final test, he hit only one cone on a driving test, in contrast to one co-applicant who hit 16! The only negative is that the father of two is in the process of getting a divorce.
I spent the remainder of the afternoon watching football with my grandparents. Wanting to spend the day with them, I did not bring my usual posse. As such I am sorry to note there are no WAM Quotes or pictures of KJW this week. Instead, I give you my grandfather sleeping, a common site at all family gatherings.
At 6 pm, I preached the night service on Genesis 50:20. The sermon drew heavily from the work of my mentor John Claypool. I still miss him very much.
I then drove to Knoxville where I watched the TNA pay-per-view presentation, “No Surrender”, with SMA and DBN. On the way home, I filled my gas tank at Shell station. It is good thing money is not my motivation for preaching as I would not have fared well on this day. Gas prices were the talk of the town during the weekend and rested at $4.99/gallon on this day!
The pay-per-view was a good way to wind down after a long day.
Finally, Sunday was my father’s birthday. Happy birthday, dad!
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