The man known as “Wrong Way Roy”

On New Year’s Day in 1929 Georgia Tech played the University of California in the Rose Bowl. Shortly before half time, a man named Roy Regals recovered a fumble for California. Somehow he became confused and he started running 65 yards in the wrong direction. A teammate tackled him just before he would have scored for the opposing team. When California attempted to punt, Tech blocked the kick and scored a safety. The team headed off the field and went into the dressing room. As they sat on the benches, Regals put a blanket around his shoulders, sat down in the corner, put his face in his hands and cried like a baby.Coach Nibs Price was silent. No doubt he was trying to decide what to do with Regals. Everybody just sat there. When the timekeeper announced three minutes till the end of the half, the playing time, Coach Price looked at the team and simply said, “Men, the same team that played the first half will start the second.”The players got up and started out — all but Regals. He didn’t budge. The coach looked back and called him again but still he didn’t move. Coach Price went over to Regals and said, “Roy, didn’t you hear me? The same team starts the second half.” Regals looked up and with tears in his eyes he said, “Coach, I can’t do it. I can’t do it. I’ve ruined you. I’ve ruined the University of California. I’ve ruined myself. I couldn’t face that crowd in the stadium if my life depended on it.” Coach Price reached out, put his hand on Regals’ shoulder and said, “Roy, get up and go on back. The game is only half over.”Roy Regals went back and everybody who saw it said he played the greatest game in his entire life in that second half.The fact is, we take the ball a lot of times and run in the wrong direction and we stumble and fall and embarrass ourselves and make mistakes and we’re so ashamed that we just think, “I don’t even want to try anymore. I don’t want to get up. I don’t want to try again.” God comes to us. He puts His arm around us. He says, “Get up and go on back. The game’s only half over.”

So You Hate Country Music – Listen Anyway

Well at least listen to Martina McBride’s new single. “Anyway”

You can spend your whole life building, something from nothing
One storm can come and blow it all away — BUILD IT ANYWAY

You can chase a dream that seems so out of reach
And you know it might not ever come your way — DREAM IT ANYWAY

CHORUS: God is GREAT, But sometimes life ain’t GOOD
When I pray — it doesn’t always turn out the way I think it should.
But I do it ANYWAY – I do it ANYWAY.

This world has gone crazy — and it’s hard to believe
That tomorrow will be better than today — BELIEVE IT ANYWAY

You can love someone with all your heart for all the right reasons
In a moment they can choose to walk away – LOVE THEM ANYWAY

You can pour you soul out singing — a song you believe in
That tomorrow they’ll forget you ever sang – SING IT ANYWAY

Laughter can bring healing and encouragement.

Laughter is a great stress reducer. If you have never read Norman Cousins’ account of his experience of self-healing as described in Anatomy of an Illness, I encourage you to do so. When diagnosed with an incurable illness, he brought a movie projector into his hospital room and watched reel after reel of old classic comedy movies, laughing himself into hysterics. He found he could relieve his otherwise significant pain on a consistent basis through laughter. That practice, along with some other novel therapies, resulted in his healing. He left his prestigious journalistic career and taught on the faculty of a major medical school about the power of the mind and emotions in healing the body of disease.

Next to love, laughter has been described as the second-most powerful emotion we can express. It has been said that laughter is like internal jogging—it stimulates the respiratory system, oxygenates the body, relaxes tense muscles, and releases pleasure-producing chemicals in the brain. You cannot laugh and be mad, laugh and be tense, laugh and be stressed. Laughter is low-calorie, caffeine-free, and has no salt, preservatives, or additives. It’s 100 percent natural and one size fits all.

Laughter is truly God’s gift to humankind. You can get high on laughter but never overdose. Laughter is contagious—once it starts little can be done to stop it. Laughter never felt bad, committed a crime, started a war or broke up a relationship. Laughter is shared by the giver and the receiver. Laughter costs nothing and it’s non-taxable. Laughter is a trend-setter. If we can find ways to laugh first thing in the morning, it may in fact set the trend for the rest of the day.

Let me close by telling you the most important use of laughter I have ever discovered: The ability to laugh at ourselves. I stopped taking myself too seriously years ago and it was the best decision I ever made. Don’t get me wrong—I’m still serious about what I do. But not so serious that I can’t be the first one to laugh when I mess up (which happens all too often—it’s why I spend so much time laughing!). When you’re the first person to laugh at yourself, you leave little room for others to laugh at you.

This is adapted from Zig’s book Better Than Good.

Mom was always working behind the scenes..

Some of you are avid sports fans, others are just casual viewers, but we’ve all seen it. The camera zooms in after a spectacular play by our sports heros and what do they do and say? With one finger in the air they say, “Hi Mom”! Not “Hi Dad”, not “Hi Sister” but “Hi Mom”. What they seem to be saying is, “Mom, I wouldn’t be here and couldn’t have done it without you.” So it was with my Mom.

I have written about the great impact my dad had on my manhood and ministerial life, but it was mom always working quietly behind the scenes that shaped my character. As most moms are, she was always there working, praying and believing in me.

She raised seven children almost single-handedly. Dad was always on the road as a traveling minister. She was a Proverbs 31 woman who was a homemaker as well as one who had to be employed outside the home.

There are so many memories I have of her, but two things stand out in my mind as I write of her:

Mom picked a lot of cotton as well as worked for many years at Sherman Steam Laundry. Both were hot, sweaty jobs. After completing her work week on Saturday at the laundry, she would take her meager little check and walk to the city square in Sherman making payments on items she had purchased on credit for her children. She was faithful to do this every week. It was her diligence in paying her bills on time that taught me honesty, faithfulness and integrity. She would remind me that it was your name and testimony that was most valuable in life.

She was a pastor’s wife for over fifty years and this was a job within itself. I will never forget the night I surrendered to do God’s will and become a preacher. Dad cried when I told him of my decision. Mom cried as well, but for a different reason. She was concerned about what my wife Anne would be facing as a pastor’s wife. She knew about the loneliness, the hardships, the sometimes scrutiny and rejection of her children, but she accepted it because she knew God’s hand was on my life and she wanted my new bride and me to be happy.

Mom was not an outwardly religious person, but she was a very inwardly spiritual woman. It took me years as a minister to understand the difference. While some women are called beyond the duties of their home to a more visible ministry, others, like my Mom were always working behind the scenes.

She is with the Lord today, and I am quite sure upon her arrival in heaven she tried to slip in quietly and go unnoticed. Mom, thanks for who you were and all you did for your family. Thanks for encouraging me to be the man I am today. I love you!

“How do you identify someone who needs encouragement?”

Answer: “That person is breathing.”

 

There is breakdown today in the church, in the family, and in the meaningfulness of work. All three arenas were given to us as blessings, but our culture has turned them into sources of hurt. Some pastors lead like CEOs instead of shepherds or spiritual guides. But people long for shepherds. They are looking for comfort, encouragement, direction and spiritual guidance.

 

Even though he headed a large institution, Pope John Paul II came across as a shepherd. He had and showed character, love and compassion. His character appealed to young people. He was the rock. The love was the generous spirit he displayed.

 

When our politicians wave, it’s in a way that says, “I hope you like me.” John Paul didn’t wave, he gave a blessing. People felt that they were being blessed by seeing him, that the encounter wasn’t for him, but for them. That’s encouragement.

 

And when he died, the occasion attracted 5 million people to the largest voluntary gathering in history.

 

The thoughts above concerning Pope John Paul II was the observation of Fred Smith Sr.