In January of 1997 a fire broke out in our home.  Burned it to the ground.  We lost everything, save the night-clothes we were wearing.

We moved out to a farmhouse some church members provided.  It came completely equipped with everything we needed for that temporary time. 

Since the house that burned was the parsonage, our church, very generously, reworked my salary package, enabling us to buy or build a home.  Pam worked hard with some builders in our church to create the home she wanted.

We lived in the farmhouse for most of 1997, moving into our new home in early to mid-December.  Though excited, we were exhausted.  Then, . . came Christmas. Seriously, we thought, now?

Over this past year, one of my favorite digital Christian periodicals is, “The Christian Post.”  Full of up-to-date news articles that affect Christianity and the Church, I have found the articles to be informative and solidly written.  I, however, almost wish I had not read the post written on Tuesday, October 16 of this year.  For in it, capturing the lead story was this headline:

They played the oddest game in high school football history in the 2008-2009 season down in Grapevine, Texas.
 
It was Grapevine Faith vs. Gainesville State School and everything about it was upside down. For instance, when Gainesville came out to take the field, the Faith fans made a 40-yard spirit line for them to run through.
 
Did you hear that? The other team's fans?
 
They even made a banner for players to crash through at the end. It said, "Go Tornadoes!" Which is also weird, because Faith is the Lions.
  
It was rivers running uphill and cats petting dogs. More than 200 Faith fans sat on the Gainesville side and kept cheering the Gainesville players on-by name.
 
"I never in my life thought I'd hear people cheering for us to hit their kids," recalls Gainesville 's QB and middle linebacker, Isaiah. "I wouldn't expect another parent to tell somebody to hit their kids. But they wanted us to!"