Good Guys Wear Jerseys

I saw a facebook picture the other the day that kind of got under my skin a little. I let it go. Then, it rolled through facebook again a few days later with several likes and shares, and I thought, okay, I can't let it go again. So here goes:

The picture was a suggestion that a hero isn't a guy whose name is on the back of his jersey, but a guy who defends his country. This isn't a bash of our soldiers-- in fact, I wish I could adequately thank all those who serve or served our country with more than just "thank you." Rather, it's a chance to say that heroes wear all sorts of uniforms: dress blues, jerseys and shoulder pads, and plenty of others.

Two nights ago, the quarterback for Clemson, playing in his biggest game of his career so far, was captured on camera wearing a wristband that simply says, Pray4Eli. I bet Eli thinks he's a hero. I wonder if just by seeing that a sophomore qb, with the weight of a National Championship on his shoulders, took the time to add that bracelet to his uniform, made an 8th grade boy's fight with cancer a little bit easier, at least for a night.

Speaking of that Clemson quarterback, when he was nine years old, another guy who wore his name on the back of a jersey for a living, stepped up and furnished the house that his single mother helped build through Habitat for Humanity. It wasn't the first time that Warrick Dunn had bought a house or furnished a house for a single mom and her family and it wasn't his last. I'm pretty sure Deshaun Watson is just one name on a list of many who think Warrick Dunn is a hero.

J.J. Watt who plays for the Houston Texans is a you tube sensation for his aggressive plays on the football field, but he's got just as many videos of him visiting kids who struggle with being bullied and kids who spend their afternoons at after school facilities.

Finally tonight, I saw that Tim Tebow is planning more than 200 proms for students with special needs. Tebow has been praised and criticized as a football player AND a Christian, yet he continues to live his life serving God and serving others.

See, yall, good begets good. Kindness begets kindness. Heroes beget heroes.

And it doesn't matter if you run for touchdowns, hit home runs, or fly fighter jets. Or if your name is on the front of your shirt, the back, the sleeve; whether it's a first name, a last name or a nickname. It doesn't matter. The other things, though, they do.

Too Good to be Tru

I think it's fair to say that the news in summer of 2013 left us all a little speechless. A fourth child definitely
wasn't planned, but quickly became a special surprise for all of us. As the days and months wore on, I can't tell you how many times Tate begged me to go to the hospital and "get Truett out." Well, finally we did "get him out" and life has been too good ever since.

I don't know who has done more adjusting, us or him, though there's definitely been plenty of adjustments made on both parts. I learned how to survive on less sleep again, the boys learned to watch tv and play video games to the tune of infant wailing, and Daddy has resumed carrying his headphones with him on long, er, all car trips.

But I have to give a little credit to Tru as well for accepting the fact that he is número cuatro in this family, which means nothing he does is a first😞, he wears hand me downs and thrift-store finds, he's already spent a summer with a travel baseball team, and has bruises and scratches that would make most first- time moms hyperventilate.

Today he celebrates his 2nd birthday, his favorite toys, his favorite brother(don't ask which), his blankies, his babies, his baby bed he's learned to escape, and all his other favorites: Coke (don't judge), Alvin and the Chipmunks, cell phones and IPads, swimming, jumping on the trampoline, Daddy, snuggling.

And we celebrate one of our favorite, biggest surprises: Tru K.