This weekend was jam packed with excitement, and it actually started a couple of days early. On Wednesday evening, Jamie and I visited the Morgantown Event Center to watch a little bit of the West Virginia Statewide Sportsline and the season debut of the Coach Bill Stewart Statewide show. It was the first time Jamie or myself had visited the event center, and I have a feeling that it will become a great site for special events in the region.
But that’s not all that happened last week. Saturday, my friends John & Melissa and Matt & Carrie invited Jamie and I to attend the season opener against Coastal Carolina University. Now, I wasn’t planning to attend Saturday’s game, but when good friends offer an opportunity to spend time together and enjoy the season opener, how can I refuse? I would have probably listened to Tony Caridi do the play calling while I sat at home had the tickets not become available.
It was perfect weather for starting the football season, and the Mountaineers, while not utterly dominating their opponent, did leave the opposition scoreless in their season debut.
This coming weekend, I am privileged to be able to attend my first Mountaineer game at Marshall University. I’ve never really been a huge fan of the “rivalry,” but it should be interesting to see the Mountaineers play in front of friends and fans in the southern part of the state. Marshall had a tough season opener against Ohio State, but I’m sure they are getting geared up for Friday night’s game.
While there were times that the Mountaineers looked a bit rough during Saturday’s game, they held their competition to under 200 yards total offense, and managed to run and pass for 400 yards during the game.
I honestly wasn’t sure how many games I would make it to this year, but it is looking like I’ll be able to watch at least these first couple of games. This weekend’s game is called The Friends of Coal Bowl, and was organized by a coal industry trade group. So far WVU is 4-0 in this seven year series, and if WVU wins this Friday night the University will be 10-0 all time against the Thundering Herd of Marshall.
I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to another fun season of Mountaineer football and time celebrating a great fall tradition of connecting with friends in and around Mountaineer field on game days.
Let’s gooooooooooo Mountaineers!!!
First, I'd like to take a moment and just give you an opportunity to think about this. He's the head coach of the football team. As a result of his position, he would never need to stand in the student section at a WVU game. He could probably sit in a private box or court side, but he chose to be with students.
Coach Stewart has the best record for a first year coach in the history of WVU. He has a 2-0 bowl record, and although some might disagree, he is leading WVU's football team quite well.
You see, from what I can tell, and what I've heard, he really cares about the players. They aren't there just to play football, although he drives them pretty hard in practice. They are at WVU to learn how to be men. He has been a great example in disciplining his players and helping them to grow during their time in Morgantown.
He is an example of what many people of faith forget. We don't leave our faith when we enter our job. We don't leave our faith when we participate in sports. We don't leave our faith when we spend time with friends or family. Our faith is meant to saturate every aspect of our lives. This is why we call it the "life" of faith, and not the "one hour on sunday morning" of faith.
Think about it today. Regardless of your vocation, you are called to represent Jesus Christ to the world if you are a Christian. It's no wonder people have a distorted image of the Christian faith because so few take this call seriously.
What would your place of employment look like if you took it as an opportunity to reflect Christ in that place? What would your job look like? What would your attitude be like as people approached you for help, or yelled at you because their life wasn't going well.
Take a few moments right now if you have put your faith in Christ, and ask this question, "In what way may God want me to change the way I go about life/work so I can better represent Jesus to the people around me?"
If you get an answer, try to make the change. Invite Christ into your work, and the rest of your life. Your life, your work, and your relationships will take on radical new meaning in light of this sacred privilege.
PS When I thanked coached stewart for the testimony to Christ that his life was for many, he told me he didn't plan to change that. I think it would be cool to take time periodically and pray for public figures like coach stew and send them some encouragement.
PPS Coach stew has a sweet first name!