One other thing I have to say today, mainly because it’s been a week and Ronn hasn’t said anything. Perhaps it’s old news for you, but to us, it’s still NEWs.

Midland Christian won the State Championship a week ago Saturday! I have just been dying to write about the experience, but it’s really more Ronn’s glory than mine and I thought he might write about it. Maybe he still will.

I must admit football has never really been a focal point in my life primarily because I just didn’t understand it. But admitedly, I was focused on the wrong aspect of the game. I just never saw the point in a bunch of boys clanging helmets like antlers in pursuit of a ball. Today I know that the game of football is about much more than touchdowns and field goals. It’s about relationships. It seems as though, once again, I am reminded that the fruit of life is in relationships.

This season, I had the privilege of being down on the sidelines in and amongst the team. And I can’t really say while I was down there I built any relationships, but what I can say is I got to watch relationships being built. How often do we really ever get the privilege of truly watching something grow? I don’t know about you, but I am usually too busy for that.

Although football hasn’t been a source of passion for me, it has been for Ronn. And this year he decided to pursue one of his dreams. To coach with his dad. If I have learned something that I occasionally remember, it is that other people have interests and dreams different from mine. I wanted to be supportive of Ronn’s dreams, but I also recognize that you can cross one of those invisible lines from being supportive to being obnoxiously smothering and I didn’t want to do that. So what I did was embrace the idea of taking pictures of Ronn and his dad in action of their passion.

At first I was lost. Out of my comfort zone. Everything happened so fast and my camera was so slow. But as the season got seated in it’s groove, I began to discover the opportunity in the art. I began to figure out why I was down there. The conflict of trying to watch the game and take pictures of it became obviously ridiculous. I could watch the game from the stands, but I couldn’t capture a story from up there. I couldn’t witness all that goes into a game from a distance. At some point, although I can’t clearly tell you when, I realized that my purpose for being on the sidelines was to gain perspective. Perspective on football and what it’s really all about.

I must admit that I have never really aspired to take pictures, let alone pictures at football games. But such is the opportunity I was given, so I did what I could with a camera that was not designed for what I was doing. By improvising to the situation, adjusting to what was, I learned alot about things that now intrigue me, but I would have never selectively chosen.

I now have a new appreciation for the eye of a photographer. I learned that photography is the art of telling a story. Focusing on the things that most of us see in an instant and feel for a lifetime. Capturing the very essence of those split second expressions that mark a person’s life. You wouldn’t believe how hard that is! By the time I saw it, it was already gone. But with a determination to figure out this very thing that was eluding me, I buckled down and got serious about figuring out how to take pictures at football games with my ‘slow, take forever, make your cheeks hurt from smiling so long’ camera.

I focused on the process and quit worrying about the results (i.e., the crappy pictures I was churning out game after game). The rewards I received in exchange for surrendering the results still amaze me. Not only did I end the season with some pretty good pics, but I also learned how to doctor those ‘could have been good, but missed it by a second’ pics.

Even more importantly than the pics, though, I now have the unforgettable experience of having walked in and amongst a team. A team of coaches. A team of young men. All in pursuit of something that each and every one of them believes in with all their hearts. I now understand that football is much more than clanging helmets to chase a ball, scoring touchdowns or kicking field goals. Football is about fighting for something you believe in. Football is about defending family. Pursuit of passion. Giving your all, even when you don’t think you have anything left. Integrity. Intensity. But most of all football is about relationships.

I had the privilege of witnessing these relationships for a moment in time. The pictures I can now give back will never repay the experience those coaches and young men gave me to just be a part, an insignificant part, of their team.

I now know what it’s like to be part of team!