God, Family and Others Made Me Who I Am

Let start by saying, as I write this, I’ve been battling some health issues but it has not caused me to slow down or change my day-to-day life in any way. I can thank my Granny, a Coach and God for being able to do that.
Here’s a little background. I’m writing this after an incident that occurred last week.
My practically brand new riding mower died after making only a couple of passes of my yard last week so, I did what I use to do as a kid, pulled out the push mower. I quickly learned I’m not as young or as strong as I once was.
Anyway, I have a really bum knee that is always painful but has been exceptionally painful after using that push mower but I haven’t stop doing any normal routine and plan on pushing the yard again. After all, it’s good excercise where my body likes it or not.
I grew up with my Grandmother on a farm in Harris County. My Grandmother was gentle, caring, kind, smart, hard working and probably the closest thing I’ve ever met to a saint. She had to be to put up with someone like me.
Some of my fondest memories are growing up on the farm she and my grandfather worked so hard to develop. Almost everything I know about farming, I learned from my grandmother and almost everything I know about life, I learned from my grandmother, and my Christian beliefs were definitely grounded by my grandmother.
Living on a farm there is no such thing as a sick day. The animals and crops have to be tended and taken care of. Fever doesn’t stop you from feeding and taking care of your animals. Stomach issues won’t allow you to “feed the animals tomorrow.” About the only thing that will stop you on a farm is serious injury, surgery or death.
While my Grandmother was kind, caring and giving, she didn’t mind reminding you of what had to be done and passing out punishment if you didn’t do it. So, sick or hurting I did what needed to be done on the farm.
One of my worst sports injuries came from playing baseball. I had a really bad comebacker on the mound that struck me in my jaw. My face immediately began to bleed, swell like crazy and had the imprint of the ball on it.
I thought the coach was going to take me out for sure. He approached me on the mound and said, “Ouch, that looks pretty bad. Are you in a lot of pain?”
“I’m hurting pretty good,” I replied.
“Can you see home plate?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“Can you throw the baseball?” he asked. “Let’s see if you can.”
The umpire agreed to let me toss a few pitches.
I was in pain, but I finished that game. After the game was over my coach said, “You have to learn to play through the pain. You can never let your team down if you can still play. You have to suck it up and work through it.”
That was a good thing because through the years I got hurt in basketball many times. My fingers got jammed; my knees got bruised and sometimes burned from sliding on the court and more.
Playing football I had a shoulder injury and played through it. Injured my wrist and played through it and more.
So, with a swollen right knee it’s tough, but not enough to take me out of the game or to let the people who count on me down.
So, because of the never quit attitude my Grandmother and my old coach, Bobby Lowman, I learned to never give up unless I have to. When I reach the point I absolutely have to, I will. In the words of Kenny Rogers, “You gotta know when to fold ‘em.”
However, there is one more point I would like to make about a never-quit attitude. My Grandmother also taught me about a man who went through more in a short lifetime than I could ever go through in mine. She was quick to remind me about that man whenever something went wrong.
“The good Lord is going to take care of it,” she would always tell me. “No matter what happens in your life, remember he is there and will take care of it if you turn it over to him.”
Throughout my life, I’ve trusted those words, and the good Lord above, and I have to admit, to this day He has never let me down.
My grandmother had a few more sayings that I’ve tried to remember as well. One was, “God looks out for fools, and no matter how tough things may be, if you have faith He will help you get through it.”
I know that is true because He has certainly looked out for me time and time again throughout the years. Proving that I’m a fool, but I’m also a believer in His grace and love.
So, never forget, no matter what you may face in life, He is there. You must have faith and be patient and His will come through.
I’m thankful to have a caring God and to have had a strong grandmother and coach who have helped me to become the person I am today.