Roy Exum
Just as I was putting a bow on top of this list of Christmas Wishes, a little poem came tumbling out of my computer, and for whatever I can only imagine, it wants to be among my wishes as we herald the birth of our newborn King. I have no idea who wrote this poem but I might add I agree with it.
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T'was two months before Christmas
When all through our land,
Not a Christian was praying
Nor taking a stand.
Why the PC Police had taken away
The reason for Christmas - no one could say.
The children were told by their schools not to sing
About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.
It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say
December 25th is just a ' Holiday '.
Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, cheques and credit
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!
CD's from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-Pod
Something was changing, something quite odd!
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
In hopes to sell books by Fran-ken & Fonda.
As Targets were hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe's the word Christmas - was nowhere to be found.
At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears
You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.
Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-is-ty
Are words that were used to intimidate me.
Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen
On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton!
At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.
And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace
The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded
The reason for the season, stopped before it started.
So as you celebrate 'Winter Break' under your 'Dream Tree'
Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.
Choose your words carefully, choose what you say,
Shout "MERRY CHRISTMAS", not "Happy Holiday "!
Please, all Christians join together and wish everyone you meet
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
- - -
Christ is The Reason for the Christ-mas Season!
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I WISH SOME PARTS OF AMERICA WILL NEVER CHANCE
My buddy Dabo Sweeney, the head football coach at Clemson, was a rather unheralded "walk on" receiver at Alabama under Gene Stallings.
In an interview last month, he told what is easily my favorite story of the year when he explained the Alabama team, on Game Day and when they played an “away” game, would travel in two big buses from the hotel or dorm to the stadiums and so forth …
"The first bus was called 'The First Bus," and all of the best players and coaches rode that bus. The second bus was called 'The ROY bus.' That was for guys who didn't play much but were still valued players on the team.
What's that? Why the ROY bus? Dabo never broke stride. “In Alabama R-O-Y stood for the ‘Rest Of Ya'll!’”
Oh my mercy, it just doesn’t get better than that.
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I WISH I HAD A GRANDSON LIKE KYLE PHILLIPS
Having grown up on Lookout Mountain and being involved in sports like I have, my neighbor Reuben Lawrence has been a dear friend forever. When his daughter Theresa was growing up, she was everybody’s favorite, playing basketball at GPS and then as the captain of the Vanderbilt Lady Commodores.
More lately, Teresa has exemplified herself as the Athletic Director at Tennessee State but it's her son Kyle Phillips who is now the star athlete. Kyle was just named as the recipient of the 2018 Piesman Trophy. He becomes the fourth winner of SB Nation’s award that honors a lineman “who does something truly special with the ball in his hands.”
The SB Nation, an Internet sports site, announced Phillips won the award “for his 27-yard pick-six against Alabama on Oct. 20 inside Neyland Stadium. The 6-4, 273-pounder intercepted a pass by Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts in the third quarter, broke several tackles and rumbled into the end zone for the first touchdown of his career.”
A phenomenal human being as well as a potential NFL choice, Kyle was named as the winner of the coveted Bill Majors Memorial Award at this year’s team banquet, as UT’s top defensive player this season, and chosen by his teammates as a permanent team captain.
After graduating for UT in three years, and making the SEC All-Academic team in all three, Kyle has been been invited to the 2019 East-West Shrine Game, which will be played on Saturday, Jan. 19, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, and showcases the NFL’s upcoming star players.
No wonder his grandfather Reuben, who has been called the ‘Godfather of Athletics” at Howard School, is popping his buttons on this Christmas morning.
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I WISH ONE OF THOSE WHO I LOVE COULD FIND A BALLOON
Lord, I am not asking for myself … I’d never do that … but one of my prayers this Christmas is that you would allow one of those who I deeply love to experience the heavenly presence that occurred this fall in the wilds of Patagonia, Arizona. That’s where one of your special children, Randy Heiss, was on a hike when he happened to spy the ragged remnants of a balloon in some scraggly bushes. What’s this … there was a scrawled note barely attached.
One on side was a single name, “Dayami” and on the other were some words in Spanish that he could not read. His wife, however, discerned this just could be a note to Santa. After all, the words translated into English meant art supplies, “slime,” a doll house, a doll and a few other items. There was no return address of any kind but, remember, Santa has no need for an address.
Randy went on Facebook, he checked with the schools. He also got in touch with a Spanish-speaking radio station in Nogales, Mexico, which is maybe 20 miles from where the balloon was found in the desert. Radio XENY took the search to the airwaves and posted as much information as they could on their Facebook page.
Within an hour they had found an eight-year-old named Dayami who lives near Nogales and learned she had a younger sister named Ximena. Better, the station arranged for Randy and his wife to meet both girls and you needn’t worry – their car was packed far heavier with toys and treats – plus a doll house --than any sled could ever carry.
I love what Randy said in the station’s interview: “Love has no borders … that wall melted away for the day.”
Oh, and one more thing. Nine years ago the Heiss family lost their only son. “We don’t have any grandchildren in our future so really getting ready to share Christmas with the kids was something we have been missing all of our lives.”
Lord, do you reckon You might send a Dayami with a balloon to one of my friends? I have a lot like Randy. So help me, Lord, we could have us a big time.
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I WISH WINSTON CAINE COULD SEE WHAT ADAM HAS DONE
My beloved doctor, the late Winston Caine, had a deep love for football after playing for Vanderbilt but I find myself wishing he was still around to relish in his youngest son’s coaching success. Adam Caine, once an all-state player at McCallie, left Sequatchie County last spring after molding it into a winner to take a job in Baxter, Tenn.
In his first season coaching the Upperman Bees, his team racked up a 13-1 total record, not losing a game until dropping a 27-14 loss to Alcoa in the state semifinals.
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I WISH I COULD HAVE FIND TEN THINGS IN MY STOCKING
* -- A sapling. “A baby tree is called an infant, just like a baby human. During this phase, the trees are very thin and small, and though many grow on their own, human interaction with care and attention can help them thrive.” There is a Chinese Proverb that tells us: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
* -- The Mother Theresa Paradox. That’s right, because it was our ever frail but ever radiant Saint who taught us: “I have discovered quite a paradox – that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.”
* -- A Sack of Beginnings --“I don’t care how dirty anyone’s past has been – the guarantee is that every future is spotless.” – Drake. (Carl Bard said it this way: “No one can go back and make a brand-new start. Anyone can start right now and make a brand-new ending.”)
* -- The Bombeck Pledge – “When I stand before God at the end of my life. I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and that I could say, I used everything You gave me.” – Erma Bombeck, one of the greatest newspaper columnists who ever lived.
* -- A chance. “Take chances. Make mistakes. That’s how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.”
* -- A crisis. “The crisis of today is the joke of tomorrow.” – H.G. Wells.
* -- The Start-Up Rule – With Chattanooga becoming a mecca for business start-ups, we should all embrace the Start-Up Rule: “Running a start-up is like eating glass. The successful one’s learn to like the taste of their blood.”
* -- The 10,001th Answer: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison
* -- The Schweitzer Key: “I don’t know what your destiny will be but one thing I know for certain: The only ones among you who will be truly happy are those who have sought and found how to serve others.” – Albert Schweitzer
* -- Michael Jordan’s Promise: “I have missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the winning shot and missed. I have failed over and over in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
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MY GIFT TO YOU – For the past three months I have searched for a12-second video tape of a road-rage incident that earned my Hall of Fame status the first time I saw it. Not only it is one of the funniest tapes I have ever watched, it proves that when mankind is suddenly faced with a monumental change in circumstances, the ability to adapt to new conditions can save your life. Please
CLICK HERE.
Merry Christmas!