A Thousand Goodbyes, by Jim Huber (Emmy-Award Winning Essayist and Commentator for Turner Sports) - These words appear on the cover of a book I have been working my way through for weeks now. The book isn’t long, but it talks about “a son’s reflection on living, dying, and the things that matter most” and this kind of material is just easier to take in little bits and pieces. As he wrote about the long process of his dad dying, I thought of my dad. He would have been 97 had he lived. He made it past the holidays of 2001 and the cancer finally won on January 8, 2002. The thing I think of that I appreciated most about my dad was his ability to tell stories about his life with such clarity. Even that last week when his four boys were around he would tell again the stories he loved so much and with great detail. He would tell of things he did seventy and eighty years before when he grew up in Nebraska. Always the same. I knew they were true because years earlier I had heard his brothers and dad argue about details - how many points were scored, how many watermelons were taken, how many yards Ace Rector drop-kicked that field goal - the details, but never if the thing had actually happened. It did happen - they were there.

This is very interesting to me when I see and hear the “wise of this world” try to discredit the scriptures because the accounts were written down so long after the events of Jesus’ life actually happened. It is as if the eyewitnesses couldn’t possibly have remembered what Jesus said and did with any detail. I picked up the folder of over 100 pages my brother had typed of dad’s memories of his youth in Nebraska before coming to California at age 18. Dad wrote these memories when he was in his 80’s. The exact stories - they didn’t change - he had told over and over as I grew up. Dad remembered the house he lived in, his dog, his friends, his school, playing ball in high school and these were just part of the life of a kid from a little town in the Mid-West.

Just imagine the vivid memories of those that followed Jesus. Men in later years, whose eyes might be dimmed and their walk faltering, who wrote of memories sharp and stamped in their minds because they had been eyewitnesses to the life of God’s very own Son. And when I read their stories they are like hearing my dad. They were there. They saw it all and heard it all and tasted it all and felt it all deep into their souls. And here is another thought. There were also those others who were there and saw and heard who wanted to write another “truth” - to stop this Gospel. But, they didn’t because there wasn’t another truth.

I think of John 21:24-25: “This is the disciple who testifies of these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” Does this encourage you? I hope so. And here is something for you who coach. My dad’s favorite story about his playing sports was this.

“Coach Hunt didn’t like me. At least he never showed it, in fact, he didn’t even speak to me all season. I worked hard to gain his approval. He would praise or yell at the others. Not me. Never. Our last game was really important to us. We were a small school (like our C league) going up against Nebraska City (an A league school) and it was our chance to show the city folks we could play good football. We played hard but lost 7-0. As we sat quietly in the locker room after the game, Coach Hunt finally came in. He said nothing as he walked among us. Finally, he stopped in front of me. I had my head down, but I knew he was right there. I could see his muddy shoes. He put his hand on my head and said, “You played a fine game, Bob”. He turned and walked out. That was one of the best moments in my life.”

Dad shared that story again with us just days before he died. I wonder if our players will remember years from now what we’ve said. I believe they will because I remember my dad’s story and the many important things my coaches said to me. I pray that many stories will be told in years to come of coaches who said things that pointed Valley Christian athletes to the Savior and a closer relationship to Him.

Let’s say things our athletes will remember.

Coach Hitch