Faith & Football

On Saturday I took Alec to a Faith & Football conference. He was so excited to see Derrick Mason, a wide receiver for the Baltimore Ravens. As they announced his name, Alec squeezed my arm and was bouncing up and down in anticipation of seeing him. He didn't realize how hard he was pinching me until I told him to stop because he was hurting me. I told him, "Calm down. It's not like Bon Jovi is coming out."

He said, "No. This is way better than Bon Jovi."

Obviously the boy has never been to a concert and witnessed Jon Bon Jovi singing "I'll Be There For You" in the same microphone with Ritchie Sambora -- now there's a reason to get excited.

But back to the conference -- Alec and his friend had me sitting in the very front row as we listened to LaVell Edwards, Edwin Mulitalo, Burgess Owens, Lenny Moore, Andy Reid and of course Derrick Mason give motivational speeches about successes and failures in their careers, and keeping their faith through it all.

One player told how during his pro career, he would put a mini Bible in the padding of his right thigh to remind him of his Savior and his faith. He said how he's given mini Bibles to current NFL players who also put it in their padding as they play.

Well, when we were leaving the conference, they had Book of Mormons on a display table for anyone to take.

Alec's friend said, "Can I have one of these?" I told him of course and he could even have the DVDs that they had out.

He said now that he had this new Bible, he was going to put it in his pads when he played football just like the player had done.

Alec said, "You can't put that in your uniform. It's too big."

His friend said, "Well, it's smaller than my Bible at home."

I was cracking up. I explained to him that even though this Book of Mormon was considerably smaller than his big Bible, the man had a much smaller, mini Bible that he wore in his uniform. And it probably wouldn't be too comfortable trying to play football with a regular size Book of Mormon stuck in your pads. I told him if I saw mini Bibles, I'd make sure to get him one.

Lenny Moore, who is an NFL Hall of Famer that played for the Baltimore Colts, signed autographs and took pictures with anyone who asked.

The only speaker I really knew was Andy Reid, who I knew was the Philadelphia Eagles head coach. On tv he doesn't look so good, probably because he's stressed and all bundled up when they show him. But he looked really handsome all cleaned up and wearing a suit. So when we approached him for a picture, I admit I was nervous. But he was so friendly, so I felt comfortable enough telling him that he looked much better in person than he does on tv. He thanked me and graciously took a picture with Alec and his friend.

The boys were beaming as we walked out. This night was supposed to be a daddy/son experience, but since Chris got called into work, I took Alec. And I'm glad I was able to see Alec's face light up as he saw people he admires in sports, and was able to listen to their positive messages of being able to be successful while always standing for what you believe in and never forgetting your Savior.