Monday, November 29, 2004

Thanksgiving 2004

Thanksgiving 2004 - Monday, November 29, 2004


How was your Thanksgiving D??



Lovely.



Did you get enough to eat??



Hmph. You already know!



Did ya’ll watch football?



Yeah…we watched Peyton Manning put on that clinic against the Lions.



Why do they show the Detroit Lions every Thanksgiving??



That’s something that the first owner of the Lions, G.A. Richards, started way back in 1934:



The Origin of the Lions' Thanksgiving Day Game



The game was the brainchild of G.A. Richards, the first owner of the Detroit Lions. Richards had purchased the team in 1934 and moved the club from Portsmouth, Ohio, to the Motor City. The Lions were the new kids in town and had taken a backseat to the baseball Tigers. Despite the fact the Lions had lost only one game prior to Thanksgiving in '34, the season’s largest crowd had been just 15,000.

The opponent that day in '34 was the undefeated, defending World Champion Chicago Bears of George Halas. The game would determine the champion of the Western Division. Richards had convinced the NBC Radio Network to carry the game coast-to-coast (94 stations) and, additionally, an estimated 26,000 fans jammed into the University of Detroit Stadium while thousands more disappointed fans were turned away.

Despite two Ace Gutowsky touchdowns, the Bears won the inaugural game, 19-16, but a classic was born. And each game since then, in its own way, continues to bring back memories of Thanksgiving, not only to Lions' fans, but to football fans across the nation.



http://www.detroitlions.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=152242





Oh..okay. But the Lions though??



They just ‘got that spot’ and have never relinquished it. But the Cowboys come on TV every Thanksgiving too, and they’ve been part of the tradition since 1966, so normally between the two (Lions and Cowboys) you’d imagine that at least one of them would field a good team every year.



The only thing sorrier than the Dallas Cowboys are the Chicago Bears! They SUCK!!



Hey..you gotta watch how you talk about the Cowboys on the Southside, there’s a LOT of diehard Cowboy fans around here.



So?? If they sorry, they sorry!! I don’t care WHO likes them!!



(laughing) I hear ya..I’m not one of those Cowboy fans, I grew up rooting for Big Earl and the Oilers. But even if you don’t like the Cowboys, I KNOW you liked that halftime show!

Oh yeah…my girl was out there!! That Beyonce know she know how to shake that ‘uh-ohh’



Mmmhmm. Beyonce could charge n’gaz a $100 just to rub on her butt and she’d keep a long line of customers ready to break off a c-note.



It wouldn’t just be n’gaz though..white boys, women..everybody likes to look at Beyonce!



Did you see when Destiny’s Child was on BET recently?



Yeah!! When Michelle fell when they were walking out??
Yeah..my wife called me in to look at it because she had taped it, and I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw Michelle fall.



You think she was drunk??



I dunno WHAT she was..but it was cool the way she bounced right back up and kept on flowing.



Yeah..she played it off well.



I also caught a bit of that Oprah show on ‘Swingers’ with my wife too.



Swingers?



Yeah..couples that get together with other couples and switch partners or do the group thang.



Wait a minute!! They’re putting it all out in the open like that??



Yeah mane..it’s a WILD world we’re living in. People are ready to be buck wild in 2004..the don’t care. I asked my wife if she wanted to get into some of that swingers action.



You did?? Man..you’re CRAZY!! I wouldn’t even have the nerve to ASK my wife that!!



Oh it was cool, she quickly let me know that she wasn’t down for any kinda ‘group’ thang AT ALL!! But then I leaned on her a lil bit.



What do you mean ‘leaned on her’??


I asked her if it wasn’t a group thang, but rather just another couple that we ‘switched’ partners with, would she be with it if the other dude was like..Will Smith.



What did she say?



She started smiling.



Yeah..my wife likes Will Smith too.



But my main problem, was that as much as my wife may like Will Smith, Jada has never really been one of ‘my’ girls.



Like Beyonce?



Exactly!! So after I told my wife, I would need someone better than Jada to do it, she even suggested Beyonce.



Man! Your wife is cool like that??!



Naww, don’t get it twisted now, cuz right after she said that and watched as my eyes danced with visions of Beyonce, she burst my bubble.



She slapped you upside the head??



Naww..we don’t do the physical violence thing in my house..she just told me that her main problem with Beyonce was that Jay-Z didn’t do it for her. So now, we can’t do the swingers thing unless Will Smith and Beyonce end up getting together.



Uhhh…you are just joking..right?



Of course! Cuz from what my wife tells me, Jada ain’t about to let Will go nowhere!!



I believe you used a double negative D..that should be ‘Jada is not about to let Will go anywhere’



Yeah..I know my grammar can be a bit ‘throwed off’, but I’m just glad that you can feel me.



Happy Thanksgiving D!



Already!


___________________________

As I relaxed and enjoyed my family and football over the Thanksgiving weekend, I took some time to reflect on a lot of things that have been going on in my life. Sometimes it’s good to just take some time out of the hustle and bustle of getting to work, taking care of your family, your house, your cars and all the responsibilities that the Lord has blessed you to have (cuz everybody ain’t got it like that) and really meditate on how thankful you are of all of the Grace and Mercy that has been graciously bestowed on our lives.



I know that there’s a lot of people who don’t find too much time to say thank you, because they’re too busy complaining about all the things that they feel is wrong in their lives. Car problems. Rent issues. Disgruntled workers. Pissed off folks sitting in traffic jams that don’t know which they dread more; the job they’re going to or the traffic. There’s a lot of married folks upset at their spouses and daydreaming about being single. And there’s a lot of single folks wallowing in loneliness and daydreaming about having someone to love them. There’s some folks looking at their ‘bad az kids’ running around the house and wishing they could just be alone and childless. And there’s some folks who aren’t able to have children and they’re praying that they’ll be approved to adopt.



One of the most sobering aspects of life, is that EVERYBODY is dealing with SOMEthing in their lives. You never know what people are going through behind closed doors, so I’ve learned to be less judgmental of people and instead try to explain the reason for my hope. Because it’s very easy to get ‘caught up’ in the web of day to day grinding, doing whatever it is you have to do just to make it through the day, and lose sight of the bigger picture of being.



Spending some quiet time meditating on the Lord is a very soothing and invaluable tool of the Christian experience. Although Christians aren’t bound to the visible prayer rituals prevalent in other faiths, this does not mean that prayer is not an integral part of the Christian life. When you really get real in your walk with the Lord, you’ll find that prayer is no longer regulated to before meals or bedtime, or at church. Prayer becomes a constant part of your life, when you get up in the morning (thank ya Lord!), when you’re on your way to work (thank ya Lord!), when you’re doing the laundry or raking leaves in the yard (thank ya Lord!).

Sometimes life can seem so hard or unfair, that giving thanks is the last thing that comes to our mind, but my Big Mama says to us all the time, no matter how hard life may seem, just concentrate on saying ‘Good Morning’, everyday. Because no matter the pain and torment that you might be going through in this life, it IS good to be amongst the land of the living (thank ya Lord!).



Since I’ve been blogging at servinemup, a lot of my friends have been more open to discuss their spiritual journey with me, because they see a lot of similarities between my path and their experience. I really see this as a blessing, because whenever our testimony can help strengthen and encourage others, we should make sure to give it. I don’t have any ‘official’ statistics, but judging from the feedback forms (below at bottom of page) and emails that I receive (dwashington@servinemup.com) and statistics of the number of visitors that read the Bible School Lessons page, I would guess that the servinemup.com audience is mostly comprised of non-Christians and people who are Christian by association only. A lot of servinemup.com readers may have some background or experience of being 'in the church', but as they've grown older, they've strayed away from any form of 'organized' religion. I know I've hit a unique lil crease here at servinemup, because the closest thing a lot of the readers here get to reading the Bible, is from the verses I put into my material on servinemup. (shame on you! :)