Surviving The Holidays

Let’s be honest, this time of year is madness. Complete madness. Whether it’s eating at 10 different homes on Thanksgiving, to worrying about buying every person in your family a christmas gift. And oh, lets not forget about that epic New Year’s resolution you have to make and hold yourself to. 

Now, you are either one of two people. You’re that person reading this and you’re like, “man this dude is preaching” or you’re like, “I have no idea what this guy is talking about.” If you’re the second person, then its more than likely, you live under a rock….Just kidding! But seriously…. With Thanksgiving here and Christmas right around the corner, I figured it would be good to share some encouragement/advice to help with the madness this holiday season.

Be honest with yourself

Honesty, in my opinion is the key to a lot of things. Sometimes as humans, we tend to be a little selfish. But only a little right? When the holidays are here, we need to ask ourselves, “Will Uncle Bob really stop loving me if I don’t buy him that $600 tool box for his truck?” Or “Can my parents really hate me for not spending all of Christmas Day with them? How about, do I really need to give every person at work a Christmas card?” Doing something you feel obligated to do isn’t nearly as great as doing something because you want to! 

Develop a plan

The worst thing you could do during the Holiday is wait until the last minute to plan what you are going to do. I wish I could tell you that I never wait, but I’m sure someone would soon call me a hypocrite. My wife and I realized that we have to plan due to our families being extended (you have no idea). An example would be, go and visit one side of the family for Thanksgiving (her family), and then spend time with the other family (my family) for Christmas. Usually there was some family member or members that were neglected and we usually try to squeeze in a visit with them before New years and returning back to work. You can alternate which family gets a certain holiday each year. Change it up a little so that everyone feels loved (good luck with that).

Serve

Now this one may seem a bit random but I promise you that it’s not! Homelessness is something that we see a lot of in the United States. Maybe this holiday you can take just a couple of hours and not focus on yourself. Giving back or serving someone else that may need a helping hand is really what the holiday season is about. Occasionally, when we take the focus off of ourselves and place it on the less fortunate, a sense of grace and thankfulness seem to take over in our hearts.

Through all of the chaos and madness, I’m looking forward to the holidays and I hope the same for you! Thanks for taking the time to read this, 

-Brian

 “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. Wishing you happiness.” – Helen Keller
 

 

 

Why I married outside of my race.

“Is she white!!!!???” 

If I could receive $1 everytime someone asked that question, we would be rich! My wife Kelsey and I recently married January 3rd of this year and that question that seems to resurface (she’s white?) has caused me to think a lot about…….why did I marry a “white girl.” Well here’s why!  

1.) To be completely honest, the woman loved Jesus. 

The closer we became and the more I witnessed this child like faith in Christ she has, it blew me away. I was so drawn to it because I knew when times would become tough (which they will in a marriage), she would look to Him for guidance because of her faith and relationship with Jesus. 

2.) The moment I met her (we couldn’t stand to be in the same room together at that time) she NEVER stopped smiling. 

It was so contagious that it seemed when she walked into a room, the room came to life. People seem to gain a second wind when she was near them. I mean there was no way you could be in the same room with her and find a way to be grumpy or not laugh and smile.

3.) Her willingness to compromise. 

Kelsey and I believe in that word big time. Any opportunity we have to talk to an engaged couple, compromise is a word we both mention to the couple simultaneously. Now, compromise didn’t happen immediately in our relationship. I believe the passion and love that we had for each other built this character in us. Over a short period of time, there became this desire of wanting to serve each other and bring nothing less than complete honor and happiness. It became somewhat of a second nature, so second nature that we could never decide on where to eat or where to go because of the urge to do what the other wanted to do. (Eventually we decided to simply take turns choosing to avoid those little arguments.)

It’s as simple as you can see. 

The reason I married my beautiful wife has absolutely nothing to do with her race. It all had to do with things that matter much more (in my opinion) than her race. I decided to write this blog for the young adults who are falling in love with someone and are scared of what might happen or what people might say because the person they love “looks different” than they do. I hope and pray that these three reasons why I married my wife, who is outside of my race, will inspire you and motivate you. 

Proverbs 18:22 – He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD. 

 

Coach McMillion

The Coach

  Words cannot explain how heavy my heart is today. I feel like I can still hear him yelling “Smith! Smith!” and me looking to the sideline and him yelling “be a leader and make a play.” Those words resonate with me still this day. 

It was him who brought out the leadership in me from my very first year of playing football at Milton high school. I can remember him selecting players from the freshman team to decide who would be on varsity for the playoffs and when he got to me he said, “I want to bring you up, but I don’t know if I can trust you just yet.” Those exact words would be what help begin shaping my leadership and my character. Learning how to lead on and off the field. He saw the potential I had and knew exactly how to maximize it. 

I began getting all of my reps in the weight room, (even if coach Hawk or coach summers weren’t looking) when we conditioned I never slowed up before I crossed the line, and when the time came, I made sure to study as much film as my brain could handle. 

Coach had a great ability to see us (football athletes)  as who we could become and not who we were. It’s why so many young men who went through the program under his leadership are successful till this day.

The Father Figure

   I’ve seen so many post about Coach Mac being a Father figure and just that he was. I remember going through foster care and having to change schools for about a month because of living situations and then having to endure the embarrassment of returning to MHS and facing my peers and teachers.  

As soon as Coach Mac saw me, he yelled with his raspy voice “Brian!!!” I could have sworn I was about to run stadiums for missing practice, but he did the exact opposite. He put his arm around me, looked me in the eyes and said, “you know you are always welcomed in our home and will always have a place to stay if you need it.” “We love you and I want you to know that.” As a 16 year old who felt like his world was caving in on him, that meant everything to me. I told him thanks coach and it meant a lot. 

As I hurried out of the weight room, (because you were not allowed to do anything slow) I heard that raspy voice say “Hey Brian! You owe me conditioning for missing practice.” He did that smirk he always does when something was funny and I can promise you that it was the ONE and ONLY time I was happy to hear those words. 
I chose to write this because there are so many people in the world who have never met Coach Mac and I believe if anyone could get just a small glimpse of how great of an influence he was to the people around him, it would change their lives. I believe the city of Milton can say whole heartedly that there is a better generation of people in the world today because of his love and leadership. 

Rest In Peace Coach Mac. Your legacy will be carried on.