- Eternally important - Being a follower of Jesus and my role as a pastor of a church committed to reaching people far from God with His amazing love.
- Very important - A husband, father, son, brother, in-law and uncle to my family and extended family. Loving my wife as Christ loves the church, raising my children to follow Jesus, and honoring my extended family are crucial to me in life.
- Not very important - I'm a rabid follower of Georgia football. I've been to 81 straight games and have missed 8 total games in the last 18 years.
It ended up being a weird weekend for me as it all wrapped up, and I'm still trying to wrap my head and heart around it. I took a vacation Sunday, as I usually do, to attend the Georgia vs. Florida game. It was one of the most intense games I've ever been to, maybe THE most intense. We shocked the world and beat #2 Florida. My buddies and I danced and screamed like school girls. We laughed, cheered, and screamed...then laughed some more. We go because we love our team. When you love your team, you should soak up every moment like that you get, because they don't come around often.
On the drive home, I glanced at Facebook and noticed some posts on a friend's wall. Something had happened but I couldn't put 2 and 2 together. But I knew it was bad. When I got home, I figured it out. His 8 year old son was killed by a truck as they crossed the street. They had gone to pick up pizza to celebrate the Dawgs win after watching it at home. And now...he was gone. Celebration had turned to despair, and your favorite team winning doesn't seem to matter so much any more.
Honestly, this friend and I don't talk much. We'll occasionally comment on Facebook to one another. I haven't seen him in years. But it's too striking for me. He and I both worked for the Athletic Association at UGA. He and I both served at the same ministry in Panama City Beach. He and both have four boys. It shook me to my core, and it made me hug those boys tighter ever since.
So, the thing that had me rattled most is that what do I do now? I think about Will, this precious boy, and I see the face of my sons. It makes me sick to my stomach, honestly. I grieve for him, for his mom and dad and brothers. It sends chills up and down my spine to think about. How can I care about things that don't really matter now? How could I if I was Will's dad? Shouldn't I just spend my entire life evangelizing on every street corner and never let my kids out of my sight. The Kingdom and my family are far more important than football games! Maybe I need to focus ALL my energy on church and family?
Here's what I know, you can't live paralyzed by fear because that's not really living. You can't say you're never going to let your children out of your site because that's not living. And you can't say you're not going to care about things like ballgames, concerts, and Christmas presents...because those things make up life. Life is fleeting...so live it. There are no answers to tragedies. None. Life is just fleeting. So soak it up. The main things have to be the main things. What is eternally important has to be most important. What is very important has to be very important. And for life to be life, it has to be full of a lot of things that aren't very important but provide a lifetime of memories. Things like ballgames, proms, vacations, and movies. They aren't important, really, at all. But the people you experience them with ARE, and our minds often need a distraction from the very important things we're all dealing with, like mortgages, health concerns, job loss, and tragedies.
And that's how and why I can keep caring about something so fleeting as a ballgame in the midst of this fleeting life. Because I will sit with my sons on Saturday in the seats we always sit in. And we will eat pretzel M & Ms together and share a Coke Zero. And we'll say "Gooooooo Dawgs, sic 'em, woof, woof" together. And we'll be dressed in the same colors...together. In the long run, the game won't matter much. The 'together' will. For the McInnis family, that's what it means to be 'together.' There is a part of all of us that wants to put life on hold when we hear of a tragedy like Will's, but that's not life -- that's paralyzation. Moreover, it dishonors the memory of those who would have been right there in the thick of it with us. Make the things in your life that are unimportant eternally important because of the important people you spend them with! And cheer for your team because it's fun. And life is supposed to be fun. So have fun with the people you love most, and never miss the eternal opportunities in every moment. I hope you'll join me in praying for Will's family.
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