The last set of your 5am workout!
This will be the heaviest power clean you have ever attempted.
You can feel your stomach trying to kick up everything it has….
Two of the teammates in your group have their heads in the garbage can.
The hip-hop is so loud you can barely think.
Your strength coach slaps you on the back and yells something that you are sure you have to be from South Alabama or New Orleans to understand….
Your mind is fighting itself…”You got this!….You got this….if I can just get the first phase up….maybe I can get under it…..maybe I need another minute…..this is a lot of weight…..what if I can’t……I should quit while I’m ahead.”
Then your 4/27 moment pops into your head….you know you have to finish..You scream at the top of your lungs and power clean 275 for the first time…….
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You graduated from a small college in southern Virginia last year and you are on your 12th job interview.
You didn’t expect it to be this hard! You know you are called to coach!
Your Mom gives you a pep talk and tells you that, “This is the one!”
Before you walk into the Athletic Directors office….you turn your phone on silent and say a little prayer….you don’t want it to even vibrate when you are convincing this woman that you are the answer she is looking for.
You try to genuinely smile as the Athletic Director informs you that the position has changed and she is updating it on FootballScoop….”NO MONETARY COMPENSATION WILL BE PROVIDED!”
As you walk out of the school……a cold sweat breaks out over your body……
….What are you going to do now?!…….
You catch yourself glancing up toward the sky, “Come on God, can I just get a chance!”
Then, your 4/27 moment pops into your head…you remember your loud, obnoxious coach from Alabama screaming “Your backs going to be against the wall alot in life….FIGHT DANGIT!” ..you go to Starbucks and apply for 5 more jobs. You can’t let the sweater vests win…
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You are on your way home from work and have passed the house 3 times….
rehearsing how you are going to tell your pregnant wife…..of 5 months….
that you lost your job….but things will be fine….
You have called 4 friends and colleagues who all tell you, “We have nothing right now but we will keep our eyes and ears open!”
You finally pull in the driveway and watch your wife as she moves about the kitchen…preparing you something to eat…….
You give yourself a small pep talk and walk into the front door……
She hugs you and tells you she loves you…..and then….SHE KNOWS.
Both of you become emotional…..but she settles down and goes to take a nap after dinner.
You stay up…..you pray….fight a few pity parties…you sulk……and then….
You remember your 4/27 moment….and you remember your commitment…..and you go to your closet and get your best suit…you are going job hunting at 5 am….
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We all have an experience…. a moment in time that has changed us! Something that made us look at life….or death…..differently! It could be an endless variety of things that alters our brain chemistry and the receptors that contribute to our decision making and emotions. Priorities change IMMEDIATELY! Words such as heart, compassion, pain, sorrow, love, and life take on new meaning.
I’ve had several moments in my life that still affect me today.
I’ve seen family members take their last breath…….
I was nearly killed by a wave on the North Shore of Hawaii………
I’ve been in bar fights…as a bartender and security….that I should not have made it out of……..
I’ve seen tornadoes and hurricanes…their power…their destruction…..
This is a story of one such day:
One day…….an April day, Birmingham media…and ABC 3340’s James Spann in particular….had been actively reporting an EPIC tornadic event was in store for the Deep South. I had carefully watched the weather patterns and after speaking with life-long friend Michael Haynes (Meterologist Jackson, MS)…..we both felt the conditions were going to be ripe. I asked him specifically what areas would be affected. I sensed an ever-slight voice change and he told me to stay where I was…….(this was unlike Michael…and when it comes to weather….or my safety…he is going to be right)!
The morning air was sappy…..an general unease was in the air! The sky held a green tint. And the first thing I remember seeing was a neighbors dog acting erractic and running back into their house. I was on my way to the brand new World’s Gym where I had been asked to coach a workout for high school seniors and college freshman…..you know….”Get their minds right!”……..then…..
…………..the first WARNING came across the radio….CULLMAN..then, Winston County! Pickens, Fayette, Walker……..Franklin, Marion, Lawrence, Elmore, Choctaw, Marengo! And the Warnings didn’t stop! It felt like the sirens kept sounding…..
The day starting to fly by. I was with two friends NW of town….when the news came across the airwaves……
“TORNADO EMERGENCY FOR TUSCALOOSA COUNTY!”
I am not going to describe the storm…what we saw….or many of the people we met that day…it’s just not appropriate. But this is the footage from ABC33/40 out of Birmingham.
At the 7:28 mark you can hear James Spann say, “All you can do is pray for those people!”
This was the first thing my eyes saw after the tornado passed over the interstate that is midly appropriate to view.
It happened so fast! For what seemed like an eternity…all we could do was look around and take in the scene! For hours all we did was try to find our friends. There was no cell service so all we could do was run…jog… walk… and pray!
I’ll never forget running into Cameon Shiflet and she told us her cell phone was working! I was able to call my uncle and let him know I was alive.
The sights, sounds, and smells of that day are burned into my memory.
Standing on a small hill…..as a woman screamed and cried….I remember saying,
“How are we ever going to recover?!”….
“How do we even start to get to work!”……
“This is our city!”…….
…and finally, “This is a glimpse of what hell is …the gnashing of teeth and tearing of clothes….hell….and we have to dig ourselves out of it!”
That moment was a low. My roommate, our friend, and I shed tears…wiped them away…and shed some more!
Then, something happened. Small things to most…. HUGE things to the city!
-The city came together.
-The Auburn Football team pulled up…..
-Tennessee……
-representatives from Oklahoma…
-freakin’ Charlie Sheen for crying out loud…..
People came……..millions of water bottles were sent……..food…supplies…..
-Nurses….Doctors….medical personnel from across the nation.
-the sounds of chainsaws started…and didn’t stop for weeks!
-…..one pair stood out to me….two friends that owned a landscape company from…of all places…NEW ORLEANS AND BATON ROUGE, LA! They said, “They know what it feels like to have to start over.” (Katrina) They stayed and worked with us for 4 days…4 DAYS!!!!!
People from all over the country poured into Tuscaloosa and the State of Alabama to help! I remember seeing “Sons of Thunder Men’s Ministry” and Church of the Highlands shirts EVERYWHERE!
People working…..Ministering…laying hands on people.
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Everyone, each year when April 27,2011 comes around, I take a few minutes that morning to remember those lives that were affected!
I think about Carson Tinker.
I think about the families that couldn’t contact their children…their loved ones… for days.
I think about everyone I saw that day….
I remember how for a few hours….with the dust and disaster……nothing else mattered but each other.
Race, religion, college football allegiance….none of it mattered.
We were family.
We were hurting.
This is Tuscaloosa!
We are fighters!
At some point in life you will be at “Rock Bottom”! It will hurt……You will wonder how you will ever survive. The medical report could be devastating! Your spouse may want a divorce. You and your wife have tried to have children for years. A friend or fellow church member may have slandered you. Your family may refuse to talk to each other….
Stages and seasons of life will come and go along with the challenges they bring. Anything can happen! But here is something to remember:
You will make it through it! And you will look back on that moment for the rest of your life! It will be burned into your memory….in such a way…that from time to time you will hear the sounds of the moment…the smells….the way the light hit the trees..the emotions on the faces of those around you.
Today, before you forget…..grab a post-it note and write your 4/27 moment on it. Next, place that post-it in your wallet. Use it as a reminder of where you have been in life!!!!
Most of you have heard this story….in detail….from me after a 5am lift…in the low-light conditions of a Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, New Berlin, NYC, and Danville morning. I asked you to write your 4/27 moments down….I still have them.
This picture means so much to me! It was taken in Danville, Va on a Spring Morning after a lift! When I took this picture and I realized the storm will always end…..
Always remember…We ARE FIGHTERS! THEY CANNOT MAKE US QUIT!
THATS OUR M.O.!
Whats your 4/27?
“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.” James 1:12
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neverforget!
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