Ever since my son’s first year in the Thompson High School marching band, I made a point of walking over to the band section of the stadium during a football game and screaming, “Carson Williams, your dad is here to support you!” and “Go saxophones!” This interaction embarrassed him deeply for a while. Then it became an expectation, and then a family tradition.
Once, as the 7A High School championship game between Thompson High School and Auburn was drawing to a close, the Thompson attendees, players, and band had accepted the fact that they had lost the game. With less than 2 minutes of play in the game to go, with miniscule odds for a win, I made my way over to the band to fulfill the tradition and congratulate my son and the rest of the band on a great season. I was standing directly behind my son, amongst the marching band as the game took a dramatic turn and an enthusiastic celebration broke out.
ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Shelby County Reporter, AL.com, and several other media outlets all replayed videos of the celebration of the Thompson High School’s improbable comeback victory. But my favorite video was of my son, in his senior year, playing the high school fight song, and looking at me with a scowl, then a smirk and finally a smile.
The Thompson football game is a reminder that many situations have not reached their final conclusion. You must never give up. One of my favorite Bible verses is Galatians 6:9,
“Let us not grow weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”
As we start a new year, I encourage you: Create memories, new memories with your children; go fishing, hunting, camping; drive them to school; take a dance class with them; exercise with them; seek reconciliation with your child, parent, friend, or whatever relationship needs mending in your life. I pray your 2024 will be a year of redemption of anything that has been lost.
Ward Williams is the founder and executive director of Vineyard Family Services. Contact him at ward@vfsdads.com.