What this game means to me
Posted: November 3rd, 2007, 7:57 am
Most people know I went to Coastal. There have been jokes made about it all week, and anyone who knows me knows that I was a Coastal student before I came to Liberty. However, most don't know how and why I transferred. Some know this story, most don't. I figured since this was Coastal Day, it'd be a good chance to share it.
A little over two years ago, two years and twelve days to be exact, Coastal came to Lynchburg to play Liberty. At the time, I was a Coastal student and was one of their top fans, just like I am here. In the weeks leading up to that game, I wasn't happy at all. I didn't know what it was, but something wasn't right, and I just wasn't happy. One night it got to the point where I cut all the lights out in my house, laid on the couch, and just had a talk with God. I told Him I wasn't happy, that I knew something needed to be changed, I just didn't know what. I'd never been to a Christian school, but I knew that I needed to get in a more Christian environment than that at Coastal. At the time, I told God I didn't want to transfer because the only Christian schools I knew of were Johnson Bible, Lee, and Southeast and I simply didn't want to go there. After that night, I still wasn't happy, but I knew that I'd admitted how I felt and that God would take care of me in His way and on His time.
The week leading up to the Liberty game I decided I wanted to go to the game. I talked to a couple people and they were up for it at the beginning of the week. As the week progressed, they started to back out because they had things to do to get ready for Homecoming which was the next week. Luckily, they ended up deciding to come anyways. I went home on Friday night, and they met me in King on the Saturday before the game. We drove up to the game, went to our seats, and everything was going like a normal game. As the game stayed close, I started talking to some of the LU kids around me, just joking with them and all of that, being the way I normally am. I kept talking to these guys more and more and ended up really liking them. I still didn't know that Liberty was a Christian school during the game until probably the fourth quarter. The game ended, I got everyone's name that I was talking to so I could look them up on Facebook, and we went back home.
Once I got back to Coastal, I looked up the people I'd met at the game and we kept talking over the next few weeks. I ended up skipping a Coastal home game to come up to Lynchburg for a weekend to hang out with them. I had no intentions of transferring on my way to Lynchburg. On Sunday morning, I went to church with one of them. Everything just felt right. On the way up to Lynchburg, I had listened to Underoath and the line, "Jesus, I'm ready to come home" got stuck in my head. On Sunday morning during church, I said to God, "This is home isn't it?" and it's like He smacked me on the back of the head and said, "Yup, why'd it take you so long to figure it out?" I just smiled and knew I'd be a Liberty student.
I called my parents leaving Lynchburg and decided to go home on Sunday night and back to the beach on Monday instead of straight back to the beach. When I got home, I told them I wanted to transfer, which my mom already figured out. We figured I'd wait until after the spring semester and transfer in the fall. That was the plan all along. Well, until Thanksgiving break. We looked at the numbers, and it was cheaper for me to come here, so I filled out the paperwork and I've been a Liberty student since January of 06.
To a lot of people this game is just a game vs the three-time conference champions. To me, it's a lot more. Liberty football is what got me to this school. Liberty football changed my life for the better. I was a Christian already, but Liberty football opened the doors for God to work in ways that He hadn't before. Yea, Coastal won the game back in 05, but that didn't matter to me. If it wasn't for Liberty football, I wouldn't be here.
If you ever have wondered why I'm such a big fan, now you know. I try to be that kid that someone at another school sees having fun and makes them want to come to Liberty. There's no other way to say it than Liberty football changed my life, and I will always be thankful for it.
A little over two years ago, two years and twelve days to be exact, Coastal came to Lynchburg to play Liberty. At the time, I was a Coastal student and was one of their top fans, just like I am here. In the weeks leading up to that game, I wasn't happy at all. I didn't know what it was, but something wasn't right, and I just wasn't happy. One night it got to the point where I cut all the lights out in my house, laid on the couch, and just had a talk with God. I told Him I wasn't happy, that I knew something needed to be changed, I just didn't know what. I'd never been to a Christian school, but I knew that I needed to get in a more Christian environment than that at Coastal. At the time, I told God I didn't want to transfer because the only Christian schools I knew of were Johnson Bible, Lee, and Southeast and I simply didn't want to go there. After that night, I still wasn't happy, but I knew that I'd admitted how I felt and that God would take care of me in His way and on His time.
The week leading up to the Liberty game I decided I wanted to go to the game. I talked to a couple people and they were up for it at the beginning of the week. As the week progressed, they started to back out because they had things to do to get ready for Homecoming which was the next week. Luckily, they ended up deciding to come anyways. I went home on Friday night, and they met me in King on the Saturday before the game. We drove up to the game, went to our seats, and everything was going like a normal game. As the game stayed close, I started talking to some of the LU kids around me, just joking with them and all of that, being the way I normally am. I kept talking to these guys more and more and ended up really liking them. I still didn't know that Liberty was a Christian school during the game until probably the fourth quarter. The game ended, I got everyone's name that I was talking to so I could look them up on Facebook, and we went back home.
Once I got back to Coastal, I looked up the people I'd met at the game and we kept talking over the next few weeks. I ended up skipping a Coastal home game to come up to Lynchburg for a weekend to hang out with them. I had no intentions of transferring on my way to Lynchburg. On Sunday morning, I went to church with one of them. Everything just felt right. On the way up to Lynchburg, I had listened to Underoath and the line, "Jesus, I'm ready to come home" got stuck in my head. On Sunday morning during church, I said to God, "This is home isn't it?" and it's like He smacked me on the back of the head and said, "Yup, why'd it take you so long to figure it out?" I just smiled and knew I'd be a Liberty student.
I called my parents leaving Lynchburg and decided to go home on Sunday night and back to the beach on Monday instead of straight back to the beach. When I got home, I told them I wanted to transfer, which my mom already figured out. We figured I'd wait until after the spring semester and transfer in the fall. That was the plan all along. Well, until Thanksgiving break. We looked at the numbers, and it was cheaper for me to come here, so I filled out the paperwork and I've been a Liberty student since January of 06.
To a lot of people this game is just a game vs the three-time conference champions. To me, it's a lot more. Liberty football is what got me to this school. Liberty football changed my life for the better. I was a Christian already, but Liberty football opened the doors for God to work in ways that He hadn't before. Yea, Coastal won the game back in 05, but that didn't matter to me. If it wasn't for Liberty football, I wouldn't be here.
If you ever have wondered why I'm such a big fan, now you know. I try to be that kid that someone at another school sees having fun and makes them want to come to Liberty. There's no other way to say it than Liberty football changed my life, and I will always be thankful for it.
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