The people, not the place

Kind of a more laid back post today...just some thoughts from the weekend:

I'm a people person. I love to be around people...especially friends...especially friends at Mississippi State. I went up to Starkville this weekend to see MSU beat Kentucky (to go 7-2 and be ranked 20). I fell in love with the city and people all over again, as I have every time I've visited this year. I realized that it wasn't where I was that lead to me having a great weekend, but rather, who I was with.

This semester of being at home instead of MSU and working instead of taking classes would be much easier on me if my friends were with me as I went through it. But then, what would be the point of the lesson that God is teaching me?

What I'm saying is this: it's not where you are, what you do, or how you do it that make the best memories; it's who you share those memories with that make them so special.

When Johnathon Banks picked off Tim Tebow last year and returned it 100+ yards for a TD, the entire stadium went absolutely insane. I don't remember anything that happened after Banks hit the 50 yard line, because I was engulfed in the biggest group hug on record. The entire student section was embracing itself. It was magic.
A very similar thing happened this weekend, and it was thanks, again, to Johnathon Banks.

31 seconds left on the clock, MSU is up by a touchdown, 24-17. Kentucky has done whatever they want on this drive, and who's to think it will be any different as Mike Hartline took the snap on 4th and 10 from our 20 yd line. The ball goes up to the left corner of the endzone (in front of the student section), and so does J-Banks. When #13 came down with Hartline's pass. I went nuts. One of my best friends and roommate from last year, Clark, went nuts. My friends behind me, to my left, right, and in front of me went nuts. It was the loudest I have ever heard the student section at Scott Field, as I turned around to watch the whiskey shower and high five people (all the while ringing my bell), I couldn't help but smile in the company of my best friends.

The drinks continued to rain down upon us, and I really didn't care. MSU was now 7-2 on one of the most exciting plays all year, and 54 thousand people were partying at the same time. As the bells clanged along with the band (I assume they were playing, I couldn't hear anything ), and as I sang hoarsely along with everyone, arm in arm, proclaiming "loyal friends we'll always be", I thought about the people I was with, not where I was. We then proceeded down the tunnel and one of my favorite sounds hit my ears: cowbells clanging under the stadium after a bulldog win. It was magical, and all because of the wonderful people that call Mississippi State University "home".

The people I love, in the place I love. It doesn't get any better than that. Hail State.