The Front Porch - Online Edition

Saturday featured 3 more match-ups in our contest and for the most part, the games went as expected.  In the Little Caesars Bowl, Marshall scored early to take a nice lead into halftime but couldn’t put up any points in the 2nd half.  Luckily, the defense was able to hang on and escape the Thundering Herd finished on top.

Another interesting game featured a ranked Pitt team versus a quality ACC opponent in UNC.  The Tarheels had somewhat of an up and down season and didn’t quite live up to expectations.  A win here could have provided a huge boost for their program.  Carolina jumped out to an early lead but Pitt was able to reclaim the advantage going in to halftime.  The Tarheels put more points on the board and finished the 3rd quarter with a 17-16 lead.  In the end, Pitt finally put the ball in scoring position with less than 2:00 to go.  With 52 seconds on the clock, Pitt makes their field goal attempt to put them back in the lead 19-17.  No last second heroics for the Tarheels, so despite a solid effort, they leave empty handed.

In the final match-up of the evening, the USC Trojans lined up against the Boston College Eagles.  Though Coach Carroll and the Trojans have had just a mediocre season by their standards, they were highly favored in our poll to win this game.  After all, they are quite a powerhouse of late and BC is playing in the lackluster ACC.  BC made it a game in the first half, keeping it close and holding out hope that they could upset the Trojans.  However, the USC defense stepped up and held the Eagles scoreless in the 2nd half while Matt Barkley was able to put together a few scoring drives for the Trojans.  At the end of the night, USC finished on top 24-13.

Here are our current standings:

Rambo  5-4
Bacon 5-4
Rebecca 4-5

Leaders (7-2) - Rick Reeves
2nd Place (6-3) - Paige Fierbaugh, Maggie Davidson
Notables - We only have 1 person left with no wins, but looking ahead they should pick up a W shortly.  Staff members still struggling include T-Bone, Peeps, Scuttle, Trip and Chef Darrin.

Day 2 - MTSU handles Southern Miss 42-32

Only 1 game on last night, which most of you probably ignored.  After all, these two teams probably aren’t high on anyone’s radar, unless you happen to go to school there.  At any rate, Southern Miss started out this game on top and looked like they were going to have their way with MTSU after taking an early 14-0 lead.  However, the Blue Raiders settled in to the game and finally took the lead in the 3rd quarter.  For those of you who missed the game, a few notable things occured.  Dwight Dasher, QB for MTSU, set a bowl record for most rushing yards ever in a bowl game with 201 yards.  He stole that record from Vince Young.  The other little piece of history came as Southern Miss running back, Damion Fletcher became only the 9th player in history to finish his career with four 1,000 yard seasons.  He also passed Herschel Walker and LaDanian Tomlinson on the NCAA career list for rushing yards.  All in all, a decent game to watch, and great to see a few unknowns set some impressive records on national TV.

As for the contest, too many of you didn’t have faith in Bacon and Rebecca’s pick, so lots of you suffered another loss today.  Not too worry, there is plenty more bowl games to go.  Here are the updated standings:

Rambo 1-2
Bacon 2-1
Rebecca 1-2

Leaders (3-0) - Caitlin Weed
2nd Place (2-1) - Ruthie Davidson, Cricket, San Diego
Notables - Bringing up the rear on day 2 we have T-Bone, Nurse Jenny, Trip, Scuttle, Peeps and a (large) handful of campers that I will spare the embarrassment.  Hold your head up though.  With 30+ bowl games there is plenty of time to turn it around!

This week I heard a message on the radio which struck a chord with me. It was a quick thought by Joni Earekson Tada, whose biography I had read several years ago. She became a quadriplegic, and has lived an amazingly active and Godly life since. She was an artist before her accident and was recounting how she learned to use her mouth to hold a paint brush and relearn how to create art. The point of it was that she had to use what she had, even if it wasn’t much.

We should be inspired to do the same with what God has given us. When I know God is asking me to do something I can often be found nobly excusing it away because I am not able to do it justice at the moment. We should only serve Him with our very best, right? I’ve built up my arsenal of great sounding reasons, including, “I don’t know enough,” “Someone else would be better at that,” or “I’ll do a better job when my kids get bigger.” Occasionally I’ve even added under my breath, “I don’t think my faith is strong enough for that.”

My excuses cease to hold water when I read something like Judges 6. God is addressing Gideon, who He has called to save the Isrealites from the Midianites who have been oppressing them for many years. Gideon is in hiding and God surprises him with the news that he, at this point doubting and confused and essentially a wimp, is to save his people. He drags out his big bag of excuses; “The Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian,” “My clan is the weakest, and I am the least among them,” and God simply says, “Go in the strength you have and save Isreal out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” (Judges 6:14).

In the strength he had. It makes me really think about what I have, or more like what I don’t. When I quit dwelling on what I think I need to do what He asks, and just go with what I have already (even if it’s only a tiny skill, talent, amount of time, or even amount of faith), He will make it sufficient. Or in the case of Gideon, victorious.

What are we waiting for?

PS- God made this last week:

Sunrise through the trees over Adams Lake

Fall at Strong Rock is beautiful. I was afraid for a few weeks there we weren’t going to have any nice fall colors and then one morning woke up and there they were. As summer turns into fall we start looking forward to the next summer each year. Strong Rock is a much quieter place during cold weather months, though weekend retreats help give us our camp fix just a little bit. Here are a few pictures to show you what camp looks like in October and November.

At the barn.

Looking over the pasture up to the Horse Range Mountains behind camp.

Adams Lake

As fall marches on and Thanksgiving draws near I hope and pray your focus is on the things of life that really matter; God, family, and relationships, to name a few. Here at Strong Rock we are thinking of you and count all of our campers and camp families high on the list of things that really matter. Blessings to you all in this fall season!