The tinge in your eyes can be God giving you joy
By Mike Haynes
That day,
it didn’t take much for me to feel the tinge in my eyes that isn’t quite tears
– but almost.
I never did
cry, but several visuals and several thoughts had me on the verge of tears of
joy.
Yes, it was
just a football game, but what that game represented and the response it produced
reminded me of the meaning of community.
I gladly live
in Amarillo but grew up in McLean, Texas. Adding the “Texas” is important,
because my hometown is what Texas is – or is perceived to be. Individualistic.
Down to earth. Honest. Helpful. Friendly. God-fearing.
 |
| McLean fans at Class 1A Division 1 Six-Man state championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Dec. 19, 2018 |
And one
December day in the stadium of the Dallas Cowboys, my hometown McLean Tigers
were playing in a six-man state championship football game. When I looked up at
the famous, gigantic video screen and saw the black-and-gold logo and the name
of our town, I felt that tinge in my eyes.
Yes,
December. When I was a McLean Tiger myself, our tough-as-nails coach gave us
the goal of winning so we still would be playing in December. We had good
teams, tough like our coach, but November is as far as we got. Fifty years
later, grandsons of some of my classmates were playing in December.
And our old
coach was there.
He was one
of an estimated 2,000 people on our side of the cavernous stadium who came from
around the state. They sure weren’t all current McLean residents, because the
population has shrunk to less than 800.
Players’
parents, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts and grandparents were there, plus family
and friends from all over Texas. One woman, a McLean graduate from the 1950s
who lives in the Metroplex, was in a wheelchair pushed by her daughter. She
asked me if any of the Tigers could be her distant relatives.
 |
| McLean fans at Class 1A Division 1 Six-Man state championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Dec. 19, 2018 |
I was on
the sidelines taking pictures for most of the game, so I had a good view of the
several stadium sections filled with people wearing mostly black and gold. I
saw 15 or so of my own family, several of my long-ago teammates and the family
of a key player whose brother had died in a prairie fire less than two years
ago. I felt a different tinge in my eyes.
I was told
that my former classmate and college roommate who has been dealing with cancer
had planned to come but was just too tired and ill to make it. Again, I felt a
little bit different tinge in my eyes.
In the
fourth quarter, the scoreboard finally showed a margin that told me my hometown
team would win state, the ultimate goal of every sports team in the Panhandle
and across Texas. I felt the tinge in my eyes.
You saw on
the sports pages and on TV that my hometown overcame an outstanding team from
downstate to win the state championship going away, the school’s first ever. Afterward,
young boys who grew up in a town with more churches – five – than restaurants –
two – and who learned hard work breaking horses and fixing fence were being
asked questions at a big-city news conference. They were their usual polite
selves, smiling but humble, making their mommas and poppas proud. I felt the
tinge in my eyes.
Some of the players’ families have been in the
town a relatively short time. Others have had four generations of boys suiting
up and girls cheering on the sideline for almost 100 years. This state champion
team included several guys who started school together in kindergarten.
 |
| McLean fans at Class 1A Division 1 Six-Man state championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Dec. 19, 2018 |
After the
game, my family circled the concourse, every few feet running into clusters of
friends or kinfolk either waiting for the boys to appear from the locker room
or just not wanting to leave this golden moment. Approaching every group, I
felt the tinge in my eyes.
The
following Sunday, my wife and I attended church at McLean. My aunt had
suggested that everybody wear their black-and-gold T-shirts to honor the team,
and a bunch of us did, including my cousin the preacher. By then, my eyes felt
normal. But then, at the end of the service, my cousin asked all who felt so
moved to surround a local college girl who was about to leave on an
international mission trip.
Kathy and I
joined maybe 20 people, some of whom laid their hands on this young woman who
is devoted to Christ, the rest of us adding our hands to shoulders in a
concentric circle as people prayed.
I felt the
tinge in my eyes, and this time the tears almost dripped down. God has more
than one way of giving us joy.
