Summer football weather a lot like life – The Oxford Eagle

By Les Ferguson Jr.

Columnist

It’s getting warm outside. Hot even. That’s how it is supposed to be in a Mississippi summer. If you are reading this on Wednesday, tomorrow is the summer solstice.

After an entire Saturday working in the yard cutting grass, weed eating, and spreading pine straw, I’ve decided to change my yard maintenance time to late in the evening. No heat stroke for this guy if I can help it. Like the old meme says, ain’t nobody got time for that!

Did I mention that it is hot? Yes. Two weeks ago, we drove to Moorhead. If you didn’t know before, you do now: Moorhead is the home of Mississippi Delta Community College.

MDCC is now our youngest son’s home away from home. He’ll be playing Trojan football there in the fall. 

I don’t envy his summer at all. Moorhead is in Sunflower County, which is smack in the Mississippi Delta. To give you a map perspective, it is a straight thirty-five-mile drive from Moorhead to the infamous Mississippi State Penitentiary, Parchman Field.  

If you know Mississippi geography, the Delta is synonymous with flat. Almost all you can see in every direction outside small communities, towns, and cities is flat farmland. For miles and miles and miles, the countryside can be both bleak and beautiful. 

Not only is the Delta flat, but if it is summer, it’s hot. There is no heat like the Mississippi Delta in June, July, and August. And for whatever reason, if you call a spot of ground a practice field, it focuses the heat like sunlight through a magnifying glass! 

So, no, I don’t envy my son and others who will hit the practice field this summer. Playing the game requires great desire and dedication. 

Sometimes, life’s myriad situations and circumstances can be like those hot, dry, dusty practice fields in the heat of a Mississippi Delta day. 

You’ve done the repetitions, drills, and conditioning. You’ve practiced plays and gamed out scenarios. But even with frequent water breaks, it all wears you down. You’re exhausted, dehydrated, and weak. 

That’s how Jesus found the woman at the well in the Gospel of John. Worn out and defeated, Jesus told her, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.” (John‬ 4‬:13‬-14‬ CSB‬‬)

In a dry and weary land, my prayer is for all to find the living water of Jesus. 

I love you, and God does too!