Hometown Clinton - Fall 2017

Camille Anding
The Time Coin
Last times can be monumental times,
and November 29, 1997 was a
monumental last time for the
Anding family. Our son, Eli, a senior
football player at Ole Miss, would play his
final college game – the infamous rival
game between Ole Miss and State.
It was a day of reflecting for me as
I retraced the five years he had given to the game of football. God’s
faithfulness had been evident in answer to so many prayers – in
fulfilling so many desires, and in comforting a lot of disappointments.
When Coach Billy Brewer offered Eli a Rebel scholarship, Eli said
yes to a life-long dream of playing SEC football. That was one of those
“jubilation” times, but there would be hard times ahead.
We could only wait and watch when we saw Eli’s freshman dreams
of quarterbacking vanish with the turnover in head coaches. His team
would see three different head coaches over the next four years.
The challenges were enormous, but hard times are proven teachers,
and Eli learned much about perseverance, resilience, patience and
determination. Some sympathetic fans told us that Eli’s versatility
and athleticism in the sport would be his greatest disadvantage.
By his junior year and his third position change, I began to understand.
I continued to thank God that with each new
coach and position, Eli only grew more
determined. The injuries, time-consuming
rehabs, grueling two-a-days, and adjustments
to new coaches, never stifled his drive to be a
team player and an ardent Rebel on and off
the field.
As a mother of a football player, I learned
to watch the August weather patterns and to pray for cloudy, breezy
breaks over the practice fields. I grieved when I saw him side-lined with
spring practice injuries but rejoiced to find them all reparable. I
thanked God for the enduring teammate friendships he made and the
motivators among his gallery of coaches.
On that last ballgame – the last college rival game with State,
I entered the stadium with a grateful heart for everything that football
had taught us and for surviving all the hard days. Would this be the last
hard day or possibly a day of jubilation? I reminded the Lord what a
win would mean for Eli – the nostalgia of it being his “last” game –
as I prayed for all the teams’ safety.
The final score that night: Ole Miss 15 – State 14. It was for Eli. n
50 • Aug/Sept/Oct 2017