Common Ground with the Romneys

T and I have a lot in common with Governor Romney and his wife, Ann. We have five sons too. Family matters to us, something we discussed with them when we had lunch with them in 2007. More than that though... seems this is who he is and it is who we are - Friday Night Lights style - Clear, Eyes, Full Hearts, Can't Lose Indeed!

Excerpts from an article published about our political future and Friday Night in America. -

One of my all-time favorite television shows was Friday Night Lights. It was a short lived take on a high school football team in small town Texas, based on the movie and book of the same name. The show touched on the lives and relationships, football and the people in the middle. The head coach, known by all in the town as Coach Taylor, ends his pre-game speech with the phrase, “Clear eyes, full hearts,” and the players finish, “Can’t lose!” When I first heard this, I have to say I was excited. It brought back that feeling right before a game. Granted I was a cheerleader, but the feeling is the same. There is something pure about it. To play with clear eyes is to play with a good attitude, removed from negative distractions. To play with full hearts means to give a complete effort and put your heart in to each game. We end with “can’t lose, because with a good attitude and a full effort, you have already won.Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can’t lose.

It’s scary to live in the now and not know what the future holds. It means we can’t just sit back and observe life passively anymore. We can’t wait for the day to come when someone or something will make our lives better. Suddenly, it’s about tonight’s game. We become the players, when before we were just the people in the stands. We get tossed around and beaten up and tackled, but we trust that our gear will keep us safe. We trust that our coaches and teammates know what they’re doing. We trust that we’ve practiced hard enough, and that we’ll be able to take down the next 250 lb gut check that comes our way. And then we play the game like our lives are at stake—because we know that they are. We need to get out of our comfort zones and step out in faith when it comes to getting our country back.  We have to prepare, practice, and make certain that when the big game comes, we can take down the permanent political class and restore America to greatness.

It’s Friday Night in America.  Its time to get onto the field and play all four quarters of this game. Not next week’s game tonight. Not the championship game tonight. This game. We are going to need to trust that our Coach will handle the rest. One play at a time.  Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can’t lose.