This reminder has been extremely personal for Clark as he coaches through the unprecedented seasons of COVID-19. He became the head football coach in December 2019 — right before the entire world changed.

“I had been coaching for 20 years. I had a plan of what I wanted to do and how I wanted to run my program. And then this thing called COVID came and shut the whole world down,” he said. “This was not in the playbook I had written for the last 20 years.”
How do you have a football practice where the players don’t touch each other?

What do you do when your players are getting quarantined?

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I heard it said once that “God came down to our level because we could never get up to His.” That encapsulates the beauty of the Chistian faith, while also highlighting what differentiates Christianity from every other world religion. Christianity is not about the good things we have done or can do to qualify for entrance to heaven. No! It’s about the great, unfathomable thing God did for us by sending His only Son “that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

That last quote was from John 3:16 and it was actually Jesus who said that when He came to Earth. And He also said this in John 10:10: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” I’ve included that Scripture along with mentioning John 3:16 to accentuate that Jesus didn’t just come to Earth to open up a way for humans to spend eternity with God, He also came that we might experience abundant life eternally!

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Again in June of 2005, my missionary friends asked me to come to Boone and help their daughter. I was here for two months helping her and she told me about the Hispanic people. The last week of my trip I met a family from Mt. Vernon Baptist Church and they also told me about the Hispanic people living in Bradford Park. They said, “These people need to hear the gospel in their own language.” Once again, I had to return to Mexico since I was here on vacation. Once again, God asked me to come to Boone.

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During my schooling at App State, I was privileged to play football for Coach Jerry Moore. I consider him to be one of the people who greatly influenced my life at that time. His consistent Christian walk both challenged and inspired me to be bold for the Lord on campus and contributed to the building of my character.

“Leave family, friends and all that is familiar and follow Me.” My uncle, Andy, heard this call and served in Nigeria, Africa, for 15 years. My cousin, Sara Beth, heard this call and went to China. My dad, Dan, heard this call and went on short-term mission trips for a couple of weeks each year. I didn’t fully understand how they could just pack up and leave their lives behind until I heard this call.

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We were only there a year when a position opened at App State. Jim Garner, the Athletic Director, called to ask if Jerry would be interested. We prayed and with our faith rebuilt, we stepped out in faith. We didn’t hear God say yes or no. The afternoon before Jerry was to be introduced as the new coach at App. Ken called and offered him the position of Offensive Coordinator at Arkansas. It would have meant total security and was hard to pass up. Once again, Jerry was on his knees. The Lord gave us the option. We could stay or launch out. We came to Boone in 1989.

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God gave me remarkable peace while I was there. I had received lots of support and encouragement from mothers I respected before I left. The Lord confirmed I was in His will and doing exactly what He wanted for me. It was right for my family and the timing was perfect. I was amazed by the African Christians. In the villages they began their long day by rising before the sun and singing praises to their Savior. I awoke to the sound of these praises each morning. Their lives are hard. They have lost a whole generation to AIDS. You see babies and old people, but there is no population in between! There is no electricity, no modern conveniences; everything is accomplished through manual labor. Yet we noticed boldly painted on one of their huts these words “JESUS IS OUR PROVIDER.”

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On April 16, at 4:15 p.m., overlooking “Horn in the West” grounds, I gave up and submitted control to Him. At that point, He gave me a vision. I saw a huge red balloon growing bigger and bigger and I knew it was going to burst. Then I saw a hand reach down with a pin and it pricked the balloon. Instead of it bursting, it imploded and awful, yucky, green, vile smelling stuff began oozing out of it. I had never felt such an incredible peace while feeling an indescribable joy. I drove home and told Pat. Her response was, “Do you have to keep crying so much? Can’t you stop saying ‘Hallelujah’ and ‘Praise God’ over and over?” After this, the Lord sent me to grad school in Chapel Hill and during that time Pat came to Christ. Together, He began using us and brought our children to know Him.

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My Dad worked for the NC Fish and Game Commission, so I learned early that the outdoors are “important”. It was a place of peace and refuge, especially for a little boy who lost his mother at five years of age. Living in Alaska was Dad’s big dream. At one point he applied for a position there, but Mom developed cancer and died and the dream died too. However, my wife, Tracy, and I leaped at the opportunity to go to Alaska. We packed up our two children and headed for adventure. Alaska was everything that we had hoped for. It was “outdoors” personified and we jumped in with both kids. We went back country camping, blueberry picking, prospecting, fishing creeks with grizzly bears, catching salmon, halibut and graylings hunting. It was the adventure of a lifetime.

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The devil takes particular pleasure in going after pastor’s kids. Raised in a pastor’s home in Asheville NC, I went from my high school graduation in 1972 into a lifestyle of drugs and alcohol. For the next seven years I wasted my life. However, a faithful God answered the prayers of my parents and in 1979 I had a “head-on” encounter with Jesus. He totally delivered me from that dark pit and I have not touched alcohol or drugs for the past 29 years.

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The athletic director at ASU back then was Jim Garner. He knew me from our days in the same staff at Texas Tech. Though I’d never heard of ASU and didn’t know where Boone was I jumped at the chance to be a head coach again. I honestly felt as if this was my last chance in coaching. Little did I know how things would turn out here in Boone. I look back and it’s interesting to see how God put all the pieces of the puzzle together to allow us to do what we’ve done here. I could talk about beating Michigan or about winning 3 national championships, but I can honestly say that my greatest thrill in coaching is seeing young men develop and grow and change for the better. To have some kind of role in being a godly example and influence to those players and others is an honor and a privilege for which I’m extremely grateful.

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My late husband Dwight and I were publishing Christian books to be distributed in prisons and jails and although it was a fruitful ministry, we sensed God had something more in store for us. So, we turned off the t.v. and began to seek His direction-“What do you want, Lord?”

During this earnest seeking we were invited to the dedication of the Nelson Bell Building through Samaritan’s Purse. Nelson Bell was Ruth Bell Graham’s missionary father who spent many years spreading the gospel in China. As part of the ceremony, each guest was given a copy of Nelson Bell’s book entitled “Foreign Devil in China”. This book fired Dwight up and a passion for China began to grown in his heart.

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When I was 10 years old, my life and the lives of every one of my family members was radically changed for the better. It all happened because a church in the neighborhood where I lived reached out to my family with the love of God. Before we moved to the neighborhood, my family was nominally involved in a Baptist Church. Occasionally, we would go to church on a Sunday but it wasn’t something any of us took seriously. When we moved, we didn’t attend church at all, even though there was a church within 1/2 mile of our house.

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He taught me what it meant to truly follow His leadership in all things. During this time in my life I saw the license tag that says; “God is my co-pilot” and I remembered thinking that if He was my co-pilot, then I was in the wrong seat. I wanted him to be the pilot completely. He was teaching me how to keep my hands off the wheel and to simply let him have complete control. He opened my eyes to the kingdom of God and the whole spiritual realm in a way that has helped me through some tough times in my life.

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I feel very blessed to have been raised in a Christian family with a strong Christian heritage. My parents are Christians, they were raised in Christian homes and their parents were too. As far as I know, most of my extended family are Christians, so it seems as if I’ve been surrounded by God’s love from the time I was born. It was this type of Christian upbringing that I credit for enabling me to make a sincere commitment to Christ at the early age of seven years.

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I was raised in a Christian home and I’m so grateful that many of my relatives were sincere Christians. Because of their positive influence, I began to seek answers at an early age and asked my parents lots of questions about what it meant to be a Christian. When I was nine years old, at my church’s Vacation Bible School, lots of things became clear to me. At this point I wanted to make a public profession of my faith in Christ, but my pastor wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing. Once a week for several months he met with me and some others to teach us the Bible. After this, I was baptized and I’m grateful for the firm foundation I received at that early age.

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This story is a testament to God’s grace in the life of an individual in our small mountain community. It testifies to the change, calling, and effect that this grace produces. That is why we call it a testimony. Usually, when we think of a person leaving a life of sin, repenting, and turning to Jesus for true life, we think of a roller-coaster ride.

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My story is one of reconciliation and restoration — a true miracle. In 1969 I married a wonderful man who grew up in a family much like mine — pillars of the community, faithful church members, leaders and givers. It was a marriage made in heaven. We moved to the High Country in 1972. My husband gave up his aspirations in politics and began a new career as a true “country lawyer.“ We were blessed with two beautiful daughters and a delightful new home on Dutch Creek Falls in Valle Crucis.

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Most people do not have the opportunity to participate in politics as an elected official. Working in the political arena requires hours away from home, knowledge of public policy, skills in public engagement, and the foundation of support from their community. Deanna Ballard, Senator for North Carolina’s 45th District, is privileged to step into this microcosm of government as both an elected official and as a committed follower of Jesus Christ. Deanna’s testimony reflects God’s abundant provision and sovereignty as each step from Lincoln County, to college, to the White House, to Boone, is marked by God’s fingerprints.

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This is my story. I do not deserve to have such a joyful relationship with Jesus. I should still be in that ocean of darkness, without hope. But Jesus loves me. Even though I was completely broken and filled with hopelessness. Jesus loved me. Jesus came after me. Jesus rescued me. And all I had to do was put my faith in Him.

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Before we dive in, I wanted to thank Ben Cox, my “brother from another mother,” for not letting me off the hook over the years to write an article for the “The Journey.” It has created a space for me to reflect, and as John Bunyan wrote, it is “profitable for Christians to be often calling to mind the very beginnings of grace with their souls” (Bunyan, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners) (Bunyan’s most famous work is Pilgrim’s Progress).

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