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Grandma and Papa with seven of their great-grandchildren during our annual extended family vacation in Tennessee last summer.

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I’m a sucker for romantic comedies such as Sweet Home Alabama, The Philadelphia Story, Sleepless in Seattle and even a few films without geographic names.

I’ve read more than my fair share of novels by Nicholas Sparks: If you’re not familiar with him, more often than that, somebody falls in love and lives happily ever after.

The 1,500-plus songs in my iTunes library include Peter Cetera’s Glory of Love, Steven Curtis Chapman’s Cinderella, Peaches & Herb’s Reunited, Alabama’s Forever’s As Far As I’ll Go and even the theme from Love Boat.

All of which is to say — besides the fact that my “man card” may be in serious jeopardy — that I love a good love story.

No movie, novel or iTune can compare, however, to the real-life love story that I witnessed for the first 42 years of my life.

Lloyd and Margaret Ross — my grandparents — were married for nearly 69 years, until Grandma’s death Dec. 20 at age 85.

In a column in The Christian Chronicle in 2006, I wrote:

Papa and Grandma both grew up poor in single-parent households during the Great Depression. Papa’s father died when he was 8 months old, while Grandma was 12 when her dad died.

My grandfather, Lloyd Lee Ross, was 22 and my grandmother, Margaret Magdaline House, barely 16 when they married on Feb. 5, 1941. Papa hocked his shotgun for less than $5 to pay for the marriage certificate.

Last week, sitting in his living room in Huntingdon, Tenn., trying to stay strong and certain that his precious angel has received her eternal reward, Papa acknowledged that he “lied” on the marriage certificate because Grandma wasn’t yet 18.

“I know God forgave me,” my 91-year-old grandfather told me, “because this marriage was arranged up in heaven.”

Tears in my eyes, I could only nod in agreement.

I wish I had the words — then and now — to say more. But I don’t. At least not yet.

Thank you, God, for blessing my life with these two incredible people. And please, God, be with Papa and give him strength and comfort during this difficult time.

— Bobby

Ten years ago, I spent the last night of the millennium on Y2K duty at The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City’s major metropolitan daily.

For the next day’s front page, I wrote:

As the planet Earth’s calendars rolled, hour by hour around the globe, to a neatly even Jan. 1, 2000, a computer bug known as Y2K was supposed to wreak havoc on Oklahoma and the world.

But this bug, it seems, had little bite.

The New Year arrived with more of a whimper than a bang, at least as far as Y2K was concerned.

Hard to believe that a decade has passed since then (and we still don’t know what to call these first 10 years of the 21^st century!).

If we journalists love anything more than year-end lists, it must be decade-end lists. Search Google News, and you can educate yourself on everything from the decade’s Top 10 TV blunders to the Top 10 political lines. The Boston Globe, among other major news organizations, weighs in on the Top 10 national and international stories.

As a journalist, I enjoy an incredible opportunity to witness history up close — some of it inspiring, some heartbreaking and some just plain strange.

In keeping with my journalistic DNA, I compiled a list of my personal Top 10 stories of the decade.

Drum roll, please …

10. Baseball

As a child, I dreamed of growing up to be a baseball play-by-play announcer. I never quite realized that dream. But I did make it to the radio booth — with the earphones on my head during a real major-league game — when I profiled longtime Texas Rangers broadcaster Eric Nadel for The Associated Press in 2003. I also found a way inside the Houston Astros’ locker room (writing first about Gene Pemberton and later Cecil Cooper) and made it to spring training with the Minnesota Twins in Fort Myers, Fla. What a thrill!

ARLINGTON, Texas — Thirty minutes before welcoming listeners to “the beautiful Ballpark in Arlington,” Eric Nadel and his partner, Vince Cotroneo, swing open the windows of the Texas Rangers’ air-conditioned radio booth overlooking home plate.

A brisk, 93-degree breeze rattles stat sheets and blows open the pages of the “Complete Baseball Record Book.”

And the sounds and smells of the ballpark rush in: the voices of the gap-toothed boys begging A-Rod and company for autographs; the sweet aroma of $1 Hot Dog Night; the wind-blown smoke from the fireworks that erupt after each Ranger home run.

“You don’t have the feel of the game if you don’t open the windows,” said Nadel, 52, in his 25th season calling games for a perennial cellar dweller that has won one playoff game in its history.

9. Canada

As foreign reporting goes, this is the one country where I have traveled that seemed more like a 51^st U.S. state. As a proud American, I mean that a compliment. And yes, as you study America’s neighbor to the north more closely, you become more aware of cultural and political differences. In 2009, I was privileged to travel to three provinces — Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta — to write stories for The Christian Chronicle’s series on churches in Canada. An upcoming reporting trip will take me to British Columbia.

GRAVELBOURG, Saskatchewan — Just off the main highway, behind the Snack Shack Eatery and the GravelBowl Lanes & Billiards, sits the Church of Christ.

A bright green John Deere tractor rumbles down a nearby street as an older couple watch closely from their front porch.

“Everyone Welcome,” says a sign outside the church’s newly renovated building.

In more than a few places in rural Canada, Churches of Christ are dying.

But in this historically French Catholic prairie town, the 100-member church is thriving.

8. George W. Bush

Here’s another childhood dream I never realized: working as a White House correspondent and flying all over the world on Air Force One. In my time with AP in Tennessee and Texas, however, I covered a handful of presidential events, wrote about questions related to Bush’s National Guard service and traveled to tiny Crawford, Texas, to report on a furor caused by the president’s hometown newspaper endorsing John Kerry in 2004.

CRAWFORD, Texas — Signs at the bank, the cafe and the Bottlinger Grain bins all declare Crawford – the proud home of the president’s ranch – as “Bush Country.”

So when the Lone Star Iconoclast, a tiny weekly that bills itself as Bush’s hometown paper, endorsed Democrat John Kerry, there was hell to pay.

Local businesses pulled their ads and banned the paper from their stores.

“We felt a little betrayed,” said Larry Nelson, manager of the Crawford Country Style, a downtown shop that sells “Luvya Dubya” trinkets and other Bush memorabilia.

7. Megachurches

I profiled Joel and Victoria Osteen, T.D. Jakes, Max Lucado, the Ed Youngs and former Southern Baptist Convention President Jack Graham during my time with AP. For The Oklahoman and later Religion News Service, I wrote about Craig Groeschel and the explosive growth of satellite campuses at Life Church in Oklahoma. For Christianity Today, I tackled stories on megachurch seminaries and pastor training. At times, I kept Scott Thumma’s phone number on speed dial. (I am kidding. Mostly.)

HOUSTON — On their first date, Joel Osteen and his future bride, Victoria, went out to watch a Houston Rockets basketball game at the team’s home, then called The Summit.

Two decades later, the fast-growing megachurch that Osteen pastors is spending $78 million to turn the Rockets’ former arena – later renamed the Compaq Center – into its new spiritual home, with 16,000 seats, two waterfalls and plenty of television cameras for Lakewood Church’s nationally broadcast services.

The 41-year-old minister chuckles at the coincidence as he stands in the arena where true love was born and where he predicts as many as 100,000 people will someday worship every weekend.

“God’s got a sense of humor,” Osteen said, talking over the buzz of heavy machinery transforming locker rooms into children’s classrooms. “I never dreamed as a kid that this would be our place.”

6. Africa

My Christian Chronicle colleague Erik Tryggestad is the world traveler and international reporting expert on our staff, with datelines from more than 25 countries on his resume. But this summer I had the opportunity to travel to Africa twice — first to Ghana and then to South Africa — as part of the Chronicle’s “Global South” series. What an amazing experience. I am thankful to Erik for pushing me to take this step and expand my reporting horizons.

ACCRA, Ghana — Through an open window, the familiar voice came.

From a blaring television at an auto parts store next door, President Barack Obama’s recent speech to Ghana’s Parliament drifted into the Nsawam Road Church of Christ auditorium.

“America will be with you every step of the way, as a partner, as a friend,” the nation’s first black president said.

In his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa since taking office, Obama promised U.S. support to help Africa build a better political and economic future.

At that exact moment, several hundred Christians were gathered inside the Nsawam Road church building to celebrate a different kind of partnership — one with eternal ramifications.

“As significant as Obama’s visit is … what we’re doing has a far more staggering impact for Africa because we’re dealing with souls,” said Deon Fair, a member of the Richardson East church in Texas and a key figure in efforts to develop a Christian liberal arts university in this small coastal nation.

5. Mexico

While Canada and Africa were new to me, I have made a number of trips to Mexico over the years — both personally and professionally. For AP, I joined a charismatic church group that spent a week at an orphanage in Juarez in 2004. For the Chronicle, I followed a Missouri church group as it built a church north of Saltillo in 2008 and ventured to Tijuana in 2009 to report on church mission groups’ concerns about border security.

TIJUANA, Mexico — Three times a week, San Diego resident Steve Mock crosses the U.S.-Mexico border to teach preaching students in this violence-scarred city of about 1.5 million souls.

Mock, an instructor at the Latin American Christian Institute in the heart of Tijuana, recognizes the dangers involved.

“I mean, I’m aware of it,” said Mock, a member of the Canyon View church in San Diego. “There were almost 900 people murdered in Tijuana last year. But most of them are drug cartels fighting each other.”

Still, Mock said he understands why a number of American church groups canceled annual spring break mission trips to Mexico, while other congregations reassess scheduled summer efforts.

“I have not tried to talk anybody out of it who made the decision not to come this year,” Mock said. “I mean, I still go on. I don’t worry. … But it would just be a disaster if some student or some college kid or parent was shot in the crossfire somewhere between gangs.”

A 2-year-old offensive on drug traffickers by Mexican President Felipe Calderon has caused gang violence to surge along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border and claimed more than 7,000 lives in the last 15 months. The 843 killings in Tijuana last year were more than twice 2007’s total of 337.

4. Capital Punishment

During my time as the state prisons reporter for The Oklahoman, I witnessed three or four executions. I don’t know what it means that I can’t recall exactly how many — maybe just that I’m getting old and losing my mind. My most memorable story involved a case of an inmate whose execution did not draw much media attention. I decided to use this case as an opportunity to write about a “typical” execution day in Oklahoma.

McALESTER, Okla. – At 6 a.m., before the sun has time to scale the towering white walls of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, Roger James Berget opens his eyes.

Not that Berget, Oklahoma inmate No. 98711, has any choice.

Eighteen hours before his scheduled execution, correctional officers stand over the condemned murderer and order him to wake up.

The officers strip-search him and make him shower in his shackles before giving him new clothes – a prison shirt and jeans – in which to die.

After he dresses, they lead him up the hill from the underground, death-row “H-Unit” to the main part of the penitentiary.

Inside the prison infirmary, he’s X-rayed to ensure he has no contraband on him – or in him – that he could use to hurt himself before the state can carry out his court-ordered lethal injection.

Berget, 39, a pale, thin man with a short, scruffy beard, a ponytail and tattooed arms, has spent the past seven days in a solitary “high-max” cell, away from fellow prisoners while awaiting his date with death.

After the X-ray, he’s taken back down the hill and placed in a special holding cell next to the execution chamber.

3. Iraq War

When the war started in 2003, I was at a church in Nashville where members prayed as President Bush announced the U.S. attack. Later, I covered war protesters and the funeral for the first Tennessee soldier killed. Often, with AP in Tennessee and Texas and even after joining the Chronicle, the duty fell on me to interview loved ones of young men — and women — killed in action. In one case, I discovered that a young woman had lost both her father and her husband in the war. The story that sticks out the most to me concerned a World War II veteran in Corpus Christi, Texas, who lost his son in Iraq.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Esequiel Perez never bragged about his service in World War II. If anything, the soft-spoken veteran downplayed his role.

“I didn’t go into too much combat or anything,” says Perez, 77.

Yet his children – Yolanda, Rosa Anna, Sandra, Joel, Debra, Hector and Zeke – grew up knowing that their father had done his part to defend the world, and why.

In the Perez family, soldiers’ sacrifice was honored and the nation’s freedom celebrated. Memorial Day and the Fourth of July were times for reverence. When the children erected a flag pole in the front yard, Esequiel welcomed it – but warned that the Stars and Stripes must not touch the ground and should be illuminated if flown at night.

“That’s how proud my dad is of this country,” said Rosa Anna Garza, 48.

He also wanted an easier life for his children than he had – he still had nightmares involving foxholes and blames grenades for his hearing problems – so he never pushed them to join the military.

For No. 6 child Hector, though, the Army beckoned.

2. Sept. 11, 2001

Just six years after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which consumed my Oklahoman colleagues and me for months and even years, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks brought back all kinds of emotions. We dealt with those emotions by focusing on the news and writing about the terrible events of that day, this time from hundreds of miles away. I produced four stories on Sept. 11, a day that will remain forever a giant blur in my mind. Find those links here, here, here and here. Later, I wrote about Oklahomans reaching out to New Yorkers.

The ringing of his telephone interrupted Oklahoma Christian University professor Arlis Wood’s introductory psychology class Tuesday morning.

The shaken, terrified voice of Wood’s daughter, Elizabeth, 18, immediately alarmed him.

The New York City college freshman had just stepped out of a subway station into a living hell.

“Dad, there’s a hole in… the World Trade Center,” she told him.

As he tried to calm her, she screamed, “Dad, another plane just hit the other building and there’s this huge explosion.”

At the front of his classroom, as his students’ curiosity turned to shock, Wood could not fathom the living nightmare – the hell on earth – unfolding before his daughter’s eyes.

1. Hurricane Katrina

The costliest hurricane to strike the United States — and one of the deadliest — occurred just months after I joined the Chronicle in 2005. In the immediate aftermath, I flew on a private plane with Don Yelton and others from WFR Relief Ministries to survey damages in Louisiana and Mississippi. A few months later, I returned to New Orleans to report on the still-immense needs among church members. In all, I made a handful of visits to the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast after the storm. My one-year anniversary feature on how Charles and Angela Marsalis escaped death — and relied on their faith as they overcame the storm — is, in my opinion, one of the best stories I have written. Ever.

Eventually, the evacuees started counting the number of bricks down from the window to see how much the water line had risen. It became apparent that they needed to move their personal belongings, as well as their water cooler, to the balcony.

At some point, as the water covered the top of the pews, a pirogue — a canoe made from a hollowed tree trunk — floated into the auditorium from the back of the building. The small, decorative boat had been filled with soft drinks at a church member’s recent Cajun-style retirement party.

Now, it seemed like a gift from God.

Charles pushed the pirogue, with son Willie and dog Daisy inside, to the pantry and filled it with communion crackers, three quarts of grape juice and paper products. A few of the boys donned baptismal gear as they trudged through the water.

The evacuees congregated that night in the wooden, movie-theater-style seats in the balcony. They lit candles and sang hymns such as “Just A Little Talk With Jesus,” “Climbing Up The Mountain” and “Mansion Over The Hilltop.” When they started hearing helicopters overhead, they took turns climbing to the roof and holding up signs asking for help.

By Tuesday, the church members were running low on food and water. Of equal concern, the ice that Linda, a diabetic, had brought to keep her insulin cool was melting.

— Bobby

Invictus inspires, but does it rank as one of the best sports movies of all time?

Directed by Clint Eastwood, the new movie stars Morgan Freeman as South African President Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as captain of the national rugby team. Based on a true story, the PG-13-rated film focuses on Mandela’s effort to unite post-apartheid South Africa behind the team’s quest to win the 1995 World Cup. (A quick aside: Now I know why they call them rugby shirts.)

My reporting trip to South Africa this fall, which included a tour of the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, piqued my interest in the movie.

Before David Duncan, Mike Avery and I flew home, Southern Africa Bible College director Fred Bergh took us to see Pretoria, the presidential capital of South Africa. Fred, a white man who is a former South African ambassador to the United Nations, talked in glowing terms about Mandela, whom he knew personally, and the Nobel Peace Prize winner’s efforts to bring together all of South Africa’s people, regardless of color.

Fred told me:

I never worked on a permanent basis with former President Mandela but had dealings with him before and after his assumption of office, firstly when I was political and legal adviser to the former Foreign Minister and then as a diplomat in New York. He is an exceptional person, and his greatest qualities, in my view, are his humility, his honesty, his forgiving nature and his unflinching quest to apply the principles of fairness and justice for all. It was fitting that the country was first called a rainbow nation under his presidency.

Invictus, which Tamie and I saw at the $5 matinee Friday, highlights all those traits.

The majestic government buildings that Fred showed us are featured prominently in the movie, as are the shanty towns where the poor live in improvised dwellings made from scrap materials. The scenery certainly looked familiar!

Beyond the racial and historical overtones, this is — at its heart — an exhilarating, entertaining sports film where the classic underdog battles to overcome the odds. Think Hoosiers, The Rookie, Miracle, Rudy, Karate Kid, Rocky and even the recently released Blind Side, but don’t forget to Remember the Titans.

If those stories made your pulse race and put a big smile on your face, this one will, too.

Your turn: What are your top five favorite sports movies of all time? Rank them from 1 to 5.

— Bobby

In my last post, I described my exclusive interview with ole St. Nick himself.

What I didn’t mention was that Santa Claus and I got together again a few years later — and this time he let me ride along with some of his elves as he delivered gifts.

No, he didn’t invite me try out his sleigh.

But his head elf and I did take to the skies in one of Santa’s official helicopters:

ABOARD SANTA U.S.A. HELICOPTER NO. 2 — Head elf John Carter sits up front, a green flight headset wrapped around his red Santa hat. Elementary school principal Sheila McCollum, in her first propeller-driven excursion, is buckled in behind the pilot.

Mr. and Mrs. Claus, along with Frosty, Rudolph and a couple of elves, are in the chopper behind this one.

Nearly 500 feet below, 600 children fill the parking lot at Rann Elementary in the small North Texas town of Decatur, eagerly awaiting Santa’s arrival.

Men in yellow “Santa Landing Crew” vests direct the helicopters to a field across from the school. Carter grabs a megaphone and prepares to herald the big guy’s arrival.

“What I usually do is, I get the kids all riled up and then Santa gets out,” said Carter, a grandfatherly sort who sports fuzzy green knickers and red-and-white striped socks.

Fun times!

And, by the way, Merry Christmas!

— Bobby

By Bobby Ross Jr.

In the most merry moment of my newspaper career, a world-renowned senior citizen gave me an exclusive interview for Christmas. But first I had to sit on his knee.

I found the man who claims to be “the real Santa Claus” making children smile at Quail Springs Mall in Oklahoma City.

Santa sported long white hair, a fluffy white beard and wire-rimmed glasses. The hair and the beard were real. I’m not sure about the glasses.

To my surprise, Santa had no red coat, no thick black belt and no knee-high boots.

Instead, the casual St. Nick wore red knickers, black slippers, red, white and green striped socks and a colorful shirt covered with holiday bears.

Red suspenders hung over a belly made plump by a few million too many chocolate chip cookies.

BR: I understand you’re the real Santa?

SANTA: That’s right. I came last year to Oklahoma City because I had heard about the children down here and how special they are. I just got overrun with loving-kindness, and I just had to come back again this year.

BR: How do you explain all the other guys running around in red suits and calling themselves Santa?

SANTA: Well, I know they do that. The children need to understand that they (the other guys in red suits) are my helpers. Because there are a lot of children out there that need a chance to see Santa and give him their lists.

So I don’t mind because up until Christmas Eve, I can’t be everywhere at once. I just tell the kids, `Well, they are my helpers and they aren’t the real Santa.’ But you know what? The kids know it, too.

BR: So you’ve never considered a lawsuit against these guys?

SANTA: No, no. They’re doing their best to help.

BR: How much time do you spend here at the mall during the Christmas season?

SANTA: Well, I’m here a lot because I want to see the kids. The closer it gets to Christmas, of course, the longer I’m here to see them. I try to make myself available, you know.

BR: How long would a typical day be?

SANTA: It varies. From eight hours a day up to and surpassing 12 hours a day.

You know, sometimes the mall says, `Santa, you can go home early.’ But I don’t. I stay. As long as there’s children there that want to see me, I stay.

BR: How many children do you see on those 12-hour days?

SANTA: Oh boy. It runs into the hundreds and hundreds. It does.

BR: Does your knee ever get tired?

SANTA: You know, it doesn’t. It never does. And it’s the darnedest thing. I sit there and I get nestled in that chair and I just love the children, and they actually put energy into Santa. When they smile at me, I just get real excited and just love Christmas and the children, and it gives me energy.

BR: Do you go home to the North Pole at night or stay here in Oklahoma City?

SANTA: I stay right here, and Oklahoma City just takes wonderful care of Santa.

BR: Do the elves and Mrs. Claus not get upset that this is the busiest time of the year and you’re here in Oklahoma?

SANTA: No, they don’t get upset because they love the children so much. They know what we’re doing. So they commit to do this in their heart. And they love doing it.

BR: Do you really use a magic key to get into houses where there are no chimneys?

SANTA: You know, some people refer to it as a key, but I prefer to call it the magic of Christmas. Because there are so many things about Christmas that are so special in the hearts and minds of people. And I’m not just talking little ones. I mean, big people. People who have seen many Christmases come and go. And it’s just real special to them.

BR: If there’s no chimney, do you still park the sleigh on the roof?

SANTA: Where there’s room, I park it on the roof. And you know what they do? These moms and dads and the little ones have been putting carrots on the roof. And I want to tell you – Rudolph, he goes crazy over those carrots. And ole Dasher, he gets in there too and likes to have a carrot once in a while.

And then they put that reindeer food up there for them and they love that. I mean, those rascals, they just get right into it. It just makes it fun for everybody.

BR: Is Rudolph’s nose red all year long or just at Christmastime?

SANTA: Well, you know, it glows at Christmastime. People ask me, `Well, Santa, don’t your reindeer fly all the time?’ Well, of course not. They fly on Christmas Eve, and that’s the same thing with Rudolph’s nose. Come Christmas Eve, boy, when it’s really cloudy and it’s overcast and we can’t see, Rudolph gets right in front and lights the way.

BR: Do any of the other reindeer feel slighted, like maybe Rudolph’s getting too much of the attention?

SANTA: I don’t really think so, because they are so well known. You know, Dasher and Dancer and Comet and Cupid – they’re well known and they just really appreciate the fact that Rudolph is there to provide that guidance. And Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen, I’ve never really noticed them being upset. Because it’s like a team. We work together. I couldn’t do it without them. And that’s how I sense they feel toward each other.

BR: You mentioned the carrots for the reindeer. Are cookies and milk still your favorite snacks?

SANTA: Chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate chip cookies. (Santa stuck his lips directly against the tape recorder as he said this.) I love them! Chocolate chip cookies and some milk. That’s just my favorite.

BR: How many do you figure you eat on a typical Christmas Eve?

SANTA: Oh son, look at me, this is real. (He rubbed his plump belly.) We’re talking thousands of cookies, you know. I didn’t get like this just overnight. It took years and years.

BR: Is this casual wardrobe a new fashion statement?

SANTA: I’m glad you asked because this is my workshop outfit. This is what I wear in my workshop. Now a lot of Santas, like you see with my helpers, they wear the red coat and the hat. … But when I come into my house, just like every boy and girl, I take my boots off. I put my slipper shoes on. And I take my hat and hang it up. My coat, I hang it up. And I go around in my workshop with this shirt and my knickers on and my red, white and green socks – they’re my favorite. This is the workshop look.

BR: Do you always bring children what they ask for?

SANTA: You know, I don’t. I try. Sometimes, children come in with lists that are 3 feet long, and I try to remind them that there are a lot of boys and girls out there that are really hoping they get just one thing. I want children to have a sense of that, that Christmas isn’t made up of how much you get.

You know, I have kids who come through here and what they want from Santa is for mommy and daddy to get back together. They don’t want mommy and daddy to get divorced. That’s a tough one. I don’t tell them it’s all going … to be OK. The other day, I had a little girl say that to me. … All I could tell her was that I knew that Jesus loved her. What can you tell a little girl like that?

And I had a bell in my pocket that fell off Prancer’s harness, and I gave it to her. I said, `I want you to take this with you because when it gets really tough … I want you to take this little bell out of your pocket and I want you to ring it. I want you to remember that Jesus loves you and Santa loves you, too. I want you to find the strength to make it through.’

So no, you don’t always get everything you asked for from Santa. But the one thing you’re going to know is that Santa loves you and you’re special with Santa.

BR: What would you be or who would you be if you weren’t Santa?

SANTA: You know, I can’t imagine because it’s such a blessing to be Santa. I have no desire to be anybody else.

BR: You never want to just chop off the beard and the hair?

SANTA: No. This way the kids recognize me. I mean, even when it’s not Christmas, I visit different cities and I check up on the kids from time to time to make sure they’re good little boys and girls, you know, because sometimes they get pretty ornery and carry on when nobody’s around. But I’m there and I’m watching and I’m keeping track of how good they are.

BR: Are most of the girls and boys being good this year?

SANTA: Yes, they are. I’d say for the most part, they really are. They’re trying to be good. Some of them need to be reminded, of course. But for the most part, they do try. They really do.

BR: Anything else you would say to the boys and girls?

SANTA: Well, I would just reiterate how much Santa loves them and how special they are to me. And I want them to know that. With Santa, they’re just No. 1 … and I love them and I appreciate them. I want them to have a wonderful Christmas. I’m going to put some surprises in their Christmas this year. I want it to be extra special, and I want them to have a merry Christmas.

This interview was originally published Dec. 1, 1997, in The Oklahoman.

If you haven’t seen “The Blind Side,” stop reading right now, run to the nearest theater and buy a ticket.

Popcorn is optional, although I highly recommend it — with a healthy portion of liquid butter.

I am a Sandra Bullock fan and tend to enjoy both sports movies and movies that tug at my heartstrings, but the overt Christian message of this movie pleasantly surprised me.

As Charisma magazine described it:

The Blind Side, starring Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw, is undeniably inspirational. At a recent screening, many viewers were openly in tears.

But Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, the Christian couple at the center of the film that opens Friday, hope the story of how they adopted a homeless black teenager who eventually became a first-round NFL draft pick does more than make people cry.

“We hope people walk out of the theater and want to do something for someone else,” said the couple’s daughter, Collins Tuohy.

Based on the true story of Baltimore Ravens rookie Michael Oher, The Blind Side — rated PG-13 for language, violence and depictions of drug use — chronicles how a handful of Christians helped change the life of a teen growing up in inner-city Memphis, Tenn.

Terry Mattingly of Scripps Howard News Service also wrote a wonderful column exploring the Christian angle:

The key is that expressions of faith were a natural part of this true story, said actress Sandra Bullock, who plays Leigh Anne. No one was faking anything.

“This family, they were themselves for no other benefit other than because they wanted to reach out, lend a hand, and had no idea that they would get a son in return,” she told reporters, after a press screening of “The Blind Side.” Bullock said that, while making the movie, she regained a little “faith in those who say they represent a faith. … I’ve finally met people that walk the walk.”

This movie is James 1:27 adapted to the big screen. This is Christianity in action, even if the people making it happen are flawed and imperfect — just like real Christians.

One of the most compelling parts of the movie, to me, is when the football coach argues that the Christian school should accept Michael Oher in spite of his poor grade-point average. Not because of his size and athletic prowess, the coach says, but “because it’s the right thing to do.”

Now, this scene is compelling because the coach is saying the right thing, but it seems pretty obvious — based on a later scene — that football really was his motivation in pushing for Big Mike’s admission. Yet, admitting this student is the right thing, and the school does the right thing, even if not for entirely pure motives.

Which, in my mind, raises the question: How often does God use people doing the right thing for the wrong reason(s) to fulfill his purposes? Does this ever happen in my own life?

2 Corinthians 9:7 says:

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

But what if I can’t give cheerfully? My friend David Duncan says I should go ahead and give anyway. I may not be blessed myself, but at least the money can be used to bless others for God’s purposes.

Alas, I have veered way off course, but this is a movie that not only entertains you but causes you to reflect.

Go and see it. Now.

— Bobby

At West Ridge Church, a Baptist church near Atlanta, leaders tried a different approach Sunday to helping the needy.

They filled big buckets at the front of the auditorium with thousands of dollars and encouraged people hurting financially to come forward and help themselves.

Tony Morgan, the church’s executive director of ministries, described the scene this way:

Some people grabbed one handful (of cash). Other people grabbed two handfuls depending on their needs. In one service, the buckets were emptied and people just started writing checks to other people. ….

People who God has blessed gave an offering from what God has given them. Then God used that offering to bless people who needed help. Wouldn’t it be something if the Church in America became known for its generosity?

Now, this isn’t the first time I’ve heard of a church giving away money — and not just to folks who fill out a benevolence request.

Just a few weeks ago, the Chicago Tribune reported on a church that has helped fill its pews by offering cash prizes — two for $250 and one for $500 — to lucky churchgoers each Sunday:

(The Rev. Dan) Willis concedes the cash prize is a gimmick to fill the pews. But he’s unapologetic about the plan, because it’s working. On a typical Sunday, his church draws about 1,600 people to its three Sunday services. But since the money giveaway started, about five weeks ago, the congregation has grown to about 2,500 each week, he said. The money for the giveaway comes from the church offering.

Almost eight years, I wrote a column for The Oklahoman on Life Church in Edmond giving away $10,000 as part of a sermon series that stressed relying on biblical principles to manage finances:

Each of the roughly 6,000 worshippers at Life Church’s seven Saturday and Sunday services that weekend entered a drawing. The winners — 52 in all — received envelopes containing $100, $200 or $300.

The recipients were encouraged to use the money to meet personal needs for which they’d prayed or to help others.

“I wanted them to pray about what they were going to do with God’s money,” (pastor Craig) Groeschel said. “The response was just unbelievable.”

Your turn:

1. Letting people grab money from the collection plate: is that the best way to help them?

2. Cash prizes: is that a biblical approach to attracting visitors to the worship assembly?

3. Giving away money: how does your church go about it?

— Bobby

Today marks the 46th anniversary of the John F. Kennedy assassination in Dallas.

I can remember clearly what I was doing that day. Nothing. I wasn’t born yet.

But one of my more interesting pursuits during my two years with The Associated Press in Dallas was a 2003 series on the 40th anniversary of the JFK assassination:

Moments before President John F. Kennedy’s limousine reached the Texas School Book Depository on that November afternoon four decades ago, Nellie Connally turned to Kennedy and remarked, “No one can say Dallas doesn’t love and respect you, Mr. President.”

“You sure can’t,” he said.

The first shot sounded like a firecracker. The next two were unmistakably gunfire.

At the 40th anniversary of Kennedy’s death, the moments remain frozen in the American psyche, the assassination still a source of fascination for historians, conspiracy theorists and an estimated 2.2 million people who visit Dealey Plaza each year.

We’re still four years away from the 50th anniversary of that unforgettable day in Dallas.

Our minister, Don Vinzant, mentioned from the pulpit this morning that Kennedy was a youthful 46 when he was slain. On the 50th anniversary, I’ll be 46 — a youthful 46, I hope.

— Bobby

By Bobby Ross Jr.

In the three seconds since the waitress delivered my plate, I’ve drenched my brisket sandwich with barbecue sauce and taken a bite the size of Bill Gates’ bank account.

Just as I start to chew this mammoth hunk of beef, the guy beside me asks politely, “Shall we bless the food?”

“Um, sure,” I reply as I swallow hard and bow my head.

Now, I need somebody to perform the Heimlich maneuver.

Seriously, I respect people who pray before every meal, be it their morning cereal at home or the chow mein at the Chinese buffet. I’m just not one of them — at least not yet.

After a few embarrassing episodes like the one described above, I hired the cheapest psychoanalyst I could find — myself — to examine why I don’t pray before the kids rip open Happy Meals in a crowded McDonald’s.

After all, we take a moment and thank God before we eat at home. Why not when we’re out?

My standard answer: Jesus taught against praying “like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men.”

“I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full,” Jesus said in Matthew 6. “But when you pray, go into your room, close your door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.”

A minister friend of mine grew up in a small Texas town where praying in public was considered arrogant.

“If we prayed before we ate in restaurants, we prayed in the car,” he told me.

But we live in a different place and time. “In Oklahoma City, it seems everyone thinks it is fine to pray in public,” my friend said.

I asked several people from various denominations if they pray in restaurants. I offered blanket anonymity to protect the guilty. Most said they do.

However, a quasi-comedian I know wondered about those who gorge on chips, salsa and queso, then pray when the enchiladas arrive. “What are the effects of eating unblessed appetizers?” he asked.

As I contemplated this column, I found myself twisting my head while eating out, trying to see if I could catch anybody praying.

Sure enough, I did.

A family of three bowed over Mazzio’s pizza. Three young women did the same over Garfield’s salads.

In each case, these folks prayed quietly and did not draw attention. Neither the waiters nor the people at nearby tables seemed to notice. By all appearances, they prayed out of genuine gratitude.

I didn’t see Pharisees. I saw people whose faith encouraged me.

Maybe I need to rethink my position. At the least, I need to slow down and thank God for every meal, whether in my heart or out loud.

This column was originally published July 28, 2001, during my time as religion editor at The Oklahoman.

• • •

My outlook has changed a bit in the eight years since I wrote that column, but before I share my perspective, I’d love to see your input and comments.

When you’re eating out, do you pray aloud? Why or why not?

— Bobby