Last weekend, Jamie and I took our two boys to North Carolina to visit friends from Arizona and Notre Dame. We also attended the Notre Dame vs. North Carolina football game.

I found it interesting when I was talking about my upcoming plans for the weekend that I said we were going to visit friends. In college I would have said something like, “We are road tripping to the Carolina game.” Football was the biggest event of a weekend in college.

Nancy and I have been friends for 25 years; we grew up together in Arizona - and then we both went to college in South Bend. Both our husbands went to Notre Dame. So we all have been to plenty of Notre Dame football games, and experienced plenty of depressing weekends (yes, the disappointment often lasted an entire weekend) after a loss.

But despite a close loss to North Carolina, we had a fantastic weekend. Nancy has two boys who are the same ages as my two boys, and an older daughter. For three days, we took delight in watching our five children play together, disagree, make up, say prayers. We laughed, we shared stories, we talked about the future. We’ve been through some rough times together, but this past weekend reflected what is most important: family, faith and friendship. It was a weekend filled with all three. And while I REALLY would have loved a Notre Dame victory, I am blessed to know that the fourth “F” in our lives: football, doesn’t replace the other three.