Life's Curveballs

Sports are NOT my thing.

I am (quite obviously) not into any one sport...whether by participation OR by spectating.

But last year I decided to support my hubby's idea to fill up our year with Giant's games.

Wd didn't miss a single game living at Marmar andPapi's house!

The extra attention to one team really allowed me to learn the game.  It didn't hurt that our lifelong

team actually won the World Series!  But inspite of all the hype....I gained respect for what those teams were doing on the field.

I now know there are different jobs on a baseball team, and a strategy behind each hit and pitch.

Before then, I had never even heard of a relief pitcher, or an RBI!

I was pleasantly surprised to uncover the purpose of each position and the specialization of their training.

It made the game so much more enjoyable :)

As lame as I sound....I do have a point.

It's easy to live in platitudes.....to go through life with meaningless statements and trite remarks.

But when you delve deeper, and realize that life is purposeful.....down to the position I'm standing in today....then the beauty of the game is revealed.

Recently we were delivered some news that could well have freaked us out, or made us wonder WHY this would be happening.  It was a curveball, if you will.

But from the beginning, there was so much peace.  It felt like peace was our only choice.

That any other response would have been silly.

It was as if we had only one job, and the description of that job was to take in this piece of information

and effortlessly keep going.  Don't juggle it, don't wonder how it will effect everything....just keep moving,

and trusting in our position.

Our job was to let someone else worry.  Much like the players rely on their coach to have the master game plan in mind.   And why wouldn't they rely on him?  He has this bird's eye view of the game, and an intimate knowledge of his player's strengths and weaknesses.  His decisions are based not only on the game that is being played immediately, but also on the next game, and the record of the team.  He weighs  all these factors with a desired end goal,......................Victory!

Now it doesn't always play out smooth and easy.  Players have bad days.   Mistakes are made on the field, and the plan may need to be reformulated.  But the key is....the game does not ride on one player's shoulders.  That weight would be too much. 

This week I feel like we're really playing the game.

We are trusting in a plan that is outside of our own personal strategies.

We had something in mind.....kinda like wanting to hit a homerun, but instead the coach seems to need us to bunt.  I'm just grateful I even know what coach we're dealing with.

Because really.....if you don't have respect and trust in your leader....how can you operate with a full heart?

Again, I don't want to throw out a bunch of rote phrases.  But truly, trusting in God when I don't understand the endgame.....well, there just isn't any other choice for us.

We'd be a mess if we tried to figure out what was next.

I don't mind making plans....plans excite me in fact!  But if we don't leave room for direction, and are not open to being lead.....then we're fighting a loosing battle.

Instead, our reality is that we ARE on a championship team.....whether spiritually or via SportsCenter.

The same rules apply....wait for direction and listen to the coach when He's training you how to react to those curveballs.

You just might end up blessing someone else by your simple response.