Thursday, September 27, 2012

The Curveballs


With baseball on the verge of playoffs and the World Series on the horizon I’ve been pondering the curveballs that life tends to throw us.

Just when we decide we’re going to stay in our Waynesboro apartment and revisit the “seminary dream” next fall, we get a letter of acceptance.  Just when we think we can do it on one income and stay in our apartment, we get a letter telling us how much we have to pay on our school loans.  Just when we don’t have any idea how we’re going to do it, a dear friend agrees to become our roommate.  I could go on and on about the varying degree of curveballs life has sent our way and I’m sure you could list your own as well.

As I’ve been praying and thinking this week I have found that I’m grateful for the curveballs.  These are the moments in life where I am stretched.  Yes, I often feel an array of unpleasant emotions during these times, like anger, frustration, sadness, disappointment, and fear.  However, looking back after I have dealt with an issue I have learned the most during those times than the happy, easy going moments.

I have a Beatles quote tattooed on my left foot.  It’s from Strawberry Fields and it reads; “Living is easy with eyes closed.” I chose this line for a variety of reasons, namely because when I went to college I was very naive.  I thought I had life figured out and knew where I was headed:  my eyes were closed.  After 2 years of college and MANY experiences later I realized that life can be difficult.  Life isn’t always what you think it’s going to be.  Life does throw curveballs.  In that moment my eyes were opened.  Living is not always easy.  However, I had also veered away from my relationship with God and my belief system.

This tattoo is a constant reminder of where I’ve come from.  As I look forward to a life in ministry I have reached just the tip of the ice berg, but I truly feel like living is also easy with eyes open, BUT only with God by my side.  Life is never going to stop throwing those curveballs.  It’s always going to be the bottom of the 9th sometime and those balls are going to keep coming.  I suppose what I’m trying to say in a lot of words is God is my baseball bat and he can hit those curveballs right out of the park as long as I pick Him up in the dugout.

Have a great weekend and be a blessing!  LOVE! 



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