Allan and I met at church. We were going to go to see the Yankees play the Phillies for inter league play in NY. Circumstances were such that no one else who signed up to go went and we only got half way there. (My job required our return). After I was done with what I was called back to to, we watched the baseball game together. We have been together ever since.
One deciding factor for our relationship to continue was that the Yankees and the Phillies were in different leagues so it wouldn't get in our way. (We each cheer our team on with zeal). We also never really expected our marriage would have to face the test of a Yankees/Phillies World Series. (I am happy to report it was dicey but our marriage survived).
After Eric died, I had a hard time enjoying the game I've come to love over my lifetime. This was especially difficult because it was the initial reason that Allan and I "bonded". It was our thing. I just couldn't see the value in it. High salaries, misguided egos, steroids. I was just sad that Eric couldn't see any games with us. Allan escaped into the games, I escaped from them. I couldn't figure out how to enjoy something that seemed to have no heavenly purpose.
One day, while I was pregnant with Ava, we talked about this again. I was watching games and trying to get into them. Then this year I noticed that I was starting to care about it too. I was beginning to feel like I could enjoy baseball. Allan told me that God gave the pro ball players the gifts that they have for us to enjoy the game. No matter what direction the player is going in that's the basic idea.
We are here on this earth, not only exercise God's will for our lives, but to enjoy the gifts that HE gives us. Drink in the talents that He bestows on us. Everyday someone, somewhere is faced with tragedy, a miracle, peace or a life changing event. It does not mean we stop our lives and the enjoyment therein. Even though we are suffering. We are still enjoying our lives. (Sometimes more than others). In this hospital room there is a gamut of emotion: Hope, Peace, Sorrow, Joy, Agony. Because of Him we can feel them all. Even though we don't know what is before us and the struggles therein we know that God WANTS us to enjoy what we are given. It can be the smile of our baby, decking the halls or a simple crack of a bat.
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You are so eloquent it's hard to believe you're not a writer by profession.
ReplyDeleteOur pastor at our former church once pointed out to us that because Christ inhabited a body and felt this gamut of emotions, we know our God can understand intimately how we feel. He made us to feel this way. So when we feel really crummy, we know He understands perfectly.
Major League baseball player Josh Hamilton turned his life around from drug addict to major league player. Going public with his story has brought Josh closer to his fans. He writes, "A father will tell me about his son while I'm signing autographs or a mother will wait outside the players' parking lot to tell me about her daughter. They remind me that this isn't really about baseball."
ReplyDeleteI thought when I read your post that it meshed very nicely with what you wrote.