Baseball, Jesus and the Good Life

It's the bottom of the ninth inning, two outs, two strikes, the winning run is on second base and the fans are on their feet. How in the world does a batter stay focused enough to deliver the game winning hit? He has to be thinking about hitting the ball. He can't worry about striking out. He can't worry about what the fans will say if he makes the last out without driving in the winning run. He can't let his mind wander to times when he failed in situations like this before.

Is there really much difference from this batter's moment and the moments we face everyday? Every day we make choices that affect the rest of our lives. And every day, the pressures and worries of life can distract us from making the best choices. We can't worry about making the wrong choice. We have to believe that with God's help, we can make the best choice. We can't worry about what people will think if they don't like the choice we make. We can't be distracted by our past failures to make good choices. To make the most of the moment and make the best choices requires focus and a clear vision of the pitches life is throwing at us and where we want to go with the pitch.

Will we choose to serve ourselves or serve others? Will we seek to build Christ's kingdom, the only thing that will last forever, or our own, which can change with the wind? Will we accept Christ's invitation to walk with Him or try to live life in our own small strength? Will we invest time in our kids' development or watch another TV show? Will we pray or get busy? Will we fill our minds with useless information or be transformed by filling our thoughts with God's truth. Will we focus on what we can get or on what we can give?

This is day one in blogging world for me. My first love is Jesus Christ. After that comes my family, my church family, my friends and those I hope to introduce to life with Jesus. Somewhere down the line is baseball. I have loved this game since before I can remember. My earliest baseball memory is watching the early 70's Red Sox, featuring Carl Yaztremski, Carlton Fisk, George Scott and Luis Tiant, with my friend Jeffrey. During commercials, we would change channels (manually of course, no one I knew had a remote) and watch pro wrestling with Chief Jay Strongbow and Haystack Calhoun.

I'll write about some of my baseball memories here, along with my current opinions and perspectives on baseball, because my plan is to use this blog to connect baseball, and sometimes other fun stuff, to ideas about living life with Jesus at the center.

I have always been what professionals call a "conversational thinker". I'm sure professionals have other ways to describe me as well, but being a conversational thinker means I learn best when I am writing down my words or talking with others. I have believed in my heart for a long time that Jesus came to bring us the good life that we long to live and that we can learn to enjoy this good life by learning to "do life" with Him. My hope is that this blog helps me, and those who read it and post comments to it, to take steps with Jesus who will lead us in the good life that He wants to share with us. Let's play ball!