Swinging for the Fences!

Greetings,

Oscar Wilde once said, "When the gods want to punish us they answer our prayers".  The equivalent of that is, "Be careful what you ask for because you might get it".  If you have been reading this blog then  you know that as part of my conversion I had asked God to "do something with me".  Well, after my assignment in Galena I headed back to civilization and the wife that I had missed for the last 12 months.

Upon "re-entering" western civilization I noticed that this were different.  I didn't really stop to figure why or how it was different it just was.  I noticed that my friends treated me different.  Or, perhaps, I treated them different.  As I have mention in my prior posts I saw the world through different glasses.  I was drawn toward my brother and sisters in Christ. 

It wasn't long after I had received my discharge from the Air Force that I had enrolled at Adams State College in the hopes of receving a teaching degree in history.  Christine and I have always felt that this was a blessing from God.  It probably wouldn't of felt that way if it hadn't been for the fact that the military let me out a whole year prior to my 6 year commitment.  It was also due to the fact they let me out in the middle of the fist Gulf war, when they weren't letting anyone out.  It was during this time in my journey home that God decided to throw us a curve ball.

If you know anyhting about hitting a baseball, which I used to be able to do and then for some unknown reason in my junior year of high school, God decided to strip me of that talent, it's important to be able to see the ball.  The reason for this is that when a curve ball is coming at you you are able to see the ball's stitches.  As a curve ball comes to you the stitsch on the ball looks like they spinning side ways.  The reason I mention this is that Christine and I were pretty sure we saw the pitch that God was throwing us. We were fairlay certain that going to Adams State was directly in the middle of God's plan for us.  Perhaps it was initially.  Yet, looking back now, I think we thought we sawe a fast ball and missed the curve!

It wasn't long after moving into married housing on the campus that we found out that Christine was pregnant with our daughter Stephanie.  Holy cow!  As you can imagine that set us back a little.  Here we were a young married couple excited about fulfilling God's purpose in our lives and God had just thrown us a curve ball of special magnificence!

Has that ever happened to you?  Have you ever felt that you were so close to being in the will of God, or what you thought was the will of God, and then just get a curve ball from life?  I think God throws a lot of curve balls.  In mny circunstatnces it isn't God throwing them at all, it's life.  Life in general has a lot of different ptiches in it's arsenal.  Think about it.  How many times has life come with it's fastball only to find you way behind on the pitch?  Your life is moving at a pace that you just can't catch up with.  Or, how many times has life thrown you that change up and you have found yourself, unknowingly, way out in front of it?  Your mind, spirit, and body are moving at one speed nd life comes in at a different speed and you can't or don't recognize it.  The pace of life is hectic and God says to slow down and you miss it.  You neglect your family and your friends for the sake of advancement in your job.  Well, let me tell you something.  After arriving home from galena God, and life, threw every pitch knwon to man.  Some of them I hit, some of them I missed, and, most of the tme, I fouled them off.  Well, enough of the mixed metaphors.  Suffice it to say we were getting pitches in life that we stuggled with at the home plate of life.  It was during that time in ourlife that we only had one thing to do...listen.

Many times during our journey it is important to take the time to listen to God.  I believe that, sometimes, we are encouraged to pray so much that we forget to stop and listen for answers.  Well after finding out that Christine was pregnant we realized that we had to listen to what God was saying to us.  We had to pause and hear His will for our life.  The hard part was the fear of actually doing whatever He asked of us.  As I said before, or rather Oscar Wilde said, "When the gods want to punish us they answer our prayers".  Well our prayer was, "show us your will".  The only problem with that was that He did and it was not what we had expected!

Join me next time as I share the incredible journey that God placed Christine and I on.  A journey that would lead us to 2 small towns and 2 decade of ministry in His name.  But until then keep praying, keep watching for that pitch from God and, when you get it, swing for the fences!

In Christ's Holy Name,

Derek