Obstacle Man

Slower than a sleeping snail! More negative than an electron! Able to stall plans with a single doubt! Look! Over there! It's a man! It's a woman! It's "Obstacle Man!" Yes, it's "Obstacle Man!" Strange creature from within our number who comes to meetings with thoughts and ideas far more negative than sub-zero! "Obstacle Man!" Who can stunt the growth of a great idea. Stop optimism with his forceful, "It won't work". And who disguised as a sword bearer, typical in many meetings of congregations of all sizes, fights a never-ending battle for negativism, problem causing and the static way.

"Obstacle Man" is a hindrance to the growth of many great ideas. When a new idea is brought up he automatically comes across with a list of reasons why it won't work. For a congregation to grow, it must think positive. It must build up good ideas and make them work. When an obstacle comes into the picture, positive thinking causes one to figure a way around, over, under or through the problem. Don't become one who harps on the negative! Don't be the one who is always saying "It won't work." Don't be labeled as the "It cost too much" critic. Don't be the "We've never done that before" brakeman.

Instead be the one who says "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength." Be the one who tells the crowd "If God is for us who can be against us?" Be the one with the "faith of a grain of mustard seed." Be the one who says, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!"

How many reasons do you think Jesus could have come up with for not coming to the little planet and going through the suffering of the cross? Personally. I'm glad He didn't let these reasons stop Him.

Now how about you?

Image from Clker.com free clipart.

The Unwanted Hero

There are a lot of bad things that can happen in a sports arena. Most of the time they are forgotten and although may effect the outcome of the game have little impact past the game in which it happens. People get frustrated and angry, but it soon subsides. There are very few times that what happens on the playing field provokes hatred and contempt from both the visiting and home teams.

But that is exactly what happened one fall day almost a half century ago in a stadium less than half capacity. Only 23,154 fans in a stadium with seating for 56,866 were there on the last game of the season to witness what many people in the country both baseball fans and not would view as one of if not the most undesirable thing ever to be done on a baseball diamond. What happened that day, October 1, 1961 would eat at people for years to come. The commissioner of baseball did his best to dismiss it but the horror of it lingered in his mind to the point that he had to do something to diminish its impact on the sport.

To many it was Tracy Stallard's fault. He really could have prevented it and actually allowed it to happen. When it was all over the game ended with a 1-0 score. But it wasn't the score that burned people up. It was how the team won and fans from both sides wished it had never happened.

I remember it myself. It was the bottom of the fourth inning with Tracy Stallard on the mound. When it happened we held our breath and then gave out a deep groaning sigh. This couldn't happen could it? But it did. The count was 2-0 when Stallard threw a fastball. At that moment America's greatest baseball hero fell. At that moment Roger Maris parked the fastball over the outfield fence hitting his 61st home run and breaking the "Babe's" record. The great Bambino's record had fallen.

People thought it just wasn't right. If anyone was going to do it, it should have been Mantle. After all he was the true Yankee. But it wasn't his time. As Roger Maris put it "I always come across as being bitter. I'm not bitter. People were very reluctant to give me any credit. I thought hitting 60 home runs was something. But everyone shied off. Why, I don't know. Maybe I wasn't the chosen one, but I was the one who got the record."

"Maybe I wasn't the chosen one". Babe Ruth's home run record was sacred to a boy in the '50's and '60's. Roger Maris just didn't fit the type of player that everyone expected should break the record if it had to be broken. It was a sad day to many that would last for years to come. It was so "bad" for baseball that the record books showed his record as 61* since it was broken in more than the 154 games in which Ruth played. Ruth's record was intact along side Maris' due to a technicality.

It's similar to when Jesus came. Jesus is not what the world expected in a savior. He didn't come as a king. He didn't come as someone with the power to win great battles and defeat the emperor. He didn't come with "pomp and circumstance". He just wasn't what the Jewish people of the time expected. He was a disappointment. When the Messiah came he had to be a great king with a dynamic personality.

Too often we measure the greatness of a man's worth and accomplishments by what we see on the outside. God on the other hand is more concerned, not by what he can do on the outside but by who he is on the inside. That's the measuring stick that really counts. Are we men and women of God?

Roger Maris was a good guy. But he was not what America wanted. He was an unwanted hero. His accomplishments on the field are better than many of those in the Baseball Hall of Fame, though he himself is not in it as an accomplished player. The man who broke Ruth's record is left outside. The man who for 37 years sat atop the record books has been ignored.

Jesus, the son of God, who came to this earth and died on the cross too has been ignored. Whether he was who they wanted or not the fact was He's the one God sent. He was despised, rejected, spat upon and crucified. Yet "the stone that the builders rejected has become the capstone." (1 Peter 2:7) To many He was not the chosen one, but in the end He is the one who will carry us to victory.

The Ducks that Halted the Olympics

By 1926 Henry Robert "Bobby" Pearce was one of the worlds greatest scullers. At the age of 21 he had won the Australian Single Scull Championship with his eyes set on going to the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam.

Johnny Weissmuller, know later for his role as Tarzan won two gold medals in swimming. The standard 400 meter track would be used for setting the standard for Olympiads to come. For the first time the Olympic Torch would be lit at the stadium to begin the games.

Previous games had their heroes including Jim Thorpe in 1912 and Erick Liddell in 1924. Later games would be followed by legends such as Babe Didrikson in 1932 and Jesse Owens who stole the show in 1936. But in the 1928 Olympics the hero award would go to a most unlikely candidate, Bobby Pearce.

It happened in the quarter final race against Frenchman Victor Savrin. Pearce was favored to win the gold medal when a most unlikely event occurred. In his words as he recounted the event,

"I had beaten a German and a Dane in earlier heats and I was racing a Frenchman when I heard wild roars from the crowd along the bank of the canal. I could see some spectators vigorously pointing to something behind me, in my path. I peeked over one shoulder and saw something I didn't like, for a family of ducks in single file was swimming slowly from shore to shore. It's funny now, but it wasn't at the time for I had to lean on my oars and wait for a clear course, and all the while my opponent was pulling away to a five length lead."

After the ducks had safely passed Pearce did what by any standard was a feat few men could accomplish. From a standstill in the middle of the race he began to row and by the end of the race had not only caught up with Savrin but passed him by a considerable amount on his way to gold medal a few days later.

There are times in life when things bring us to a complete halt. Times when we have more important issues that jump in front of us and keep us from our goals. Many times we just give up and quit. Other times we keep going but without the enthusiasm we had in the beginning.

The easy thing is to give up. The easy thing is to develop the "loser's limp". You know, you've seen it. A runner is in a race and knowing he's going to get badly beaten, pulls up, grabs the back of his thigh and hobbles to the side. People feel sorry for him and applaud him as he limps to the infield and lies down in "pain". But he's not really hurt. It was all a show. He did it to save face, to keep from being embarrassed for not fulfilling his goal to win.

Jesus said, "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength." Paul wrote, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race..." That's the goal, to finish the race.

I heard the story of some people watching the Special Olympics 25 meter run. It was slow but the crowd watched as the competitors one by one crossed the finish line. Then far back there was one more. A young girl. A young woman on crutches slowly inching her way toward the finish. As the crowd watched she slowly made her way to her goal; to finish the race. She won, not because she came in first place, but simply because she accomplished what she set out to do; to cross the finish line.

One of these days we will all have to stop and wait for the ducks to cross. But we should never let that keep us from finishing with all our might the race that God has set before us.

A Boy with No Name

It was a school day and he didn’t much look forward to going. After all when you’re a young boy there are a lot more things in life that are much more interesting than spending the day listening to boring teachers and the endless hours of lessons. So when he noticed the commotion outside his house he was ready to take full advantage of the opportunity to see what was going on and skip his studies.

He grabbed the lunch his mother had prepared for him and bolted outside where the crowd had been gathering. He couldn’t see much if anything and was jostled this way and that as he followed the crowd much like a fish makes its way up through the waters.

Surely he thought he’d get a glimpse of what was going on but the crowd just kept moving and he just followed along. Every now and then he’d jump up to see ahead but the crowd had grown and he could only see the mass of people moving swiftly down the street. “There must be a thousand people here”, he thought to himself as he tried to work himself in to see what was going on.

Then as suddenly as the crowd had started it stopped. A murmured silence moved over the crowd then he heard a voice talking to them. “You, this group, you sit over here.” It was only when they all sat down that he could see that there weren’t a thousand but many times that many.

As he sat down, lunch in hand a shadow passed over him. He looked up and there hovering over him was a man he had never seen before. The ominous figure looked down at him then reached out his hand and took him by the arm and grabbed his lunch in the other. “Come with me boy”, he said and pulled the young man behind him.

Was he in trouble for skipping school? Was he not supposed to be eating here? Was he not supposed to be in this crowd? All sorts of things ran through his mind as they weaved in and out of the massive group of people. He could hear murmurs as he went by several and knew the men must be talking about him. There were babies crying but also laughter here and there. For the most part people were just sitting quietly with little conversation.

Finally, as they reached the front of the crowd, the man who had been holding his arm all the way, gently pulled him in front of him and said, “Here is a lad with five loaves and two fish”. As he said this the man he had spoken to turned and looked down at him and smiled. “But what are these among so many?” the man with the boy added. The man who had looked and smiled placed his hand upon the boys head stroking his hair and with his other hand took the lunch that had been brought forward.

It was on that day that a young lad whose name we will never know, helped Jesus feed over five thousand people. He brought the lunch and Jesus brought the miracle.

It’s unfortunate that a lot of people think that it’s the most powerful speaker or the more famous individual that makes the biggest difference in what happens. The Bible shows us the fallacy of this type thinking. The Israelites were afraid of Goliath because of his size. The Israelites chose Saul as their king because he looked like a king. One of the reasons Jesus was rejected was because he didn’t look the part. But look at who God chooses to do great works. Moses was a shepherd who tried to convince God he was a nobody and not send him. Jonah ran away from God because he didn’t like what he wanted him to do. Jesus chose fishermen, tax collectors, assassins and little know men to be his apostles. A woman named Rahab was blessed for her act of saving the Israelite spies. Timothy was a young man when he started his ministry. Paul was a persecutor of Christians.

God chooses the most unlikely people to do his works. Why is that? It’s basically because the power is not in the individual but in what God can do with what we bring to Him. Whether it’s a lunch basket with five loaves and two fish or just a couple of empty hands, with God miracles can occur.

Next time you feel you’re not worthy to do something for God stop and remember this young man with no name; This young man who was a major part of one of the greatest miracles that Jesus ever performed.

If Life Had Mulligans

The guys I play golf with have an unwritten rule. We are allowed one mulligan per nine holes played. For those that don’t know, a mulligan is simply a “do over”. You can redo any shot and the first one doesn’t count against you. We don’t play for money just for fun. Now I realize that it breaks the rules of golf and many golfers are probably appalled by the adjusting of the rules, but it eases some of the tension on a bad day. In fact there are days when someone is really struggling that mulligans are handed out even more generously.

Wouldn’t it be nice if life would be that way? How would you like it if life would allow you one mulligan every decade you lived? If this were the case then I’d be owed six mulligans. I’ve been wondering, “What would my life mulligans be.” I realized as I was going over them in my mind that I really needed more in my early years than I do now. That’s kind of like golf. We make more mistakes as we’re learning the game and fewer major blunders the better we get. Surprisingly enough many of the mulligans ended up being little things and not the major events I faced. It’s like that in golf too. It’s a lot easier to recover from a bad drive than a duffed chip shot. So what are mine? Well here they are:

0-10 This one was hard, not because of what I did, but because I can’t remember what I did for the most part. The one thing that stands out is when I said something that hurt my mother’s feelings. I apologized but I can still remember that day. It’d be nice to take it back.

11-20 it’s a shame I only get one. This was one of those times I needed several. I would however go back to my high school years and treat some people a little better. I look at kids today and feel for those who are outcast.

21-30 As soon as I finished college, I’d have made sure my wife got to finish her degree. She worked to get me through then we went on with life. I regret that.

31-40 This was a time of a big mistake of a job change that I wish I hadn’t made. It caused a lot of family struggles over the years that could have been avoided.

41-50 I’d have spent more time with my youngest son. I feel we missed out on a lot of father-son stuff because I was “too busy”.

51-60 I’d have at least started thinking retirement better. At the rate I’m going it looks like I can retire at 102.

Yes, it would be nice if life would have let me take a mulligan here or there, but it’s not like the weekend game for fun. Life is more like the pros play; no mulligans, no do overs. You play the ball where it lies. Of course every so often you get a free drop when something that is not your fault gets in the way. You also get a drop when you make a mistake, but it’s not free. You can get another chance, but it’s going to cost you a stroke. So it is with life. We suffer the consequences of our mistakes, but we still continue to get other chances. We learn from what we did wrong and in most cases our second chance turns out okay.

Then on the other hand:

That’s what’s great about being a Christian. Every time we pray and ask Christ for another chance he takes the eraser, cleans off the scorecard and says “Okay, try again.” And He’ll keep doing it until we get it right. We can’t change the past, but we’re given every chance possible to change the today.

May I Have a Cup of Coffee?

The question sounds innocent and straightforward enough, right? Or maybe not! I went to Starbucks one morning around 8:00 and ordered “a cup of coffee please”.

“Would you like Frappucinno, Expresso, iced or brewed?

“Just a hot cup of regular ole’ coffee please…

“What flavor?”

“Flavor?”

“We have Cinnamon, cherry, dark cherry, peppermint, caramel, chocolate…”

“Do you have ordinary coffee?”

“Yes sir, we have ‘coffee of the day’”

“Good, I’ll take that.” There are now two people behind me in line.

“Pike Roast or Columbian?”

“What’s the difference?”

“I don’t know the taste I guess…”

“Columbian”

“Decaf or Regular?” Finally, a question I understand.

“Regular” I think there are four people behind me, but I’m afraid to look.

“Mild or Bold?”

“Which is better?”

“I don’t know I don’t drink coffee.”

“Bold, I guess.” The line is not up to six and I can hear some rumbling going on.

“Short, Tall, Grande or Venti?”

“What?” Did someone whisper ‘hurry up’?

“What do you mean?”

“What size do you want?”

“What’s Venti?”

“It’s Italian for twenty.”

“Twenty what?”

“Twenty ounces”

“How big is Grande?”

"Sixteen ounces"

“Okay, just give a small”

“Okay, one tall regular Columbian coffee of the day.”

“No I said a small.”

“We don't have a small. A Tall is a small.”

“Then what’s the short?”

“It’s a small tall but it’s not on the menu.”

“Then why did you offer it?”

“Well we have it but you normally have to request it because it’s not on the menu.” The line is now 10.

“That makes no sense?”

“Sir I only work here.” They open another line; at least the pressure is off for a bit.

“Okay, I’ll take the small tall.”

“A short?”

“No a small tall.”

“That is a short.”

“Give me a Grande”

“Cream and sugar?”

“Can I add it myself?”

“Yes, but you need to tell us if you want it.”

“Why? Is it extra?”

“No Sir”

“Then why do you have to know?”

“If you want cream and sugar we don’t give you a full cup?”

“So I get less coffee if I want cream and sugar?” The line is backing up again.

“Well, yes but only to leave room for the cream and sugar.”

“Oh. Cream, please.”

“Low fat, Nonfat, Breve, Soy, Organic or Eggnog?”

“Just black please”

“Here or to go?”

“I’d better get it to go; I’m expected home for supper.”

“Name?”

“You need my name to order coffee.” Two people left, I’m glad they were pretty grumpy folks.

“Yes to put on the cup.”

“You want to write my name on the cup?”

“Yes sir, it’s so we can call you when it’s ready.”

“When it’s ready?! It’s just a cup of coffee.” Both lines now have 10-12 people, I quit counting.

“Yes sir, but there are a lot of orders being filled and we’ll get yours as soon as we can.”

“Okay, put down Bob.” I didn’t give my real name because I was afraid of retribution from the crowd.

“Okay, Bob that will be $1.85.”

Silence.

“Bob that will be $1.85.”

Silence.

“Bob! Sir!”

“Oh, sorry I forgot my name for a second. $1.85!. Does that come with refills.”

“No Sir.”

“That’s $1.85 for a black, bold, Grande, Columbian coffee of the day. Would you like anything else.” Someone behind me said “no thank you.”

“I guess not.”

“Cash?”

“No, someone gave me this $50 gift card, so I guess I’ll be back again.” Something must have happened, the crowd was groaning behind me.

“I’ll have to thank them.”

“You’ve been very helpful. Are you working tomorrow?”

“Why, are you coming back?”

“I plan to come back every morning until my card is used up.”

“No, Bob, I’m on vacation for the next month.”

“Oh! Too bad.” I paid my bill, waited until my name was called, got my coffee and left. There must have been a party because I heard a big applause as I walked out the door.

Life is full of choices and decisions. Often times we become overwhelmed with life and the choices that we have to make. We long for times when we could walk in and say, “a cup of coffee please” and the waitress sets it down in front of us without asking a question at all.

Sometimes we just want someone to help us get things across. You know the Holy Spirit is that way. When we make our requests to God we are told that the Holy Spirit helps us to communicate. “We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” It’s a simple process, no decisions required on our part.

Tomorrow, I will be thankful that when I turn on my coffee pot, I’ll get coffee with no questions asked. And when I pray, I’ll be thankful that the Spirit of God is talking on my behalf.

Leave 'em Laughing

His name was Jack Thum. His profession was a professional clown. Few people remember him especially those outside the Chicago area. You see, Jack died some thirty years ago of terminal cancer.

When Jack died, Walter Cronkite mentioned it on his broadcast and the church bells of Chicago rang in tribute. All of Chicago mourned.

So what made him so special? Why, on October 31, 1979 did the mayor of Chicago declare the day to be "Jack Thum Day"? Why did Chicago mourn? The answer lies in the fact that Jack was more than just a clown. He was a man who loved children. For years he would perform in the children wards of the Chicago hospitals mostly without any compensation. He did it because he loved to make the sick children laugh.

But even greater than that, he and his wife, Shirlee, cared for 37 orphaned and neglected children throughout their married lives as well as their own. Although a couple of little means they cared for these homeless girls and boys without any government assistance. Again they did it simply because they loved children.

Mickey Rooney portrays Jack in a little known movie entitled "Leave 'em Laughing". In it there's a little song that carries a great thought. The movie has it as Jack's theme song. Its simple lyrics go:

"Wear a smile
On your face
When you're feeling blue
For a smile makes you feel
Like you think you should.
It's part of the clothes you wear
After you comb your hair.
Just put on your shoes and smile."

There's a lesson we can learn from Jack. We have a choice in how we approach life. We can wallow in the negatives and misery or we can put a smile on our face and make life better for ourselves or especially someone else.

Jack Thum's name will soon be forgotten except for an occasional rerun of the movie. There will be no more "Jack Thum Days" and the church bells will remain silent on the anniversary of his death. Soon his life will fade away into the pages of someones ancestral history.

But in the minds of the hundreds of children who saw him in the hospital his love will remain. The lives and futures of 37 boys and girls that spent time in his home will forever have Jack Thum as part of their heritage.

So, what mark will we leave behind? Will someones life be better off because they crossed our path? Will tomorrow be better because we were there for them today? Will someone be uplifted because we taught them to smile?

It should be our goal every day we live to find at least one person whose life will be happier because their path crossed ours. We should make it a point to make every day we live better for someone else and in wearing a smile on our face make their tomorrows better than their yesterdays.

It All Started with Kraft

I believe it all started with Kraft. It was on that day when I opened the bag of caramels and discovered it wasn’t there that I began to realize that things had changed. I thought little of it at the time, but when I opened the second bag and found the same thing was missing, it was then that I knew the end was near. It wasn’t there and chances are it never would be again. I was disheartened at the change; a change in something that had been an American staple for all the years that I grew up. It was something my brother, sister and I fought over with each opened bag, but now it was gone. When did it happen? Was it when Nabisco bought them out? Was it before that, just to cut costs? Why change? Why leave out the single most important part of the bag? Tears come to my eyes as I think of that one lonesome chocolate fudge caramel once hidden in each bag and the loss haunts the memories of my childhood!

Change is something that has slowly slipped into our world and it is disheartening and confusing at times. Remember when a five pound bag of sugar was five pounds? Now it’s only four. For Christmas my mom would always give me a box of chocolate covered cherries; twenty to a box. Suddenly there were only 16 and the last box was only 12. The box was about the same size but the contents had gone down dramatically. Frankfurters are now 8 to a package instead of 10. Of course that one was logical since buns were always eight to a package, but I suspect any day now that will change to 6. This week all of a sudden the bread was shorter and sure enough, it was now one and a fourth pounds instead of one and a half. A sixteen ounce can of green beans is now fourteen and a half ounces, a pound of coffee is thirteen and an half ounces and baking chocolate has dropped two ounces in some brands, while cupcakes and Twinkies are down a third.

Oh, and it’s not only the food industry. A two by four is now a one and three-fourths by three and three fourths, while a three quarter inch sheet of plywood is now only twenty-three thirty seconds. So why, are they still called two by fours and three quarter inch plywood?

And by the way, did you know that the 400 meter dash is only 437.44 yards and the 1600 meter run is 10 yards short of a mile! Now when did that one slip in on us?

Change can quietly slip up on us and as a result can make life very frustrating. We get comfortable and secure in knowing things are dependable, when suddenly, without warning, we get caught off guard when quietly our security is torn out from under us.

In this world of change, however, there is one thing that never changes, Jesus Christ. The Hebrews writer tells us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” (13:8) No matter what happens in the world we live in this is the one foundation stone on which we can continually trust. It is the one place we can always, from now and forever, turn to for security.

By the way I’m thinking of petitioning Kraft to bring back the fudge caramel in the regular bag of caramels. Some things just shouldn’t change!

Why You Should Watch MTV

I believe every adult should sit down one evening, turn on the TV (or turn on the TV first if you live in the stone ages and don't have a remote) and tune in to watch MTV. You should plan to block out the whole evening so that you can get a good grasp of the station. After you have enjoyed your four hours go back and read the following article from the magazine "America, Return to God" edited by Thomas Wang.

“According to the Nielson Media Research, MTV is watched by 73% of boys and 78% of girls aged 12-19. Children are the target of the hard-selling of casual sex, drugs and alcohol. The Parents Television Council reported in their study that children on the average watch 9 sexual scenes per hour, 9 un-bleeped expletives per hour and 6 violent scenes per hour on MTV music programs. MTV reality show have about 13 sexual scenes per hour. There were 52 obscene words per hour in the program “Making the Band 2” and 32 sexual segments per hour in the program “Spring Break Fantasies”. Studies have shown that MTV is influential in changing the attitude of teenagers towards accepting promiscuity and homosexuality. With an hour of watching MTV, teenagers would have less inhibition in resisting sexual desires and temptations. Moreover, MTV is a prime station for beer commercials.”

Why should you watch it? So that you will know first hand what's coming into your home. So that you will, without hesitation, every time you walk through the room and the station is tuned in, calmly walk over to the remote and CHANGE THE CHANNEL.

Battle Scars

When you go into battle chances are you are going to face an injury or wounds of some type. My battle injuries have not come from war since I have never been able to serve our country in this manner. My battle scars come from sports.

In baseball I’ve had “strawberries” from sliding into base and jammed fingers from catching the ball wrongly. I played second base and used my left leg to block the base from the runners stealing second. Mind you this was in the days of steel cleats so my left legging was ripped to shreds and left calf remained scared from being in the way of many a base stealer.

In track I ran the hurdles, high and low. We started out with a cinder track, which meant every time I fell I ended up picking small pieces of red clay from their embedded homes in my arms and legs. My left knee remained in a state of “need of repair” from constantly nicking the top of a hurdle as I sailed over them and sprinted down the track.

In football I played tailback, offensive end, defensive end and was on the kickoff and return team. I have had a broken collar bone, broken cervical vertebrae, two holes drilled in my skull for traction (no comments please) a cracked knuckle, two broken teeth, sprained ankles, a hip pointer and cuts, bruises and abrasions most of which I can’t even remember.

But, you know what? There is not one of these sports that I wouldn’t want to go back and play again. I loved all of them. Injuries and wounds are just part of the game. They are going to happen if you are on the field of play. The only ones who don’t get injured are those who are on the sidelines. Well, they may get injured if they stand in the way of someone playing, but for the most part sideliners are pretty healthy.

Life is that way, too. Any time you are trying to move ahead, anytime you are trying to do what is right, any time you take a risk there is the chance that you will be scarred. Church life, work life, school life and so on are going to be what we make of them. We can be sideliners and watch the world go by, never taking the time to make it better or we can be players. But if we decide to play we’d better expect that we will eventually get hurt. Then again, if you really love what you’re doing the hurts won’t be that painful and you’ll continue on in spite of the pain.

I never changed the way I guarded second base. I never ran around a 42” high hurdle because I was afraid of hitting my knee or toppling to cinder track. Believe it or not after I broke my collar bone I ran another play. I remember in the huddle telling Billy Don, “I think I’ve hurt my shoulder, let someone else take the ball.” And if I could go back to those days knowing what I know now, I’d still play. Why? Because I loved the games.

We have a choice. We can go through life afraid, never getting into the game, sitting on the sideline and not caring if we make a difference or not. Or we can run onto the field of play. Yes, we’re going to get injured from time to time. Someone is going to criticize us. Someone is going to get mad at us. Someone is going to treat us rudely. True, we may embarrass ourselves. Of course, we will make mistakes. And inevitably, we will probably fail many times. But if we love what we’re doing these things will only make us stronger leaving only minor scars of reminders that we can overcome what life throws at us.

I have a lump on my collar bone, two holes in the top of my head and a few knuckles with arthritis. They are all reminders, not of pain, but of the things which I enjoyed doing in my life.