Like a Baseball Team

1 Peter 4:10-11
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. 

My grandson, Zeke, stood on the pitcher's mound. At eight years old his excitement for the game of baseball shined. As the inning progressed Zeke and the first baseman made a great play to get the runner out. All the young men on the team filled different positions throughout the game. As they ran and hit and caught the ball their skills increased. I witnessed them finding their potential and strengths.

My other grandson on the team, Eli, shows the gift of encouragement. He cheered Zeke on as he pitched. Another young man, A.J., shows compassion for his teammates. The boys are not only learning the game of baseball, they are realizing their gifts.

Watching Zeke and Eli on the field reminds me of God's plan for people. Everyone of us has God-given gifts. Some are speaking, serving, being hospitable, and so many more. Each one of us has a reason for being, a purpose. One of my gifts is encouragement, which led me to write my blog. Through that gift I reach out beyond myself, follow God's heart, and give a bit of joy and hope to anyone who reads the words.

God creates each of us with our own passions and he gives us the tools to pursue them. If we pray, read God's word, listen, and pay attention, God reveals to us how to use the gifts he's filled us with. Then like a baseball team, we work together for God's kingdom—each of us in our position, ready to commit to the team. Are you on God's team?

What's your gift? I'd love to know.

Baseball and Honeycombs

Proverbs 16:23-24
The hearts of the wise make their mouths prudent,
    and their lips promote instruction.
Gracious words are a honeycomb,
    sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

Joey Votto hits a homerun. Billy Hamilton steals another base. Aroldis Chapman closes the game with a win. That's what I like to see when the Reds play ball. My family loves the great American Pastime, enjoyed by all ages. So when I heard on the news that the manager let off a string of curse words (seventy-seven in a five-and-a-half minute span) to the media, I was disappointed. He represented the team and the fans. The media reported he was under duress and angry at them. Instead of gracious words, he threw harmful darts.

© Penny Frost McGinnis

I have a magnet on the refrigerator that says, "You are your words." Once they come out of the mouth, they can't be swallowed back up. Proverbs reminds me to consider whether my words show care, thoughtfulness, positivity, a teaching spirit, and a healing concern. I've heard it's easier to draw bees with honey. That's true with the spoken word. I want to stop before I speak and consider how what I say affects who hears. Encourage, compliment and instruct with love like Jesus did. We are his words. 

The Great American Game

John 7:16-18
Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me.  Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.

I love baseball. The rhythm of the game helps me relax. This summer four of our grandsons are playing the great American game. My family has a long friendship with the game. Grandpa Griffith hosted baseball games at his farm in the 1920s and 30s. Mom remembers watching the men lift their bats and run the bases. One of the things I’ve witnessed watching t-ball is the little guys learning to make decisions. If they field a ball they have to figure out where to throw it (first base). If they hit the ball, where do they run? Seriously, more than a few have picked third instead of first.

Much like life, baseball is a game of choices. Every day I’m faced with decisions. What to do, how to react, what to say. But, I have an advantage when it comes to decisions. I talk to God and seek his wisdom for what I should do. Like the baseball player looks to the coach, I seek God’s wisdom. You see, I love God and I want to do his will. In all of my choices, I seek God’s wisdom and when I forget, I struggle. God gives free will, he wants me to choose. So I choose him. I Praise God for his wisdom and the freedom of being a believer.

Jesus' eyes

John 8:7-11
When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

There’s nothing that says summer to me as much as the game of baseball. A ballgame is a great place to people-watch. All kinds of fans join together to root for their favorite team. As I sat in the ball park with two of my grandkids, I wondered how this all looked to them. Did they see the joy and the sorrow that ebbed and flowed with each pitch? When the crowd rose to cheer, the little guys couldn’t see at all, unless we lifted them up. After the game, fireworks exploded in the sky. My three year old grandson covered his ears and, at times, his eyes while his sister watched in awe.

This made me wonder. Whose eyes do I look through?What do I see? Beauty and hope? Or flaws and frustration? What about the people around me every day, do I see someone who aggravates me or a soul that’s hurting? When Jesus saw the woman who sinned, he looked at her with compassion and forgiveness. Her enemies just saw sin. I want to view people through Jesus’ eyes and wrap them in hope and love with words of forgiveness and salvation.  Praise God for seeing our hearts.