What you get when...

...you mix a three year old, stamp pads, and no supervision. Whoops.

Seasons

I am a Midwest boy. I always will be. I never want to leave. God may call me away to a warmer climate… but, I’ll be honest… I wouldn’t be happy about it. When I retire, I'd like to retire somewhere in the midwest. I have grown up with four distinct seasons each year and love each of them for different reasons. My favorite month of the year: October.

There is no better month than October, in my mind, because of the colors of the trees and the temperature. It’s kind of a tradition of mine, during my day off, to open all the windows in my house and just breathe in the cooler air and take in the beauty of the season. I know that not everybody gets into the yellows, oranges, and reds of autumn… but I absolutely marvel at it. In fact, I’ve lived here in St. Peters long enough to know where the most stunning trees are in my neighborhood. I specifically drive by these trees to just look at them.

There is one tree in particular that is half bright red and half bright orange right now. When the sun hits this tree just right, it looks like the tree is on fire. To this sentimental, Midwestern boy… the view is breath-taking.

I also love the decorations… in October we see pumpkins, cobwebs, ghosts, monsters, strobe lights, graveyards, etc. Halloween has never bothered me as a Christian. For me, it’s a chance to live through my daughter’s imagination. To remember what it was like to put on a Darth Vader costume and go door to door begging for candy. To recall the horror of walking through a chainsaw and coffin infested haunted house. To revisit all the ghost stories and tales that were passed down to me. This Saturday, we are hoping to take Emily to a pumpkin patch… where we will pick out her first pumpkin and later that evening… we will attempt to carve it.

My second favorite month of the year: December. I love Christmas time. I love getting out the tree with Melissa and Emily and decking out our house for Christmas. I love the music. I love the anticipation of spending time with family, which is hugely important to both Melissa and I. (Since I only get two Sundays off a year… and Melissa works a normal work week, we can’t just take off to visit family any old time… but we usually always take a week off around Christmas time.) I love it when the weather patterns work out so that we actually have a ‘White Christmas.’ Christmas lights just look so much cooler when their colors can gleam off the snow at night.

I love the first snowfall. I love how it sticks to the trees. I love how it crunches under my feet. I love how it packs together for my first snowball victim (usually Melissa). I love how the city just lights up more because the snow reflects the light into an orange kind of glow.

I am thankful for the seasons. There is always something to look forward to. Around August, I start getting tired of the heat… and I look forward to fall (and football). Around November, I start getting excited for the holidays. Around February, I start getting tired of the cold and start looking forward to the warmth of spring and the start of baseball. By April, I am ready for summer to kick in full force… and knowing that my wife gets to be at home and that I get to spend more time with her and Emily. I love the seasons… and the joys and emotions that each one brings to my life.

I’d write more… but there are a few trees I’d like to go look at…

WOW

"Play nine and see what happens." -Tony LaRussa

Major League Baseball

Ok, since baseball is winding down... I figure that it's time for me to share a few things that bother me about the current state of Major League Baseball.

1. The All Star Game

This is ridiculous... that the commissioner of baseball would allow an EXHIBITION game to possibly decide the fate of teams that have fought all year to make it to the World Series. Why don't we just say that which ever league wins the most inter-league spring training games gets home field advantage? Or better yet… why don’t we base it on something even more ridiculous… If the NFC wins the superbowl in the NFL… then the National League gets home field advantage in the World Series… and same thing with the AFC and the American League.

Think about this… most teams that make the World Series only have up to five or six players that are actually on the All-Star Team. And most players on the All Star Team only play for three or four innings. That means that, at most, only 20% of the players of any World Series team had even the slightest bit to do with whether they got home field advantage or not and most of those players only played a third of the exhibition game. What a stupid rule.

This may be going out on a limb… but it seems that the best way to award home field advantage is to give it to the team that had the best regular season record in either league. Just my opinion.

2. The Wild Card

Mind you, the wild card makes the game more interesting for a greater number of fan bases for a longer time during the season. It’s exciting to be in a race for the last playoff spot even if you have long since lost the opportunity to represent your division as the champions.

And this is exactly why I hate the wild card. Last year, the Cardinals had to play the Astros for the opportunity to play in the World Series. They almost lost. If they would have lost… the Astros would have been the National League Champions without even being the Central Division champions. Worse yet. The Cardinals eventually lost to the Boston Red Sox… the American League wild card. So the Boston Red Sox were named the American League champions and Major League Baseball Champions… but they could not call themselves the American League Eastern Division Champions. I think it is a shame that we allow these losers into the playoffs. If you can’t win your own division, you have no right to play for the world series championship.

3. Minute Maid Ballpark

At the risk of offending some really good friends of mine who live close to Houston, work for Minute Maid, and have starting liking the Astros… let me start by saying this: I have a lot of respect for the Houston Astros. I like the way they play ball. Biggio and Bagwell are legends… not just for being good, but for being good on the same team for years and years. So this post is not a rant against the team. It’s a rant against the retarded stadium.

First of all… I’m sure it’s a beautiful park. It looks like it would be a fun atmosphere to be a fan in. But the field configurations are incredibly dumb. It’s like the architect sat down one day after getting blasted and stoned all at the same time and decided to design the playing field.

What is with the stupid hill in center field? No other ballpark has a hill in center field… and for good reason. Baseball was meant to be played on a level playing field. Not only does it take away from the game, but I believe it to be very dangerous. Centerfielders can get hurt.

What is with the stupid pole sticking out right in the middle of the stupid hill in center field? So lets say that somebody hits a shot to dead center field and the centerfielder runs back to get it… he gets to the warning track… running at full speed and stumbles on the incline of the stupid hill… he falls forward and smacks his head against the stupid pole sticking out in centerfield and cracks his head open. Mark my words, if the Houston Astros don’t change this field configuration… a serious injury will happen in centerfield someday… and I just hope that it happens to one of their players… and not a visiting team.



The field configurations are terrible as well. 315 down the left field line? That short porch is the reason why the Astros even won yesterday. Berkman hit a line drive homerun that barely cleared the wall. In any other stadium… it would have been a double or an out. Not a grand slam homerun. Center field is 430 something feet. That is one of the long centerfields I’ve ever seen. The dimensions are so dumb.

Want to know the biggest reason why I wanted to play the Braves rather than the Astros? (Other than the fact that the Braves actually won their division) No, it’s not the Astros pitching that I’m scared of… it’s their terrible ballpark where inferior teams can dink their way to wins out of nowhere. Thankfully, the Cards have several lefties that can ‘dink’ the ball over the wall in left field as well.

Well… that’s a start to several things that annoy me in Major League Baseball. Sorry, no serious post this week. Just wanted to get my opinion out there about a few things that have been bothering me.

NLDS Game Two

I was one of the lucky ones who scored Cardinals playoff tickets. So my brother, his friend Andy, my mom and dad, and Melissa and I all went to the game this afternoon. I just wanted to share a few pictures with you.



This is a picture of the new ballpark that they are building. Cardinal brass says that the stadium will be ready for opening day 2006. Yes, that is next April. Looks like it will be a beautiful ball park.



Out with the old (right hand side), and in with the new (left hand side). Dad wanted me to get a combo shot of both the old and new stadiums in the same picture.



First pitch: Mark Mulder delivers a strike to Eric Young.



An exciting moment in the game when Albert Pujols came up with the based loaded. He would eventually walk in a run. Notice all the fans standing... the energy was incredible!



A neat picture of the backdrop of the arch at Busch stadium.

We had a great time. We were in the very top row... but we overlooked the infield, as you can tell from the pictures... we could see everything just fine. The day ended well with the Cards winning 6-2 and taking a 2-0 strangle hold in the series.

When Your Best Isn't Good Enough

It seems like there have been specific times in my life where the 'blinders' are removed from my eyes and I am made aware that I need to do better in a certain area of life... or a certain aspect of ministry. I am thankful for these times... but they can be very painful as well.

In fact, I think the MOST painful types of these situations come when I find out that I am falling short in an area of life, relationship, or ministry that I have given my very best to. Those times when I know that I have poured energy, thoughts, resources, and the whole of my giftedness into an area at home or work... and yet I find that it still isn't good enough.

I've heard people say that God works in our lives in spite of us. I've even heard it said that even when you are at 50% or 25% physically, emotionally or spiritually... God can work through you. This is good news for a preacher who has had to mow the church lawn, do a funeral, be at the hospital for a day, and check on a parishioner's dog all in the same week. Because, come Sunday, he might not be as prepared as he would like to be when he cracks open the Word of God and begins to preach. God can and will speak through that pastor... even if he's not at his best.

But what about those times when you feel good physically... when you are in a good place emotionally and spiritually... and when you invest the whole of yourself to a project or ministry... but it's not enough? How about when you choose to do everything that you have learned is right to do... but you fall short of your goal or someone tells you that it needs to be better next time? It can be frustrating and disheartening.

I'm still learning how to deal with the disappointment. I'm still learning how to 'get over myself' in these situations. I'm still learning how to rely on God's strength. I'm still trying to figure out the proper definitions of success and failure. I'm still learning... I'm still growing... I'm still being molded. But it's still painful.

I guess I am clinging to a powerful truth that Paul wrote about in his second letter to the Corinthians: "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

I was recently watching a Cardinals baseball game on T.V. They were talking about how sinkerball pitchers have more success when they are a little tired. When a guy who throws 90% sinkers comes in feeling really good... he has a tendency to overthrow the ball. A sinker that is overthrown does not sink. It stays up. Most pitches that were intended to be 'down' but stay 'up' in the major leagues get absolutely hammered. When a sinkerballer is a little tired... he won't overthrow the ball and the downward movement will be there. So instead of relying on sheer strength... the pitcher is really relying on movement and location.

I know all illustrations break down. But maybe that's how I ought to live. Maybe this 'being at my best' stuff is overrated. Maybe when I'm at my best I tend to overthrow. Maybe I rely on my own strength too much. Is it possible that God actuallys prefers it when we are empty and weak so that he can fill us up with his power and use us to do great things through His strength?

Maybe situations like these are designed to teach me that my best will never be good enough...and that, thankfully, it doesn't have to be.