Why the Cubs haven't won a World Series in 104 years... because they keep making the same mistakes.

In the time I have been a Cubs fan, they have made some big mistakes.  One of those is Alfonso Soriano, who was one of the most sought-after free-agents after his amazing 2006 season, in which he reached the elite 40-40-40 mark (46 homeruns, 41 doubles, and 41 stolen bases.)  The Cubs joined the mix of clubs trying to sign him in an effort to build up their club and hopefully be propelled into the post season.  In order to beat out the other clubs they had to offer the sweetest deal, so they did: 8 years, 136 million dollars, and job security in the form of a no-trade clause in his contract.  Soriano took it.
The next season, Soriano suffered a leg injury which would be recurring in the years to follow.  He stole only 19 bases that season, hitting .299 with 33 homeruns and 70 rbi's.  That was the best year he would have with the Cubs, and the only season in which he would hit even 30 homeruns, much less 40.  In the five years since signing him, his numbers have steadily declined, while he has become known for his streakiness and freak injuries.  Over the past three seasons he has stolen twelve stolen bases, in all three seasons combined, and his batting average has hovered around .240.  It is doubtful he will improve much in the two years he has left with the Cubs, as he only gets older.  As other players have come and gone on the Cubs team, Soriano has remained, and will remain for the next two years, a monetary burden to the Cubs, a player who no longer carries his own weight on the field.
The next big mistake the Cubs made was signing Milton Bradley; but at least they learned something from signing Soriano, and did NOT put a no-trade clause into his contract, thankfully!  I was dubious about this signing from the start, for several reasons.  Firstly, the Cubs still had Carlos Zambrano on their team at the time, a talented pitcher with a very hot and volatile temper.  Bradley had also been known for having a volatile temper, and having two such players in the clubhouse at the same time did not seem good to me.  I was also dubious simply because of Bradley's tempers, which had become legendary throughout the majors.  And thirdly, because of the reason for signing him-- to add some left-handed power hitting to the lineup.  This was coming off a 2008 season wherein the Cubs had done very well and won their division behind the right-handed 3-4 punch of Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez.  Adding Bradley would break up this effective dynamic duo and change the team chemistry in ways I didn't like.  Determined to find a reason for the Cubs post-season loss, the powers that be decided they were missing something in the lineup, when in reality the Cubs had lead the National League in hitting the previous season, with their right-hand heavy lineup.
My feelings proved correct; and the 2009 Cubs team began to be defined by Milton Bradley's tempers and trying to appease him in any way they could-- a futile effort.  Bradley didn't like Wrigley's tradition of day-games; he didn't like the pressure from the media and the fans; he didn't like the front office or feel he was being treated right.  He had a miserable year with the Cubs and then they shipped him off to the Seattle Mariners, picking up a large portion of the money they owed him to do so, and we were back where we started, with the dynamic punch of Lee and Ramirez in the middle of the lineup, and a leadoff man and left-fielder who would hit .258 on the year and have five stolen bases, but who, unlike Bradley, we could not unload on someone else.
Today the Cubs wear a very different look from the 2008 team that won the division; the only constant is Soriano.  The changes have mounted astronomically this year, as they have implemented their new "rebuilding" strategy in hopes of ending their World Series drought.  What seems logical to me in such a situation is to keep the players who are good and form a solid core to your team, unload some of the big contracts, build up your farm, and sign a few other good, dynamic players.  What, apparently, seems logical to the Cubs front office this year is to get rid of ALL of their core players, including young players, pitchers, the rookie of the year who came up through your organization, and veterans.  After struggling mightily during the first half of the year, the Cubs began looking a little better as a team around July.  Part of this was helped by their strong pitching rotation, which included Ryan Dempster, who was having a career year, Jeff Samardjzia, who is pitching better than ever, and Paul Maholm, a young pitcher who has only gotten better throughout the year.  
I was astonished, then, when the Cubs traded off Dempster (being sellers, not buyers, at the trade deadline, this didn't surprise me so much, though it saddened me), Paul Maholm, Reed Johnson, and Geovany Soto.  Maholm was a good, dynamic pitcher-- exactly what I thought the Cubs would be looking for, to rebuild.  Geovany Soto came up through the Cubs organization and won rookie of the year with them a few years ago.  He has proved a good, steady offensive player and a skilled defensive player.  Another good foundational player.  And Reed Johnson has done extremely well off the bench this year.  Finding good bench players is hard, and he was a definite asset.
The Cubs traded these players off and started struggling again, which is understandably.  The everyday catcher who had worked all year with the starting pitchers was gone.  One of the best pitchers in the majors was gone, and another pitcher who had just come off his six start, going six or more innings, without giving up a run is also gone.  Also their good, reliable bench player.  Suddenly, the lineup needed to be re-structured, other young pitchers would be moved in and out and tried; a new catcher would be calling the games.  It changes everything, and not necessarily in a good way.
And today, the Cubs made another move; they signed short stop Starlin Castro, who came up with the club last season and has done extremely well, to a seven-year contract worth 60 million.  I agree that Castro is good, and young, and the kind of player you want on your team if you are rebuilding; but I don't think signing a player to such a long contract is such a good idea.  How could the Cubs have known that after having such an amazing season in 2006 Soriano would go on to become a mediocre player and a burden to the team?  Injury and change come unexpectedly, and tying yourself to a player for so long can be detrimental, I think.  It feels like another mistake the Cubs have not learned from.  As the years pass by and they continue to make the same mistakes, mistakes that make the Cubs fans watching from the outside want to bang our head against a wall, it is little wonder that their desperate World Series drought continues.  That is just what they have become: desperate.  So desperate they have left common sense behind and are striving for a quick fix; and in the process they are imploding from the inside-out, while their opponents stand by and watch.

Blessed

I haven't had much inspiration the past few weeks.  I have gone over and over certain parts of my story, knowing they weren't right, but not knowing how to fix them.  I think part of my lack of inspiration and creativity had to do with some personal struggles I was having, but God has been doing a work in my heart, and has blessed me so much once again!  I am always amazed at how God blesses me-- overwhelmed, because it's always more than I expect.  He doesn't always work in the ways I expect Him too, but His ways are always better.
As I have struggled, I have felt helpless, because even as I was trying to get back on track I still couldn't change my feelings and emotions.  What I have realized is that it's true, I can't change my feelings and emotions-- but I can change my focus, and that can make a huge difference.  I have been realizing once again how blessed I am, feeling overwhelmed by the blessings that fill my life.  Health, a good job, warm bed, food, a loving, supportive husband, a wonderful family who prays for me and loves me unconditionally, and the blessing of having some of them nearby again; a good church family, friends.  Above all this, the hope of glory, an inheritance among them which are sanctified, and the ability to come boldly into the presence of my God through the sacrifice of His son.
I have been reminded, too, that I have work to do.  But God has blessed me again by inspiring my creative faculty once more.  It has been incredibly discouraging lately to not feel like writing; to feel like it doesn't matter; to feel like I don't have the ability to do it, anyway; to feel frustrated because I can't figure out how to fix the problem areas of my story, etc.  But in church on Sunday, as I was talking to God, it suddenly came to me how I could fix one of the areas of my story that I have been struggling with.  It is perfect.  It will unfold a little differently, but I like it a lot better than what I had before.  I can see it coming together in my mind's eye, and with that the old excitement of creativity has surged through me again.
I am blessed indeed!

Novel Writing Process

From the outset, it looked easy.  I had the story in mind... all I had to do was write it... in chronological order... and I was done.  Right?
I've had a wake up call since then.... it's not quite so easy.  In the first place, it doesn't always come together chronologically, and even if it does, different scenes expand it and cause it to grow and change.  One change can change everything else, and that starts getting complicated after you have a hundred pages or so....
So where am I now?  The body of the story is there, but I am still expanding, plugging in new scenes, filling in holes, proofing, changing.  The hardest part has been the beginning-- the prologue and first chapter.  I have spent more time on those two parts than the rest of the story put together.  It keeps weighing on me, because so much depends on it.  Strangers who read it will either decide to continue, or not, based on it.
I have it all planned out so beautifully in my head... how story and plotlines and characters develop and interract and change based on those interractions.... but transferring what I have in my head to paper in such a way that my readers will see it as I saw/see it, that's the hard part.
Anyhow.... it's proving a much more daunting task than I ever thought it would be.... but progress is being made.
And now... back to it.  :-)

Anne of Green Gables

I am becoming known at work by my books. We get a half hour break during our shifts. The first day I had one it felt so long I instantly decided to start bringing a book to work. This has sparked a number of interesting conversations with my co-workers. One of them, now that she knows I like reading, will talk to me about what she is reading and about books in general. When I brought in Anne of Green Gables the other day she asked me how many times I had read it before... the best answer I was able to come up with was “a lot”, and she replied that I seemed like the type of person who would have read it at least two or three times. Well, she's right! Another co-worker told me how excited she was to find me reading “old” literature, like Ivanhoe and Anne of Green Gables. She also was excited that I was doing it on my own, not for a class. Apparently she asked another co-worker the other day whether I was doing it for a class and was told no. 

But anyway-- lately I have been re-reading the Anne of Green Gables series. Currently I am about halfway through Anne of Avonlea, the sequel to Anne o Green Gables. For the first time I have noticed something interesting. I have always noticed that LM Montgomery made a lot of mistakes in her writing-- but have excused them because she was so good at telling a story. What I have noticed lately is that her first book in the series-- the original Anne of Green Gables, it is very polished and edited and well-written. However, as soon as I started reading Anne of Avonlea I started noticing the mistakes-- things like using lots of ellipses, and run-on sentences. I picked up Anne of Green Gables and glanced through it and I could find barely any ellipses. Just flipping through any other book in the series and they jump off the page because there are so many of them.

The other books in the series are not nearly so polished or edited as the first one. Why is that? There are several reasons, I believe, deducing from what I now know from reading the biography of LM Montgomery. Anne of Green Gables was an outgrowth of LM Montgomery's imagination and creative impulse; she thoroughly enjoyed writing it and poured a great deal of love into the story. Thereafter she faced many rejections as she sent it out to various publishers, until finally she found a publisher who was willing to take the manuscript, but with conditions. One of those conditions was that she write sequels-- something LM Montgomery wasn't particularly anxious to do, since, as she later wrote, “writing about Anne as an adult wasn't nearly as fun as writing about her as a child.” That's understandable, from reading the first book and Anne's many and varied adventures. The first book was probably first polished well by LM Montgomery herself, so that she could try and find a publisher for it-- but after the sequels were guaranteed, they didn't need to undergo such a rigorous editing process. The publisher, also, probably subjected it to some editing before sending it to press, but after Anne had achieved popularity their main objective was probably just to pump books out.

I think that's kind of sad-- the sequels definitely are not as well done as the first book, probably for these very reasons-- wanting to just get them out, and perhaps not caring as much for the sequels as the original. It reminds me of the Harry Potter books, where something similar happened. The later books are not all as polished or well done as the first, because of the deadline that JK Rowling had to meet and the haste with which the publishers wanted to get them out. It's too bad. It gives me mixed feelings about sequels. As much as I love the Anne of Green Gables series, and wouldn't be without any of the books for a great deal, I wouldn't want to write any book, or any sequel, if my heart wasn't really in it. At present all of the ideas I have are stand-alone books, I don't have any sequels in mind... so we'll see what happens in the future.  

A Lot of Different Things

I'm sorry for my blogging absence lately.

Were I asked to describe the place where I'm currently at, a lot of things come to mind.
I am in a place of adjustment.
I am in a place of change.
I am in a place of struggle.
I am in a place of peace.
I am in a place of inspiration.
I am in a place of searching for inspiration.
I am in a place of excitement about the work God has called me to.
I am in a place of emptiness.  Knowing there is no good thing in me, yet praying that God can somehow use me.
I am in a place of seeking.
I am in a place of waiting.
I am in a place of chasing after my dreams.
I am in a place of waiting for certain dreams, and working toward them.

This past week we had the privilege of traveling to Kansas City for James' brother's wedding.  It was wonderful to forgather with the Holland side of the family and visit and catch up and celebrate together.  It was one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever attended.  It was simple and lovely and peaceful and joyful.  I rejoice for the new-made couple and am excited to welcome a new sister-in-law into the family.  I was also reminded of James and my wedding and marriage vows.  So it was a place of joy, reflection, and excitement.
It was a little hard to come from that and go back to work, where things were in shambles and tempers were short.  That first day back was hard, and yet God blessed me.  It was not busy so I did not have to stay late.  And I remembered that even when it is difficult, it is a place where God can use me to make a  difference.  My challenge these past several days has been contained in the verse, "A life hid with Christ in God"-- what does that really look like, and how is that played out every day, at work and at home?
I have been a little stressed lately because of everything going on.  The wedding, the trip, getting ready to move, James starting a new job, balancing work and writing.  There's a lot going through my mind.
I have been feeling inspired with my writing, but I have also struggled.  I have made good progress on my story.  I know my characters... I have begun walking more and more in their shoes, and seeing things through their eyes and understanding who they are.  I long to bring them to life so others can see them as I do, know them as I do.  But therein lies the struggle.  How can I do that?  It feels so daunting.  I have also been struggling with the beginning of my story (that's the part I always have the most trouble with.)  Have I really written these scenes in a way that is realistic?  How should I structure these first few scenes?  Would they draw the reader in?  Etc.  I keep going over and over them in my head, trying to work them out.  I haven't quite gotten there yet, but I am getting closer.  What brings me closer is really getting into my character's shoes, which can be exciting as well as difficult, sometimes.  Like tonight.  I was in a very different place in my real life than my character's were in their lives.  I was in a place of joy; they were in a place of sorrow.  I was struggling to find balance between the two.
On top of all this there is baseball... I am rather disappointed with some of the decisions the Cubs' new manager, Dale Sveum, has been making.  But some exciting things have been happening, too.  It's neat to see some of the younger players really coming into their own, and the past several games against the Cardinals have been exciting (as Cubs/Cardinals games usually are.)
And so that's a bit of a look into my mind, into what's going on right now.  A lot of different emotions.

The Year of the Lord's Favor

I have recently restructured this blog somewhat.  The inspiration to do so came from various places.  The title was inspired by the Newsboy's song Secret Kingdom.  I love the part of the song that goes, "This here still wakes the dead, still gets God's people Spirit-lead..." because that's what it's all about.  It is about allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us, and allowing God to use us to impact this world for His Kingdom.  And when we do that, the dead are awakened, the sleepers rise, the broken are healed.
I have also been thinking a lot lately about what God has been doing in my life, and about what the Kingdom of Heaven is like-- the principles it is built upon-- about Jesus, the "author and perfecter of our faith."
This passage was brought to my attention this morning, and I was struck by it in a new way:
"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."  -Isaiah 61:1-3
In the gospels, Jesus was asked to read and speak, and He read this passage, and then He told his listeners that "Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
I love how the passage talks about preaching to the poor, binding up the brokenhearted, etc., but it doesn't stop there.  This is what really stood out to me this morning: Jesus didn't just come to comfort, He came to "bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, and the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."  The image that came to my head after reading that was of people who had bandages and were lame and blind and sad and broken, and their bandages fell off and their crutches were thrown away and they sprang up and started dancing and laughing and weeping for joy.
That's what the Kingdom of Heaven is about-- it's about not only reaching out to and comforting the hurting and the broken and the poor, but it's about restoring joy and gladness to them.  The Kingdom of Heaven is full of a whole lot of broken people who have been restored by the grace of an incredible Savior, a merciful and loving God.  It is about people who are being lead by God's Holy Spirit to reach out to those around them and bring the same comfort and joy that they themselves have received.
Do you see why I get so excited when I see glimpses of the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth?  When I get glimpses of these very things happening?  It's incredible.

Dreams

God has been doing so much in my life lately, it has been amazing to experience.  He has been igniting and re-igniting passions and dreams in my life, things both personal and things that are all about the Kingdom.  These include reaching out to and mentoring youth; working on my book (I truly feel like God has given me this storyline, and I am so excited to share the finished product); baseball (through an opportunity to do some writing for this website); music, and American Sign Language.

But with that, God has been getting me out of my comfort zone a lot, putting me in places where I feel weak, which is never an easy process.  It has caused me to to depend ever increasingly in faith and trust in Him; it has driven me to my knees in prayer.  I do not believe God made any mistake putting me in places where I am weak and have little strength, because when I am weak, He is strong.  So the amazing part of this journey has been the strengthening of my faith, and seeing God's hand at work.  He has been so faithful!
I do believe His hand is in everything I mentioned above-- even baseball.  This is an opportunity for me to develop my skills as a writer while writing about something I love.  In an odd way I feel like God delights in the enjoyment I get out of it, because He loves to bless His children.  It is a distraction and a bright spot in the midst of some of the tougher (though still rewarding) things I've been doing lately.
Growing closer to God, and doing Kingdom work, and seeing what He is doing, it's an adrenaline rush like nothing I've ever experienced before.  But at the end of the day all of this leads to one thing: of all these dreams and passions that have been awakened in my heart, the greatest is for Him, and doing His work.  Ultimately that's what makes it rewarding-- seeing His hand at work, being used by Him, catching glimpses of the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth.  I would not want to do any of these things if I did not feel He had put them on my heart.  Knowing Him gives my life meaning and eternal purpose.  That's what makes these dreams so exciting, because I believe He did put them there, and He is going to use them.  It brings me so much joy.  

Picture of the Week

"Have you ever looked into the heart of a flower?"

My Heart

There is a story I wrote-- a short version of it-- some time ago.  Sometimes I can write a story and know when it is done.  This one has never been done, but is constantly changing and evolving, on paper and in my mind.  I believe this story shows my heart like none of the other stories I've written; but it keeps changing because I have changed.  It is a story that anyone who knows me, or used to know me, would probably be astonished to read.
Let me explain that last sentence, because it shows a lot about who I am, and who I used to be.  This is who I used to be: a girl, and ashamed of it.  A very shy, quiet, reclusive girl, who on one hand craved relationships and on the other, felt she didn't need them.  A girl with carefully hidden girlish tendencies under a boyish exterior.  I was the girl who talked sports, wielded a knife, climbed trees-- in short, tried to keep up with the boys so they would consider her their equal-- because I felt it was shameful to be "weaker" just because I was a girl.
How I have changed!
I have come to look upon women not as the "weaker" sex, but as people who have different strengths.  Who I am now: very much a girl, and glad to be so (except I could do without some of my mood swings.)  I love flowers, pretty clothes, and even an occasional love story.  (I once would have died rather than admit that.)  I love the beauty and the emotions and the depth and the strength to be found in a woman's character.  God has also been showing me the value of relationships, and how much I need them.
And so I wrote this story-- and I am still trying to write it because it just isn't quite right yet.  I tried to paint the beauty and the depth that can be found in a woman's character.  I revealed a longing to go deeper that I've always had and still have.   I expressed my love of nature and how I have found God in nature.  I wrote a love story into it, a story of discovery, of wanting to be a better person for the one you fell in love with.  A story of sacrifice, of loss, or grieving.  Examining what is important in life.  All of these things are part of my story.
I had it work-shopped in one of my creative writing classes, and the reactions mixed.  Some said the setting was unrealistic (I basically copied the setting I grew up in); some said the characters were unrealistic (I instilled in them many of the values that I believe.)  Many said the narrator painted the girl in the story as "too perfect."  I tried to remedy that, then I realized, this story is told about a girl by the man who is in love with her.  No, she is not perfect.  But I truly believe this is how he saw her.
In short, many saw the structure of the story, but few understood my heart speaking through it.  I am not trying to say the story is perfect, or even that it is totally realistic.  But I truly do believe it expresses some of the deep things of my heart like nothing else I've written.
For all these reasons, I continue working on this story, and for all these reasons, I am both excited and nervous to let it go.

Words That Form a Picture

"We live in a two-story brick house skirted by a wide porch where four wicker rockers, two on either side of a bright red door, beckon our neighbors to visit.  At the south end of the porch a matching swing creaks in the warm breeze.  And potted plants, whose contents change with Rose Marie's whims, are scattered everywhere.  In the front yard a gnarled magnolia takes an imposing stance, transforming an ordinary lawn into something regal.  Small flowerbeds lay beside the steps that lead to the porch.  Pansies add color there in the winter, but now a fresh crop of impatiens is the ornament of choice.  This is the home where I brought Rose Marie about a decade ago..."

-from Safe at Home by Richard Doster

Picture of the week

~ Take Me Out to the Ballgame ~
The Cubs played their first Spring Training game yesterday... baseball is back!

Nerdiness and Game-playing

My family has reached a new level of nerdiness lately.

And for us, that's saying something.

Lately we have been playing a lot of “Settlers of Catan”, a board game that involves collecting resources and using them to build settlements and cities and roads. You collect different resources depending on the dice roll, so of course, getting the optimal numbers is important. That means we, of course, are interested in knowing which numbers actually get rolled the most. Dad was convinced the conventional dice would be skewed somehow, so he downloaded a dice ap on his phone and started introducing it to our games, convinced it would be much more accurate. Plus they are efficient and easy-- less noisy, less prone to mess up the game pieces or roll off the table. At first we were a bit dubious, but over time all four of us have succumbed at least somewhat to the electronic dice. I have been won over entirely and would prefer never to go back to conventional dice again :-).

But, despite agreeing to use the electronic dice, James was more dubious about their accuracy and decided to keep track of the numbers and compare them. Mom still sometimes prefers the regular dice, and when my brother and sister-in-law come over, despite being nerdy in other ways, refuse to use the electronic dice. So over time James was able to compile quite a few stats on both devices, by keeping track of every dice roll on both. It was my sister-in-law Ginny who suggested compiling all the data into an excel spreadsheet. The results were surprising. Ideally each device should form a perfect bell-curve, but none of them are quite perfect. Ironically, the “real” dice have been more bell-curvy than the phone. Fours have been rolled more than fives, which is odd, and sixes and eights have been rolled more than sevens, also odd. (Seven is supposed to be the most rolled number; it is associated with the “robber” who steals a resource when seven is rolled.) As we were standing around the table looking at the charts and analyzing the data, James looked up and asked, “Do other families do this, or just us?”

I had to laugh at that. Our tradition of nerdiness in games goes back a long way. My sister-in-law Ginny kept data on games of Nertz for a long time, and compiled them into charts of wins and losses, also average points per game and “percent nertzed.” She fits right in with our family. :-)

My family has played games together as long as I remember, and it is something I will always be grateful for. I learned to ad and subtract figures quickly in my head when I became the designated scorekeeper at an early age. From a dice game called Muggins I learned how six and four ad up to make ten, and from a card game called Cribbage I learned that seven plus eight is fifteen, and so is six and nine.  

And then there's Scrabble. We used to be pretty normal as far as Scrabble goes, then my dad took it up a notch. He started playing these weird, crazy words we'd never heard of before. In answer to the protest, “That's not a word!” He would say calmly, “Look it up.” We would-- and it was. I am a very competitive person, so this was to me the proverbial throwing down of the gauntlet. I began studying the Scrabble Dictionary in my free time, and picked up all kinds of useful things. Handy, short Z words, Q-without-a-U words (yes, they do exist!) Dad and I memorized the two-letter word list (all 96 of them) and studied the J and K sections of the dictionary. Our turns grew longer because we were no longer satisfied having a double-word score alone, but we just had to put our H or M on the double-letter score, as well! And then-- we found Super Scrabble.

Super Scrabble has become one of our favorite all-time games. It has twice as many letters as regular Scrabble, and a board that is three rows larger in all directions. There are now quadruple letter and quadruple word spaces. We play with nine tiles because it takes so long otherwise-- and even with seven it is rarely less than three hours to play each game. Often closer to four.

We once played Scrabble with a friend who was visiting and he happened to get the Q and not have a U.  "No problem," Dad and I said, "there's lots of  Q words that don't use U."

"No there isn't," our friend asserted.

"Yes there are," we replied, pulling out our lists and the dictionary to show him.  We were very happy when the fourth edition of the Scrabble Dictionary came out with "Qi".  Before that "Qat" was the best.  "Tranq", "qwerty", and "qaid" and "qoph" are also very handy.

Our friend just looked at us, shaking his head.  "You guys are sick."

That was the first but not the last time this epitaph has been bestowed on us...

Photo of the week

~ Burst of Glory ~
I never tire of New Mexican sunsets. 

Paul's Prayers

 

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

-Ephesians 3:16-19

Photo of the week

~ Light and Shadows ~

They really shouldn't be here in the first place...

If the Broncos lose their game tomorrow I won’t be disappointed, because frankly they weren’t even supposed to be here in the first place, and it’s amazing that they’ve come this far.  Just the fact that they have won a playoff game and lived to play another is more than anyone thought they could do.  And against the Steelers.  Many of you probably don’t know that the Steelers defense is number one in the NFL.  (Watching the game last Sunday, I could see why– when both teams lined up on the field most of the Steelers players looked twice as big as the Broncos players.  That’d be enough to intimidate me!)  Their plan was to shut down the heretofore fairly effective running game of the Broncos… and shut it down they did.  What they weren’t expecting was to see Tim Tebow pitch so effectively.  He could always throw, he couldn’t always pitch.  Watching him Sunday, most of those throws were dead-on.  Shows that hard work pays off.
So if they lose to the Patriots Saturday… and I have no expectations for them to win, though I certainly hope they do, but after watching the Chargers lose to them in the playoffs year after year I have to be realistic… I won’t be disappointed, because I will remember that it’s incredible that they are even there in the first place.  However, I am not saying a win is impossible… after the season the Broncos had you can never say that… because they have already defeated the toughest defense in the NFL!  Whatever the Patriots throw at them will not be as good as that.  However, Tom Brady and his offense is very good, so my prediction is it will be a high-scoring game with a close score.  My greatest hope is that it will be a good game.  That we can look back on it and, if the Broncos lose, we can still say “They did their best and had an incredible season.”  The worst kind of losses are those that a team shouldn’t have lost, but did so through carelessness or mistakes.  There have been some Broncos losses this season that have been like that.  I just hope if they lose, it won’t be one of those.
But after all, they may win!  That would be the best of all… and I think after last weekend both the Patriots and their fans are a little bit nervous.
I was thinking today, though, about how God has used Tim Tebow, and how his entire life is a miracle.  The truth is, Tim Tebow and the Broncos never should have been in the playoffs at all.  They got there by virtue of seven wild and crazy Bronco wins under the leadership of Tebow, the luck of having had two of those victories come against division rivals the Chargers and the Raiders (who finished the season with the same record, 8-8, but did not win because both had lost to the Broncos), and a Raiders loss to a Chargers team coming off a 6-game losing streak.  They squeaked into the playoffs by the width of a gnat’s eyebrow.  And then they got luck– the first game would be at home, because even though the Steelers had a better record than them, the Steelers were the wild-card team!  None of those things should have happened… and then nobody thought they could win.  Everybody knew the Steelers defense would shut down the running game, Tebow wasn’t very good at throwing the ball, and Roethlisberger, despite a sprained ankle, is an extremely good quarterback.  One article I read detailed how the Broncos didn’t have a chance and predicted they would lose by a score of 21-10.  I hoped they would win, but knew Tim Tebow would have to step up his passing game to do it.  Well, he did.  And they won.  True, they gave up an early lead and it came down to the wire at the last– but they won against the best defense in the NFL.
And now they are facing Tom Brady and the Patriots– and Tom Brady doesn’t have a sprained ankle.  But the Patriots also don’t have the greatest defense.  So it will be an interesting game to watch.  But as I look back over the season, it is amazing to realize how far the Broncos have come, and see how many times we can point to a moment and say, that should never have happened… they shouldn’t be here.  Yet they are.
And so is Tim Tebow.  It is a fitting metaphor for his life.  Tim Tebow shouldn’t have been here in the first place… and wouldn’t be, if it had been left solely up to the doctors attending his mother during her pregnancy.  Due potentially life-threatening complications during the pregnancy, she was told she should get an abortion– but she refused.  The doctor’s didn’t expect the baby to live anyway, but in spite of all odds, he did.  It was a long, difficult pregnancy, and after Tim was born the doctor told his father, ”Mr. Tebow, your child is a miracle baby. I can’t explain how it happened…”
Tim Tebow, despite all odds, was born, and was drafted in the first round by the Denver Broncos, and was made starting quarterback in his second season with them, and turned a losing season around, and, in my opinion at least, proved he has what it takes to play football in the NFL.  He lead the Broncos to a division title and a playoff win… none of that should have happened, but all of it did.
So while I won’t be disappointed if the Broncos lose on Saturday, I won’t be surprised if they win, either.
Do I believe God is involved with all this?  Yes, with all my heart.  God said, “Those who honor me I will honor,”(1 Samuel 2:14) and,
“Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
With a long life I will satisfy him
And let him see My salvation.”  (Psalm 91:14)

"The tongue of the righteous is a fountain of life..."

I read the above verse in Proverbs today and it struck me particularly.  This is something I have been struggling with a lot lately.  I often speak harsh or impatient words, very often un-kind ones, I’m sorry to say.  So lately I have really been trying to watch that tendency.  Unfortunately the words rise up so quickly they often come out before I even have time to think and realize what I’m doing.  I have a very quick temper, so while my anger doesn’t usually last long, it doesn’t take much to rouse my temper and for me to speak sharp, hurtful words without thinking.  I always regret it afterwards.  So I am trying to intentionally watch that and cut back on the sharp, hurtful things I say.  Today my prayer is, “Lord, make my tongue a fountain of life.”