Curve Balls.

 One of America's favorite sports is baseball. All my boys started playing this game when they were about 4yrs old and the ball was placed on a plastic T for the little guys to hit in place of a pitcher. It is also a nice father-and-son pasttime to put their gloves on and through the ball in the yard.

For those who do not know the game:

 It's a bit like cricket in that the ball is hard, a little bigger than a tennis ball. There is a pitcher and a batter, an opposing team trying to catch the ball once it is hit. There the similarities end.

Baseball bats are round and often made from metal. The field has 3 bases that has to be run to and homeplate from where the batter hits. The ball often bounces back on the batter when hit and, even in professional games, the bat

ter may get hit by the ball. For this reason, they wear helmets.

The pitcher has to deliver the ball over homeplate. It also has to be between the knee and waist of the batter. But with this restrictions the pitcher attempts to make the batter miss or hit bad. If the batter swings at a pitch and misses it is a strike and counts against him.

 Occasionally the pitcher may throw something called a "curve ball". This is accomplished by putting a spin on the ball that makes it fly straight at first but then fly away somewhere else. 

Now that we all understand what a "curve ball" is: 

Sometimes life throws you a curve ball. You are sure it is nothing out of the ordinary and sure you are going to hit it square and solid. But then it bounces up and hits you in the face. It hurts!  The pain is excruciating. You try to right yourself and go on with the game but your mind cannot help searching for "Where did I go wrong", " How did I not see that coming", " I could have, should have done this or that". 

The truth is you could not have seen it coming and nothing you did or did not do, could have prepared you for that curve ball. You only have the option of recovering as best as you can and move on. And yes, the damage may be permanent. Remember, the ball is rock-solid hard. 

BUT do not quit the game!!! 

You have a whole team depending on you. You see, baseball is a team sport. Life is a team sport. You may not see straight right now. You may be hurting more than you think you can stand. But hang in there. The Coach will have it covered. The Coach will know what to do. Just do as He says and keep on going. You are not responsible to figure out the game plan. That is the Coaches job. You just obey Him and go on. 

Yes, it hurts! Go on!

 Yes, you may never recover! Go on!

Yes, you may not see straight right now!

Just, GO ON!

Obey and go on!

RUN! GIRL, RUN!!

If you are out on a date and he flirts with anyone other than you, the waitress for example. When he oogles the girls in bikinis on the beach and turns his head to look at the backside of some skinny model-looking person....He is disrespecting you and he will most likely never respect you. And is most likely addicted to porn.

Call a taxi and lose his number. 

If he orders for you, chooses your clothes and insists on your style be identical to his wishes... if he always have to do what he wants, watch what he wants and visit his friends... when he disrespects your friends and make it unpleasant for all, if you do drag him there.... if his opinion about decorating and style has to be met. Then you have a controller on your hands. He will strangle the life out of you. And you will never escape... if not now.

Run Girl! Block his number. Erase his pictures!


If he pitches a fit like a two year old when he does not get his way, when everything he does for you has strings attached and will come back as a demand for something else, when he is nice to you, your family or your friends and later demands his way in return... He is a manipulator, very cunning and will erode your trust in humanity. You will never have a life of your own with him. He will conn you out of everything that is good and healthy.

Run girl! Hide until you can think straight.

When his thoughts are always better than anybody else's. When he has to find fault with what others do or say... when he has to frown on your efforts, mock your hobby or career... when he minimizes and despise your life. He has an inferiority complex. He will always be swayed by where and with whom he can get his ego stroked. He will be unpredictable and erratic. You will long for peace and tranquility.

Run girl! Run!

When he cannot stand pets and hates little kids... when he enjoys retelling stories of his abusing, beating, someone... when the only movies he would watch are filled with gross violence... when he enjoys the killing of animals and smirks about people's pain.
You have an abuser by the hand. He will take your heart and stomp on it. He will abuse, dehumanizing and assault you.

Run, lady, run! Run while you still can.

When he complains about his job non-stop and his days off is spend laying around doing as little as possible. When he expects to be waited on and you discover that his mother always waited on him. When he expend so little energy that you have to do it for him... You have a child, a spoiled child, a Bonsai of a man. He will never take responsibility. You will have to "mommy" him because he does not see himself as an adult.

So, Run lady, run!

When his head is held high and his mind is made up so that you cannot even discuss an issue.... when he blows cold air on any other person's thoughts and often do not even listen.... when he seldom to never compliment anybody and are nicer to strangers than his own. He is arrogant and full of pride. He will treat you like a queen in public but you will suffer in private. He will humiliate you in the most creative ways.

RUN!! Run girl, run! Save yourself. Put some distance between you. Block his number!

How small we are. How little we know.

It came on like a thief in the night. There was no warning. All of a sudden we were all in a storm. It slammed into all that we were and what we had and did. Our lives, our worlds, were upended in a day, an hour, The clouds hung low. People kept a frightened eye on it and soon all we could talk about was this storm, this crisis, this thing.

The almost visible haze of fear became a suffocating reality. It throttled every iota of joy out of our lives. Most of us ate too much without realizing it. I guess we subconsciously looked for solace in food. Some slept way to much. Most got exhausted from doing nothing. Those with fragile bodies got inflammation. Stress has a very negative affect on the human body.

Lies, deception. schemes and scams, negative, nasty and neurotic we attacked one another. Small things made us cry like two year old's in frustration trying to walk or run. We were buried in the thickness of uncertainty and helpless search for information, truth really. It became a perfect storm. A psychological, financial and physical disaster.

How small we are. How little we know.

God is still where He always has been. This thing did not caught Him by surprise. He is still on the throne and in control. I wonder what Joseph thought when his brothers tossed him in a pit, sold him to some Egyptian slave traders and when he reached his incarceration. Could it be that his mind was milling about like some of ours in the midst of our storm? Could it be that he had similar fears and anxieties'? Or maybe put ourselves in the shoes of Daniel and his young friends. Kidnapped and taken captive to live in the Babylonian Kings court. They are mutilated and schooled into the culture and education of a heathen nation, What must have gone through their minds when the golden statue came to be and the demand to worship it? And when they are cast into a fiery furnace, did they thought like some of us do now: "God where are you?"?

A narrow place often leads to victory. A dark alley more times than not brings one out into incredible light. A place of terror, uncertainty and need too often solidify the truths we have inside of us.  And out of affliction we learn to hold tighter unto His hand and trust our own inclination less and less. The everlasting arms carry us when our knees buckle and His grace is sufficient when nothing else makes sense. We admire the Hero's. We honor the veterans. We listen to the stories. But we fail to realize that it took some unconventional, uncomfortable circumstances to make them.

Trusting God is not a theory. It is something to practice, to live out, to exercise. One cannot learn to ride a bicycle or learn to swim by reading a book or listening to others talking about it. In the middle of the storm, lift up your head and see the Father's loving hand in it all. See Him holding your universe in His hand and trust Him. He knows the end from the beginning and loves you so very, very much. Trust Him. He is in control.

Emotions...

I killed a mouse the other day. Actually I killed a few with traps. Some of the cabinets in the pantry had to be cleaned out and I discovered a nest. The day after I was sitting in the kitchen with a cup of tea when the cutest, fuzziest, little furrball showed up to warm itself at the heatingvent. I apologized and stepped on it. Then picked it up with a napkin and tossed it in the trash.

Yeah, I know. I do not like killing things either. This time of the year they crawl through every little crack in these woodhouses and the war is on.
No, we cannot humanely dispose of them. There is no Mice farm where they can peacefully live out their days. They will return and spread disease.

Human compassion, human emotion recoils at my mouse-murdering streak. That is, if you are a normal tenderhearted person. But wisdom says that humans and rodents cannot exist in the same space.

Our human emotions is part of what makes us human. It seperates us from other species. As Christians we need to have our emotions sanctified by the cross. What does it mean? It means when the emotion does not line up with what God says, we have to resist and change the emotion.

Yes, you can change how you feel. Emotions do not rule you. If they do, you are a slave and not free.

When Jesus started to prepare His disciples, His intimate group of twelve, for what was about to happen to Him, Peter rebuked Him. Peter, impulsive, choleric Peter. Peter, led by his deep affection for Jesus. Overwelmed by what they already sacrificed to walk with Jesus those three years, he was not having this talk about a bloody, cruel death. We can understand that. These men left family, wives, fathers, bussiness, homes and land to follow Jesus. Now, He wants to quit and die. Human emotion had a response to this.

But Jesus... Jesus rebuked Peter harshly: " Get behind me satan!! You are mindfull of the things of man and not of the things of God."

Too often it is the good that derails and hijacks the best. Too often it is the parent or the friend who loves us who interferes with God's plan and call for our lives.

It happened to Paul the apostle. After the prophet Agabus tells him of his impending imprisonment, the church wailed and wept. Paul rebuked them: "  Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. " Acts 21v13

Biblical examples abound.

How do we first deal with our own emotions? And second, how do we deal with our loved ones when they have an emotional response to what  we follow God in?

We have to constantly bring our emotions in line with God's word. For this to happen, we need to know the book. Our emotions by itself is not bad. How we allow it or use it to glorify God or steal our own peace, is important. You shall love the Lord, your God with all of your mind, heart, will and strength. Sounds like emotion is part of it. All of us, all of what we are, needs to  bow down before Him.

When our loved ones respond emotionally, we need to recognise it. Honor and respect them but listen and obey God. We are responsible for our actions before God. We are not the keepers of their emotions. We love them and treat them with respect but we have only one Master; the Lord Jesus Christ.