The last time I took such a long break in my blog entries it was for the worst of reasons. I was at the lowest point of my life and had no one to share with but my readers. Just as I had learned to hit the fastball after all of these years, life threw me a curve and, not only did I go down swinging, I looked foolish doing it. So I went through a stretch where I just refused to step up to the plate. Sure, I found myself in the on deck circle with plenty of opportunities to move into the batters box, but I never felt like I was ready. Then my name was announced and they began to play my walk-up song. At the time that song was Toby Mac's song Move (Keep Walking). I was motivated. I was determined. And I knew I could hit the curve.
I was wrong.
Determination goes a long way in life. I can be determined to be an All-Star baseball player but without the training and skills it's never going to happen. I had the desire to be all that God wanted me to be. And I had reached the place in my life where I was seeing the curves, but I still did not know how to connect. That's when God had me realize that sometimes you have to lay off of certain pitches and wait for yours. So I waited. And I let Him train me to identify what my pitch was.
When you train for any event you have to start with the basics and work your way up to facing live competition. In baseball it is batting practice. So God put me through batting practice. He allowed me to see the curves and recognize which ones were my pitches and which ones were not. Some curves were in the strike zone, but they weren't "my pitch" no matter how good they looked. So I learned patience. Finally, He saw I was ready.
I stepped up in this game and the walk-up song had changed. It was now telling my heart to beat again. So with determination and training I was ready. And then I saw it. The most beautiful curves I had ever seen. With eyes wide open I stepped into the pitch and I connected. At first I was stunned that I had made any contact at all. Then I saw that I had hit this one out of the park.
I'm circling the bases now. And I've finally been able to make it home again.
It feels good.
