Last night, the brooms were out en mass (and one mop, hilariously shown during the 8th inning on the FSSW telecast) at the Palace as the Rangers swept away the Royals 8-1. The Rangers ride a 6-game winning streak into tonight's game with the AL Central leading White Sox, whose offense has been spotty of late. Chris Young goes to the mound tonight, attempting to move the season-long win streak to 7.
Also last night, the Hammer, Hank Blalock, committed his first error of the year, breaking a 53-consecutive game errorless streak. There is nobody in the game I'd rather watch day-in, day-out at the hot corner than the Hammer. He's steady.
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Last night, the Terminix 7-9 year old girls softball team advanced to 2-1 on the season with a 16-7 thumping of Radio Shack. I'm immensely proud of all my girls! We have the youngest team in the league, with four 7-year-olds and a 6-year-old, but they are all maturing into fine softball players. Trae, by the way, was 2 for 3 and scored 2 runs, making her daddy wonderfully proud in the process.
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"Constructive criticism" is an oxymoron. If you've ever been on the receiving end of it, you know what I mean.
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Check out Toney Stowers' latest blog entry. Toney is a dear friend and colleague who serves the Hurricane church in Hurricane, West Virginia as Family Minister. Yesterday, he had an ace on a Par-3. The story he tells is wonderfully moving. Visit his site and read his account (and his tribute) -- it is well worth it!
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Reading on the Wineskins site, I came across an article by Keith Brenton entitled "Spiritual Formation through Desperation." All of my reading for the last month has been in the area of Spiritual Formation, especially the work of Dallas Willard and Bill Hull. Spiritual formation takes discipleship to the next level, highlighting the necessity of Christlikeness in the maturing disciple.
Is it possible that God really doesn't want us to be happy?
People will justify all kinds of things they do because "I just know God wants me to be happy."
What if He doesn't?
What if He wants us to suffer? To be challenged? To give up things we want in order to seek the things He wants for us? To grow?
What if He wants us to die to self and the goal of our own happiness?
Would we become people after God's own heart - like the penitent King David after his murderous adultery? Would we have a deeper understanding of Christ's sacrifice if we made a few sacrifices of our own? Would we appreciate what it's like to be despised and rejected if we suffer some of it for ourselves?
If that's not in store for us, then why does Jesus offer the reassurance of the Beatitudes?
Wouldn't the happiness that's in store for us with Him forever be worth a few moments of unhappiness here and now?
I can't forget what one of my roommates in college said while we were discussing the spiritual "thing" of the moment back then: "Mountaintop experiences are overrated. It's when I'm in the valleys - in the very pits - that God lifts my face."
I think he was on to something.
