Baseball

Yesterday was a perfect day in Texas. The temperature was in the high 60's. The Texas Rangers were playing the Kansas City Royals in the final game of the series. The Rangers were hungry for a win. My boy Padilla pronounced PA-DILL-A :) was on the mound for the Rangers. The Game started off great! Texas scored the first two runs. The Royals fought back with several base hits and a key home run from David DeJesus to take the lead 5-3. The Rangers did not get a hit until the 8th inning where former Braves star Andruw Jones knocked a double to center field. The Rangers tied the score at 5 with an amazingly close play at home plate. If the runner had been one step late, he would of been tagged out! Frank Francisco enter into the game at the top of the 9th inning! Texas' Big Closer! As soon as he walked from the bullpen after announcing him. The scene from Elf came shooting in my brain. The scene I am talking about is when Buddy was at his Dad's office and he meet "Francisco" So for the entire top of the ninth inning, I was saying to my self "FRANCISCO" slow and drawn out. It was funny. Francisco pitched great getting the first three batters out. Then all of a sudden I thought we were under attack or something. Sirens were going off, lights were flashing!!! We were experiencing a comeback zone or something like that (I cant remember) Either way, they were setting the scene for an amazing bottom inning. The Rangers could not of asked for a better three to be up to bat. Michael Young, Josh Hamilton, and Andruw Jones. I made comment that Josh would crack a home run since he was 0-4 on the day. The Royals brought in a big Righty Kyle Fransworth. His warm up pitches were reaching 95 or so (I think) Ok, the setting has been laid, the fans all wearing their new red hats were on the edge of their seats. I was thinking to myself, Michael Young, get on base, Josh will get you home. The big righty winds up to deliver his first pitch... Michael Young is starring it down! Michael Young likes the pitch and swings... He connects and Fransworth looks up! Quickly I looked to the outfield to notice that all three outfielders were stuck dead in their tracks. I threw up my arms and yelled, "its GONE" Michael Young did it, he hit a walk off HOME RUN to win the game. The entire Ranger bench ran to home plate!! Michael Young turned around 3rd base and headed to home. The entire team was jumping up and down with excitement. Michael Young got closer and closer and leaped into the air to land in his teammates arms and home plate. The Rangers won! The jumbo tron read..."HELLO WIN COLUMN"

Man Day

Today is Friday March 20, 2009. As I begin typing, my back reminds me of this week’s event. Charlie, John-David and I traveled down to Comanche Texas to visit John-David’s grandparent’s ranch. We set out on Tuesday evening and returned on Wednesday night.

Comanche is southwest of Fort Worth and in the middle of nowhere. We had to travel through Stephenville and Dublin. Stephenville is the location of the most recent UFO spotting last year! Dublin is home of Dr. Pepper! Dublin is a Irish town and they were gearing up for their St. Patrick’s Day celebration on the 19th-21st. Charlie had never been so after we fished all morning, we traveled into Dublin. A very cool thing about Dublin Dr. Pepper is that they bottle it with pure cane sugar! They also serve fresh fountain drinks too! I was good and did not drink one! (A side note, I have not had any caffeine or soft drinks since May 2008).

We headed back to the ranch and went over to an Aunt’s of John-David’s and did some fishing on a lake. I commandeered a john boat and set out to embark on a fishing excursion. I will be completely honest at this point, I caught nothing. I mean I had a few bites, but couldn’t even land one! I once prayed that, “God, I will not catch another fish as long as you will allow me to be a fisher of men” I have been fishing twice since moving to Texas, and caught zero fish… Hmm?

Once back on the ranch, the real fun began. We pulled out the twelve gauge and blew some clays up. It took me a couple times to get back in the hang of it, but once I did, I was exploding every target! After we shot the shotgun, we went to a clearing to shoot the 22. We set up targets on a large plastic barrel. The first range was ten feet, and I did well. We backed up to twenty feet and I was a little all over the place. Needless to say, we had fun!

Six o’clock was dinner time! We headed back to the house and Mr. Culbertson had dinner ready for us. They cooked us steaks, baked potatoes, corn, green beans, rolls, chicken tenders. It was amazing!

After supper, Charlie and I booked it for Fort Worth. I know I am leaving out a lot of details, but we had an amazing time!

Weekend

My weekend!

It was another long week of waiting around for 7:30 on Friday evening. Sarah has been traveling for the past month and for the past two weeks, she returns on Friday at 7:30. Sarah is a numbers girl, well that’s what she does. One of the many ways we communicate is by texting. We usually around the 24 hour window begin a count down. During those times, I get so excited, because every time the number decreases my opportunity to see her increases. We ate dinner at Panera Bread, we split a chicken cesar sandwich (on wheat, sorry!) Sarah and I have come accustom to sharing a meal when we eat our, or eat in! It’s really a lot of fun. My Best friend from high school Brannon, his parents used to take me to eat with them and they practiced this method. First, it saves you money, second it teaches you to share, and third, you don’t eat as much!!! I am trying to remember the last time Sarah and I ordered our own thing and I am having trouble remembering it. Sarah was very tired, so I dropped her off early so she could rest up before having to work again the next morning. We got to spend three hours together and the 108 hours it took to get there, was worth every second of the wait.

Saturday my friend Brandon and I hung out most of the day. He was in need of some help and support, so I was there for him. The day’s big event was happening later that night at one of Sarah’s boss’s house. Her company was celebrating the half way point in tax season. During this time, everyone is working very hard and very long hours. I thought the actions of Brain were great in keeping relationships going within the work place. They live over in Keller, which was only a few miles away from Sarah’s apartment in North Richland Hills. There home was custom built about a year or two ago, and is pretty much amazing! I will not go into details but MTV cribs wouldn’t pass it up. I had not seen most of the people since the Christmas party and a lot has happened since then. Everyone knew about the surprise party that Sarah had organized for me. (I should have said a few of them) No wait, the partners did send an email to all the top people, so yes, everyone. (I will share that whole weekend the next time I post.) The party had a theme, and it was a hoedown. Sarah during the day went to thrift town and picked us up some gear. I can officially say that I own my very first wrangler shirt with pearl snaps. It is truly an amazing shirt. (We have pictures to prove) The feast was Risky’s BBQ, with all the proper fixings. Sarah and I both ate a brisket sandwich and I ate some chicken and a small piece of sausage. I think what won us over at the dinner table was the bowl of gold fish and the “natural” Cheetos! Yes, there were kids there, so they had fun stuff to eat too! The remaining of the night consisted of small talk, meeting people, and catching up with some too! Sarah and I did manage to squeeze in a game of pool. It was a very close game, but I won! (Usually she wins, so I will take it). We said our goodbyes and I walked Sarah to my truck, opened her door and away we went. It was about 10:30 so I dropped her off and I returned to my house to finish preparing for my Sunday School lesson.

Sunday mornings are my favorite day of the week. Today we began a new teaching series entitled, “Like I Care” and its intention is to bring awareness to the world around them and how they can help and take part in making a difference. We were in the book of John and I taught from John 5:1-18. My main points I was trying to express to them, is communicating with God, and knowing they too can make a difference. I have a great group of 7th graders; in general they are all very well behaved and are good listeners when I am teaching. I was excited to get back into teaching. This lesson began a stretch of four consecutive weeks I will be teaching. After church, Sarah and I meet up with her Brother and his wife at Ihop. Charles is a mechanic and I am having trouble with my truck. He was willing to check it out for me and discovered that my water pump is leaking. I am going to try and locate a water pump and have him replace it for me. He said it was not an urgent thing, just to keep a watch on my fluids. I am going to try and locate a water pump this week and see if he can work on it this weekend. Again, I am thankful for the people in my life and the expertise in things I have no clue about. The remaining of our afternoon, Sarah and I had an incredible conversation (thank you). I did a little Greek homework, she did a little work, and we both did a lot of hanging out with each other. The weekend came to a close at FBC Euless. Drs Eurgon and Emir Caner were in town to speak on Islam. I enjoyed it very much, and I actually understood what they were talking about (Theological Lingo).

I had a great time this weekend, I am very thankful for my wonderful girlfriend. Sarah, you continue to amaze me each and everyday. My prayer is that we have many more weekends like this one. You are again traveling this week, so the count down has begun… I will see you in about 84 hours.

This Morning

Today is February 24, 2009...

This morning I got up extra early and I have been reading my bible for about 30 minutes. It seems when everything around me seems to be crashing down, I always can rely on it. My last post was not intended for anyone to feel sorry for me, it was just an opportunity for me to get down onto paper what I am feeling. So, have the challenges fixed themselves overnight, nope. I will have to admit that my confidence and faith in the Lord are stronger though. One of my favorite passages is in James.

James 1: 2-12 "Consider it pure joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

As I type and read this scripture again, my heart fills with conviction. At times I do fill up with doubt. There are times when I do feel like I am being tossed around like a rag doll. He is calling us to be humble and to glorify Him still. One thing I have always been is a follower! My leading abilities are not the best, I think. The whole concept of following Christ should be easy for me, right? Honestly at times it is, like right now, this morning, I get it. I did the only thing I knew to do, get up early, spend time in the word and write down how I feel. As my day continues I pray that I will hold onto this scripture with confidence that God is true to His word, that He will provide the crown of life to those who do not lack faith. That is what my life is all about.

100 Other Things I Could Be Doing

Tonight is February 23, 2009...

I am sitting at my desk at my house all alone. My thoughts have gone from focused to ones of doubt in which brings me sadness. I have never admitted to know everything or much of anything. The thing I am most confident in is my purpose to bring glory to my Father in Heaven, Jesus Christ. How do I do that? I am thirty years old, single, work part-time, go to school full time, have an extreme amount of debt, oh even though I have lost 70 pds, I am obese on the BMI chart. Woo is me! Right now as I write this I am asking myself, "You are stronger than this, you are stronger than this" Yet my conscience will not allow me to let go. (Oh, I better say another thing, I am a horrible writer) This post will be as scattered as my brain is right now. I am going to be honest with everyone, Seminary is extremely hard for your average Hefty. School in general has never been my cup of tea. I was more concerned about football than reading and writing. Football got me into college, and allowed me to graduate. As I walked across the stage I said, "I will never do this again" My words haunt me at times. I need prayer. I am only human. I am a sinner roting away everyday. Today as I sat in this lonely chair eating a hot dog for lunch, a knock I heard at the door. As I opened the door, a Mexican man was standing at my door with some small pieces of paper. He introduced himself as "Ricardo" and he was collecting money for a ministry. I asked him "which one" he told me they are collecting money for "homeless people" I was very suspicious! We made small talk about his efforts. I was overwhelmed at this point. I had to share Christ with him. I just straight up asked him what he believed. He gave me all this talk about history, buddha, the universe, blah blah blah. I said Ricardo, if you die walking up that street will you go to heaven? He said, I think so, I said "you think" He said "yea, I believe in a huge God, where there is plenty of space" I was like "really" at this point, I just began preaching to him. I was sharing the gospel with him. He just looked at me like he was deeply thinking about something. I asked him to wait at the door so I could get him a bible, cd, and spiritual booklet. I shared with him the bridge diagram. Dr. Carigan, I pulled the hook, I begged him to repent and put is faith in Jesus. (I even mentioned HELL) that is one word I try not to say when sharing, but it was appropriate today. I must of talked to him for 25 minutes. He told me, that he did not believe in Jesus as God. He said, "how could God lower himself to be put on earth" AHHHHH.... My inner self was screaming at this point. He did not reject me today, he rejected Jesus Christ. Do I feel beat down? (a little) I believe so strong in something, that I want everyone I talk to, to believe, repent, receive. I prayed for Ricardo once I got back to my desk, and said, "Lord, he is in your hands now" I have to have faith that God set up that appointment, I have planted a seed, (actually 3) I pray that he will read that material or listen to it and he too can come to know Jesus Christ. As I continue to type, my eyes are becoming tired and blurry! My thoughts race back to the cloud which seems to be hanging over me today. I found out that the hospital that I went to messed up my paper work and I never got cleared with their internal program. So I have 30 days to pay my hospital bill from my back injury this past fall. I also am not sure how I am going to pay the rest of my tuition for this semester. I have until March 5 to figure that out. I trust God. I do. Again, I am human, and I too have doubt. Why does money have to be the root of everything, good or bad. Did God create money? Yes. Did he create it for good or for bad? That is very debatable. My thoughts now are, you need a second job. I have no clue how I am going to be able to balance, school full time, 25 hours of part time work, homework, reading, my girlfriend, etc. My only thought is that I could work a couple nights and just suck it up. Right now, I should be doing my Greek homework and getting ready for class tomorrow. I should be out working another job. I should be nose deep in God's word. I should be doing a lot of things. Here, I sit in my chair in an empty house typing on a keyboard, communicating to no one. What am I doing. If by chance you stumble upon this, please pray for me. I am a very strong person but I am also a very human person too. Please pray for me.

Follow

So Today I got my very first follower of my blog.... It was me :) Maybe this will encourage people to follow me, cause I am following me! (ha)

Oh, its like 80 degrees here today, I wear black on Friday's, so the AC was on in my truck during my inspections.....

Good Times...

Cleveland

My recent trip to Cleveland...

That is one heck of a snow angel...

I will write up a little story...