The other night I attended an Albuquerque Isotopes game with some members of my family and we sat in the nosebleeds, as far down the line as it gets. Not terrible seats but not great by any means. My cousin Paul noticed some seats across the diamond on the lower level about 8 rows up that were wide open. He suggested we move down there, why not right? So as we took the move in two shifts, Paul, his wife and son, and myself making the first attempt I shared with them my story of a Yankees@Rangers series where we sat 3 rows up from Nolan Ryan one night and 5 behind the Yankee on deck circle the following night.
It was then that the discussion began, and the thoughts raced.
My cousin Paul turned to me and asked, “So Austin, why do you think you are so favored?” At first I didn’t understand what he was saying and thought he was trying to joke so I laughed and said, “What do you mean?” He followed with what I’ve never realized or examined until that moment, “Why do you think things go your way so often, whether that be free things or good seats.” I understood the question, but I didn’t know how to respond to him. I sort of shrugged my shoulders and laughed it off but my head was moving a million miles a minute. It’s hard to determine biblically what to take from it, Romans tells us straight up that God does not show favoritism, but then you see it everywhere in the Bible that God takes favor in “those who do good” ,“those who love Him”, etc. I’m not going to get into the difference between favoritism and showing favor, hopefully that can be determined fairly easily.
This question I was asked has been bouncing around my head because I haven’t ever thought that I was favored. For one, the thought never crossed my mind, I never considered that God was giving me little gifts, showing me how much He loves me and cares about me through the little things. More often then not, especially recently I have been focusing on the “negative” things that have been holding me down a little bit. You know what I’m talking about, the things that don’t leave your mind and affect every aspect of your day no matter how hard you try to let them go. When I have so many good things going on in my life, one thing, that isn’t going exactly how I want it, is what I cannot get off my mind. Funny when I feel so weighed down and people are seeing me as “favored”. So who is right?
As it step back and look at the big picture of everything in my life, even few things not going exactly how I wish they were, I have a lot of great things in my life and I’m extremely favored. I used the expression with a friend recently that “that was one of the top 5 hardest things I’ve ever done. Thank God for my friends keeping me in check without even knowing it, the response I got was, what are the other 4? Needless to say I could only come up with 2 things, not bad for 21 years of life.
Maybe you have been feeling like me lately, like why can’t this or that be going the way you want. Take a step back, how much is actually going well, how many little gifts (that we don’t deserve, that I don’t deserve) are you getting and not even realizing?
Everything is according to a bigger plan, sometimes I don’t get that, sometimes I don’t like that. But that’s ok, God is going to show me how much He loves me and how much He has control even when I am not sure.
The 7 of us moved down the third base line, 8 rows up from the grass that night. Another example of the favor I am shown. Now its time to be thankful and recognize it all.
Much Love
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Lifesaver....literally
Greetings, I hope everyone reading this is doing well, by that I mean healthy, smiling, and thankful to be alive. I know I am.
Last night we started a study with College Young Life here in Albuquerque. Going through a video series based on the identity of Jesus, who He is, what He did, what He was about, etc. Though I had to leave early before we had discussion about the video my brother and I talked about it.
Though I can’t (wont) give you a run down of everything that the video covered the main message was that Jesus claimed He was a lot of things. Sinless, healer, miracle-man, but ultimate, Jesus claimed that He WAS/IS God. Pretty bold, all of those statements, so it begs the question, do you believe Him? Do you believe that above all of those other things, that He was and is God?
Davis and I left and discussed it for a while and I will share some of that with you.
We both, without a doubt in our minds and no hesitation, believe that He was/is God. Based on what the lesson covered as well as our own perception and understanding of what the Bible tells us and how Jesus lived. You see Jesus did it with his actions and His words. That’s an awesome topic that this blog isn’t about and I won’t venture off too.
About two weeks ago I drove down to Isotopes Park to watch a game with some friends and family in the suites (generous gift from a family friend). The game was fun and all was good. We left the park last night and piled into my Acura. Myself, two friends, and my youngest brother. As I pulled out of the parking lot, something didn’t feel right, something about the car. Right off the bat I felt like the right front tire was flat, but that couldn’t be the case because I had just had them filled a week before. Also, it sat in a parking space for the entire game and it was full when we got there, so I assured myself that it was fine and I was imagining it.
I pulled onto University along side the PIT the popular decision would be to turn left to get to I25 and head home. That is the quickest way home and so that was my plan. However, much to my frustration I couldn’t get over to the left lane in time and had to go through the light and continue on University, no big deal, it will hook up with I40 and I’ll take the longer route home (adds 5-10 minutes to my trip). Then I hit Lead… detour up Lead, couldn’t even get to I40, so now I am very frustrated as my trip will be even more delayed. For those of you that know me well enough to know my driving approach, get there fast and safe is a nice incentive.
As I drive up the street I cannot get over on any side street to meet up with the freeway, so I am driving in residential neighborhoods at 25mph (I was probably going 30-35 admittedly). All this time I had forgotten that my tire had felt funny and the car seemed to be pulling to the right, I assumed it was the ’97 Acura showing it’s age. Needless to say, I finally reached Academy and Osuna and was back on track to get home. I decided it was a nice night so why not roll down the windows and play the music and have some fun, after all, we had been in the car for nearly a half hour already on what is usually a 15 minute drive.
It was at this time I heard the scraping of my rim on the pavement as I made a turn, and I knew, that tire was completely flat. I rolled into a gas station and it was fixed.
Boring story I know, but here is the kicker. That tire was deflating from the time I pulled out of my parking space at Isotopes that night. Had I gotten onto I25 like I originally planned or even I40 as a back up plan, that tire wouldn’t have lasted 2 minutes. I believe, that tired would have blown with me driving 60+, with two friends and my youngest brother in the car. We may not have made it home alive had I gotten on the freeway(s) that night.
Here’s why I share that. Because I do believe that Jesus was God, all powerful and all knowing. He knew that night that I wanted to be on the freeway getting home as fast as possible, He also knew that if I did that, I’d be dead or seriously injured as well as the other 3 lives in the car in danger. He saved me that night, literally. It wasn’t luck, it wasn’t fate, it wasn’t destiny, or any other word you want to use that the world would throw around to describe how coincidental that was. It was by His grace and unbelievable love for me that He saved my life, and the lives of the others in that car.
So you tell me if you believe, because if you can even hear that and not believe…. Then I guess you haven’t examined your own life close enough to see how He has saved you, literally, and figuratively.
I’m not debating faith or religion, because there’s no debate to be had. Think what you want, but I encourage you, no I beg you, to seriously consider what you believe.
Much Love
Last night we started a study with College Young Life here in Albuquerque. Going through a video series based on the identity of Jesus, who He is, what He did, what He was about, etc. Though I had to leave early before we had discussion about the video my brother and I talked about it.
Though I can’t (wont) give you a run down of everything that the video covered the main message was that Jesus claimed He was a lot of things. Sinless, healer, miracle-man, but ultimate, Jesus claimed that He WAS/IS God. Pretty bold, all of those statements, so it begs the question, do you believe Him? Do you believe that above all of those other things, that He was and is God?
Davis and I left and discussed it for a while and I will share some of that with you.
We both, without a doubt in our minds and no hesitation, believe that He was/is God. Based on what the lesson covered as well as our own perception and understanding of what the Bible tells us and how Jesus lived. You see Jesus did it with his actions and His words. That’s an awesome topic that this blog isn’t about and I won’t venture off too.
About two weeks ago I drove down to Isotopes Park to watch a game with some friends and family in the suites (generous gift from a family friend). The game was fun and all was good. We left the park last night and piled into my Acura. Myself, two friends, and my youngest brother. As I pulled out of the parking lot, something didn’t feel right, something about the car. Right off the bat I felt like the right front tire was flat, but that couldn’t be the case because I had just had them filled a week before. Also, it sat in a parking space for the entire game and it was full when we got there, so I assured myself that it was fine and I was imagining it.
I pulled onto University along side the PIT the popular decision would be to turn left to get to I25 and head home. That is the quickest way home and so that was my plan. However, much to my frustration I couldn’t get over to the left lane in time and had to go through the light and continue on University, no big deal, it will hook up with I40 and I’ll take the longer route home (adds 5-10 minutes to my trip). Then I hit Lead… detour up Lead, couldn’t even get to I40, so now I am very frustrated as my trip will be even more delayed. For those of you that know me well enough to know my driving approach, get there fast and safe is a nice incentive.
As I drive up the street I cannot get over on any side street to meet up with the freeway, so I am driving in residential neighborhoods at 25mph (I was probably going 30-35 admittedly). All this time I had forgotten that my tire had felt funny and the car seemed to be pulling to the right, I assumed it was the ’97 Acura showing it’s age. Needless to say, I finally reached Academy and Osuna and was back on track to get home. I decided it was a nice night so why not roll down the windows and play the music and have some fun, after all, we had been in the car for nearly a half hour already on what is usually a 15 minute drive.
It was at this time I heard the scraping of my rim on the pavement as I made a turn, and I knew, that tire was completely flat. I rolled into a gas station and it was fixed.
Boring story I know, but here is the kicker. That tire was deflating from the time I pulled out of my parking space at Isotopes that night. Had I gotten onto I25 like I originally planned or even I40 as a back up plan, that tire wouldn’t have lasted 2 minutes. I believe, that tired would have blown with me driving 60+, with two friends and my youngest brother in the car. We may not have made it home alive had I gotten on the freeway(s) that night.
Here’s why I share that. Because I do believe that Jesus was God, all powerful and all knowing. He knew that night that I wanted to be on the freeway getting home as fast as possible, He also knew that if I did that, I’d be dead or seriously injured as well as the other 3 lives in the car in danger. He saved me that night, literally. It wasn’t luck, it wasn’t fate, it wasn’t destiny, or any other word you want to use that the world would throw around to describe how coincidental that was. It was by His grace and unbelievable love for me that He saved my life, and the lives of the others in that car.
So you tell me if you believe, because if you can even hear that and not believe…. Then I guess you haven’t examined your own life close enough to see how He has saved you, literally, and figuratively.
I’m not debating faith or religion, because there’s no debate to be had. Think what you want, but I encourage you, no I beg you, to seriously consider what you believe.
Much Love
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